I think a common view is that if the squad are capable of finishing in the top four consistently and second last year, there must be some very good players in there. This is reinforced by some of the individual and team performances we routinely see not to mention the number of internationals and players that were first choice at clubs like Valencia, Real Madrid, Barcelona etc.
So the question then becomes, how can such a talented squad be capable of performances like Wednesday night and routinely fail the test when it comes to big games against big teams that more often than not decide who wins silverware?
And the answer to that last question seems, increasingly, to be the manager.