Find it amazing a centre mid is never talked about, absolutely crying out for a decent one.
Hayden, Longstaff, Shelvey, Ki and Colback is acceptable if you've absolutely no intention of reaching the top half. Two are capable of being excellent/useful, two are capable of being useful/terrible and one is generally just a shithead. It's not a good situation but it isn't terrible. It'll certainly do for Mike and Steve's operation.
Still looks pretty weak to me. Longstaff is stilll a unknown quantity in reality, seems to have it but still a lot on his shoulders. You know what you’re getting with Shelvey and certainly can’t rely on him for goals. Same goes for Hayden. Think we will really struggle in this area of the pitch without Rafa’s guidance this season.