The problem is that the ‘weaker elements’ are about half of that team (and counting, maybe, if Mainoo and Hojlund don’t turn out as hoped). That team already has our £85m winger removed from it. Our £55m midfielder may well be following too, and there are long term question marks about all of the rest with the exception of Shaw and Martinez really. I admire your optimism but you seem to be creating some sort of ‘everything is on track’ sort of narrative, but it’s more an ‘everything is on track, we just need to change most of the players’ one to me.
I can only give you my opinion based on the decisions that were made in the summer by the club when they signed players, introduced a young player and pursued players who they tried signing but couldn't sign for different reasons. So with the new heads of recruitment having had a season of scouting under their belt backed up by the analytics teams led by Dominic Jordan (data) and Mick Court (video). The plan was to sign the players below according to reports from reliable sources but we couldn't move certain players on due to their wages. And unlike at Arsenal, where Josh Kroenke has played a active role in moving players on, we can't expect Joel Glazer to do the same and hence me as a supporter of the club, I have to be patient because I can finally see a direction of travel, which I couldn't see previously.
Hojlund, Mount, Kim Min Jae (backup Todibo), Maignan (back up Onana, Verbruggen) and Amadou Onana was the window for us. But if Maguire and Mctominay don't want to leave then signing Kim, Amadou Onana or Todibo isn't going to be possible. But the people on the football side of the club tried moving both Maguire and Mctominay towards a new club hence we made a late approach for Amadou Onana and had Todibo as the target if Maguire could agree on a exit. The moves they've made and attempted to make, clearly point towards developing a team to play a more proactive, attacking style of play by building play from the back, pressing high out of possession and controlling the opponent's fast breaks in rest defense with players like Todibo and Amadou Onana who can control the game out of possession when the space opens up for the opposition to counter quickly.
Erik ten Hag has seemingly made the decision to integrate Kobbie Mainoo into the team as a deeper lying midfielder and it doesn't seem to have gone down well with some fans. Does it mean that Mainoo will 'save us'?. No he can't save us on his own but his inclusion into the team points towards integrating a player who fits the profile of midfielder that is needed to develop a play style that ten Hag is clearly working towards developing imo. Casemiro is/was a world class midfielder with his work out of possession but he was never a world class midfielder in possession hence Modric and Kroos took control of the build up phase in possession. Mainoo is closer to what Modric and Kroos provided Madrid in midfield and that's what we lack. And ten Hag has made the decision to integrate Mainoo into the team, which was evident during the preseason tour. Of course we don't know how things will go with Mainoo and the tweet below sums that up perfectly. But ten Hag has made the decision to integrate the young lad and ten Hag sees the player on a regular basis during games and in training to make a better assessment than most people.
And unless you think the decision to integrate Mainoo, sign Amrabat, Mount and Onana with attempts to sign Amadou Onana and Kim Min Jae (Todibo) are moves to play a direct game, then I have to disagree because signing those players and developing Mainoo points towards looking to dominate the ball. But ten Hag suffered a big setback with injuries to Martinez, Shaw and Mainoo who are either our best players in the build up phase (Shaw, Martinez) or potentially our most press resistant midfielder in Mainoo. And this has been a disaster and hence imo ten Hag is going direct with McTominay playing because he's a obvious target for the direct ball. I'm confident Mount will play more often once you have the aforementioned players back because the direct game doesn't suit him and neither does it suit Amrabat or Onana in goal.
EtH is clearly developing the team to dominate the ball but when you're missing players through injury then it's important to aim for substance rather than style or you end up like Peter Bosz or Ronald de Boer who carried on persevering with their philosophies with players who just weren't comfortable playing out from the back and ended up getting sacked quickly. So it's important to get the results and work on developing the team towards a preferred style of play in the mid to long-term. He's currently in a precarious position imo and if he can manoeuvre the team towards a decent finish and survive in his position, then he's in a great position to turn things around quickly because the CB and midfield positions are open for improvement. Lindelof, Maguire, Casemiro and McTominay are easily upgraded on imo.