Unfortunately I missed the first half where apparently we played pretty well before the Kroos goal. I haven’t even seen the Kroos goal yet, definitely saw the Asensio one.
From what I saw I think the analysis is pretty straight forward. In order to win matches like this you just need more. More belief, more difference makers, more composure, more everything. I don’t think we are light years away like some may think. However I know that as long as we keep selling talent every summer we will never reach.
I noticed a few people talk about quality and how we were technically outclassed. However, I think we actually suffer more from general lack of athleticism in the squad then lack of technical quality. The top teams in Europe have athletic AND technical players. When you look at the quality of athletes these sides have: Liverpool, Chelsea, City, Bayern, Madrid. The forwards and defenders in particular have pace. They all also have a DM but I think I’ve beat the drum on that enough.
We sold our two best athletes last summer because those are the types of players teams will pay big money for in today’s game. This team does have a core still, but we need some time and money to become a real competitor. The issue is we lack money so we have to be super strategic. I would start by looking for a fast CB, an actual DM, and a forward that can dribble with pace.