See this a lot, and I am not having a go, but who says we have the best squad in the league? The media say it’s us, then it’s Leeds, then Southampton, it’s not quite so cut and dried I think, as those teams have quite a few players who were in the Premier League last season.
I am also glad you added the second point, as if we have this great squad (we don’t, we have great, really great, first team players) but when they are injured we are average, such that teams who graft and get in our face, can often get joy, teams such as Hull and nearly Sunderland.