Claudius
That's all good and well, and I defended Havertz because of what he brought to the table regarding that, but the first quality in a midfielder following a consistent first touch should be the ability to penetrate vertically whether through a pass or a dribble. When you lack that quality, you end up passing laterally and that's what leads to the dreaded horse shoe.
Look at De Bruyne's goal yesterday, Rodri plays a cute vertical pass and eliminates two barbarians leaving the former space to run at a back four. We just don't have that capability at the moment. After signing Havertz and Rice, who are those duel monsters, if we aren't prioritising a deeper midfielder who can make penetrative passes like a latter stage Song or Partey, then my faith will start wavering.