It's not crap, but we're drastically lacking in intelligence. What we needed was a Kagawa, a Cazorla, a Hazard... we need brains, creativity, flair, an ability to spot and execute the right passes instantly. The likes of Dempsey and Siggy can score for lower-half teams, but they are not stylistically suited for the top teams that face deeper defenses. Dembele has individual talent but still hangs on to the ball for far too long at times and runs up blind alleys in the final third.
Liverpool have been far cleverer in taking Sahin, Allen, Borini, and Yesil - unproven, yes, but the style is right, the technique is there.
We've lost the best "team intelligence" players in this squad. Moutinho will be a big help in filling Modric's role, but he's not enough imo. It's not that I'm displeased with what we've bought, it's that we haven't bought enough to challenge for top four.