We're just not good enough. I liked the look of Karate-Zarate who looked like he wanted to make something happen every time he had the ball. But it's the midfield that is so poor for me. You have to have a midfield that can keep the ball and control the tempo of the game, slowing things down or speeding things up where necessary. Our midfield lacks decent ball control, support for each other, awareness, cohesion and the ability to make that telling pass. Even on the deck the ball moves so quickly through the midfield it is as though every attempt on goal is a kick-and-rush. From that it is no wonder that Austin, for example, has little support once he's in possession because the ball is always coming up too quickly for the midfield in particular to push up as a unit; all you can hope for is a knock-down or a defensive error that somebody gets on the end of.
We bang on about how poor we are in defence, which is true. But, again, it is because the midfield isn't doing its job, and possession is often and easily surrendered in the opposition's half, that the defence is put under so much pressure. Even the best defences will crack more often if the midfield in front of them is this poor.