Frankly I think we are doing better than expected at this stage with one win and one draw (got it right this time).
Of course the structure of the team such as it was broke down when Hernandez went off because much of the attacking creativity involved him. Pukki has not been able to do his job because he was compensating for the deficiencies in other parts of the team. However, there were signs of progress; there were more players in the opposition box than previously and we had a marginal increase in shots on goal.
We are not the only team to dominate possession and suffer from attempting to break down a defensive opposition. Just take a look at MC's drubbing at the hands of Leicester. Even the famous and much vaunted Pep could not find a way to break through enough to. win.
I agree that DF needs to be more prepared to. change things when the strategy is not working. It was pretty obvious that building from the back was being targeted quite early in the first half yet we still continued with it. McLean plays in a position where small mistakes are punished and I think sometimes there should be others to support when he has three or four of the opposition are on his case. However, it was his losing the ball that lead to their goal, his unnecessary challenge that earned him a yellow, which caused him to be more hesitant in later contests and that wild shot in the vague direction of the goal wasted the opportunity to develop a more sophisticated attack. He should have been substituted before half time imo.
That said, there was a sure fire penalty call and a perfectly reasonable shout both of which were denied. The handball, I could grudgingly accept but the foul on Aarons in the box was clear cut and should have brought the equaliser. That would have changed the dynamic and we may well have gone on to win.