You could also look at it like this-
Last year we desperately needed Benteke's goals
This year we are eleventh without them,
It's going to be great when he starts scoring again ( it will happen)
All good points DL.
Yes so far we haven't been as reliant on Benteke as last season but I think the worry is that we are still struggling to break teams down when they sit back not allowing us to counter attack especially at home. We have also a tough run of fixtures coming up which could see us drop into the bottom six after not picking up enough points through our easier run of fixtures.
That being said, due to the unpredictability of our team performances we could pick up more points than expected through these difficult fixtures just like at the start of the season but I'm not hopeful that's going to happen?
While I think we are in the mix to get relegated, there are definitely three worse teams than us.
As for the attacking , well I think PL and his staff have tried to get more clean sheets than score goals. The victory at Arsenal found them a way to win matches and he has stuck with it.
He is desperately trying to stay away from more 0-8, 0-4 defeats and constantly picks three def mids. el Ahmadi is a prime example of a player who never gives up. ( he is not good enough though)
I would also love us to get a bums of seats player but if I was the manager I would keep to the plan and find a better left back for starters.
There is a long way to go before we can total football our way to three points.