Patience is indeed needed but in difference roles specifically to the sporting director one. That's why SJR said 'they only started working in July'. Football had changed alot since the 80s and the manager role had been seriously dumbed down. The days when CEOs didn't even know how much salary rival managers were paid are over. These days many CEOs had made their bones in the football world. Then there's the sporting director who take care of the most 'brain' intensive roles (vision, transfer strategy, making all departments work together in an efficient manner). Meanwhile the academy is also made independent from the first team and given its own aims, its own budget and its own people to lead it.
Modern managers focus mostly on tactics and morale. However even in these two areas they are hugely aided. There are set piece coaches who takes care of set pieces, goalkeeper coaches who take care of goalkeepers, assistant managers with huge CVs who aid him in training, technical directors who take care of the technical stuff and help the transitioning of academy players to first team, data analysts who spoon feed the coaching staff with tons of information about the team and the opposition and an army of medical people and psychologists who help him choose the fittest players and to keep morale up. It's nowhere near to the big role SAF had in the 90s were he was the head of the football pyramid with a clueless Edwards being the head of the business and with Sir Bobby acting as the voice of reason between the two.
I am not suggesting that head coaches (cause that's what they are these days) shouldn't be given time. Tactics are sometimes difficult to understand and implement especially if those who brought the head coach in were stupid enough to hire someone whose philosophy goes completely against the strengths of the squad. However it shouldn't take years either. We had zero progression despite having an almost Dutch speaking team. Surely the likes of Onana, De Ligt, Martinez, Mazraioui, Eriksen, Antony and Zirkzee don't need years to understand ETH's 'game'. Same can be said about players he either promoted (Mainoo, Garnacho etc) or he brought in (Casemiro, Ugarte etc). Yet what we're witnessing is the same old injury crisis (with persistent rumors regarding ETH's heavy handed training), the same tumescent style of football and the same diabolical form both in the EPL and in Europe. To add insult to injury we're now reverting to Ole ball with Evans and Maguire which is hilarious considering that ETH had spent so much on that defense to bring his own men in.
