The reason we are playing utter garbage is not because of who we do or don't have in our playing squad. I believe we are seeing the fallout of Poch's unmeritocratic approach to management. Any shower of donkeys can be coached to look vaguely organised if they are motivated.
I pretty much said exactly that in what you quoted didn't I - and gave a couple of big examples of where I think this really started to show (Alli and Dier) and my last line about pandering to egos emphasised it, no?
I couldn't agree more about the bullshit meritocratic hypocrisy (again I referenced "Paid to train"). But I do also think at the same time as some others were wising up to how to recruit - Liverpool being the Stella example - we were going backwards, giving Poch more say in the process, and this also played a part. We end up with Poch trying to justify his choices by playing them, when they clearly aren't good enough, rather than play an academy kid like he had to at Southampton and when he first arrived here.
I don't think it's quite as simple as any shower of donkeys can be organised though; any shower of donkeys can be organised defensively, but it's very different combining being a pro-active team - one that wants to control the ball, control possession, and look forwards, try to create with being defensively disciplined.
Don't be fooled by that 30% tactics, 70% team spirit bullshit regarding Klopp, he isn't obsessed with possession for possession, but his teams will regularly average 58% - the same as us - and generally only Guardiola's City will average much more - but he manages when and how that possession happens smarter than Poch does, and has also got them defensively rock solid, cohesive and disciplined too, that's with FB's that bomb on as well, just like us. You do not do that with just "good team spirit" that takes work and great tactical organisation. Liverpool clearly altered their application last season - that was not an accident, it was clever tactical thinking by Klopp and it was methodical and repetitive.
But, with regards to your remark about who we do and don't have in our squad, another thing Liverpool have done is recruit with Klopp's tactical approach in mind. Same Guardiola, but you can also see other clubs in Germany for example that recruit to suit without having Liverpool's wage budget or City's largesse. Dortmund, RBL, Ajax etc. Some of Liverpool's key players last year (TAA, Gomes, Robertson, Henderson, Wyjnaldum, Firmniho, Salah) were signed for no more in fees and wages initially than we spend.
We had their head of recruitment analytics at this club and basically didn't understand what the fuck to do with him, Poch wanted "more say" so Mitchell and his black box fucked off too.
So I think until this summer and Poch becoming "head coach" again, we've done some pretty mediocre business that added to the malaise, not helped it.