Nowadays, the hype is around any player who has one shining moment, so one in the right mind must realize that and shouldn’t expect too much from hyped players. Now I’m not saying they shouldn’t expect great moments from him, and if he doesn’t provide enough for his team they should be upset by his performance and criticize him, "fairly". But giving him credits for his moments of flash and some fancy dribbling and then completely destroy him just because he doesn’t score from 50 yards every game, that’s just completely unfair. And I don’t know about you, but to me people who are unfair are really struggling from serious mental issues.
The problem with Kroos is he’s good and solid but not on the level he gets complement from. He’s a Pogba replacement quality wise? What quality are you talking about? Shooting? Physical? Dribbling? Forward driving? Pace? Vision? Defensive contribution? Kroos is only near Pogba’s quality when it comes to passing and that’s it. And also don't forget the 3 year age difference between them. Kroos was never proved to be a good DM in Heynckes Bayern, and having him injured in their triple run, actually benefited them that year since they put Muller in his position and had Robben running on the right flank so they had actually two more solid offensive minded players upfront.
And about James… I really doubt that he could find his old self after this horrific year. I really wish he had never gone to that garbage club of Madrid…