Some of the players are to blame definitely but, with respect, i'm not having that Ashley Williams - having played at the best 'small' club for possession football for years - has abandoned everything he knows and is good at to launch the ball forward of his own accord.
That's come from the manager. But why?
With one up front and pace on the wings, why is he telling Ashley Williams to launch it?
We are going direct because we're so slow out from the back mate. Think of how many times we tend to lose possession in dangerous places last season.
I think that's the reason - he wants to bypass that knocking it about aimlessly at the back and get it to the forwards quickly.
On paper, that's fine, but the issue is our midfield doesn't have the legs to get up in support (bar Gueye) and Barkley seems scared to do so.
So to get this 'direct' style (which is a stop-gap IMO until he can get players in who he really wants) to work he does need to change it to get more up there in support (i.e. a 4-4-2) . It's not poor football when it works - we're simply aiming to get it to the players who can do the damage in forward areas.