There is nuance here. And I want anyone reading it to interpret it as such. I value players like Gerard Martin and Cancelo a lot. They’re the kind of profiles who win you league titles, and we need them in the squad. But if you’re going into deep stage CL ties against the best sides in the world with a backline so drastically lacking in physicality and, quite frankly, the ability to actually defend, odds are, you will lose. You need physicality. You need recovery pace. You need the height to do the bare minimum: defend easy set-pieces. These are essential, fundamental mandates to compete at the CL level. And among our competitors, we are the ONLY team that doesn’t meet those mandates.