Creative midfield is by far the most important aspect. When Real Madrid steamrolled our midfield in the second half in Cardiff, that had nothing to do with their bench, Ronaldo or Ramos. That had everything to do with Modric, Isco and Kroos.
Pogba was never good defensively, but his ability to link midfield with attack is something that we still haven’t replaced. We need a player like Modric or Iniesta who can link midfield to attack. If we don’t get one then we will continue to fail at the last hurdle in the Champions League.