I wasn't quite following the online and media opinion to our loss in Istanbul on Thursday, so I'm somewhat baffled about the response to the game and to the team in general

EL

How come everyone including the boss gets so riled up about a competition that English clubs historically don't give AF about? Don't get me wrong, as a middle-European I'm happy we do take this as serious as many other countries do (look at the Spanish clubs). If we were to ever lose a game in this group, it was the game in Turkey. A hell of a stadium filled with loud fans, long trip against a team that has put a lot of money on players in the last years. They are at the top of the group now. Of course we slipped up in the first game and so Mou was forced to play the first set of players instead of giving players like Romero, TFM, Jones, Memphis, Miki a chance to grow into the first team, resting the first set for PL. The situation didn't really change in terms of advancing, we need 4 points from the last 2 games now, ideally a win vs. Feyenoord at OT.

Squad

This has been a problem for long, but what apart from signing players and promoting youth (big shoutout to LvG) can we do? There is admittedly still dead weight in the squad, esp. in terms of salary (could Arsenal, Chelsea,... afford squad players like A. Young?), but the only way to fix this is time and youth taking over from the older players.

Some struggling players are definitively on their way back (Shaw actually looked a lot better than at the start of the season, but for some reason he seems slow), showing their real colors (Herrera, Pogba) or accepting new roles (Rooney).

On the youth and scouting front we're looking like we're improving, but I couldn't judge that from here. My hope is that we don't turn into a Chelsea hoarding talents, not giving them a chance. Obviously PL games are too much of a gamble to put someone like TFM, Januzaj, Varela or Peireira into a starting spot.

EPL crunch time

The forthcoming games should be much more of a focal point. Swansea must be 3 points for our fight in the top spots. So might be the game against Arsenal. The Fenerbahce game was nothing against that in terms of importance, esp. considering our recent league results.

The question Mou must ask is why we are lacking goals. My unpopular thinking is that the quality in attack and midfield is there. We're winning balls, we're passing to creative and able players, but the results still lack. But not as badly as some posts here might make me think.

Mou

How come he turns one of the best defenses last year into an average looking one? How come he threw the idea to play lesser players in the secondary competitions after just ONE game? I think some problems might be rooted in this second question. The rotating players might be unhappy due to the lack of playing time while the first-ish set of players will be overplayed and over-travelled; albeit still missing results.

In terms of players there's no more wiggle room. He's clearly taken all available options such as playing youth, benching unbenchable players, criticizing them in the media. Maybe it needs another 1-2 years until we turn into world beaters.

I'm not as critical about him as I've been in the Summer (after being appointed), as I've seen some of the positives. But if he doesn't continue to adapt, if he keeps on abandoning the players (Burnley + 1 game) it will end just the same it did in London for him.