Yeah that's how I see it too. But I don't think it's effort or anything, I just think no one seems to be able to create space and break lines. That picture Sterling posted in the match thread of Jones having no one to pass to, it's like that all the time, you can see there's nowhere for us to go with the ball, so we end up eventually just slinging hopeful balls in and that's about the only time we get in the box.
I think McCann puts a lot of focus on winning the ball high up the pitch and a lot of our attacking threat in the last couple of years has come from that. We are at times quite good at getting the ball in those positions, but we're so wasteful when we do get it that it rarely comes to anything. I don't think he particularly values controlling possession and building attacks, or if he does he's just not very good at coaching it. It's irked me since 2019 how bad we look on the ball under him.