The only thing his performances show is that you cant half ass a rebuild or a formation.
We want to play a 4231 (partly because of de Jong), but any successful team that deploys one depends on dynamism - see Bayern and Frenkies Ajax. We have Griezmann, Coutinho, (Messi) and Pedri as #10, they use(d) Mueller or van de Beek. Dynamic box to box players. Same for our wingers vs theirs (though theres hope with Dembele and Fati). The double pivot in a 4231 needs fast transitions to work, which is simply not possible with our key players. Its not a formation to dominate the midfield (like 433). 4231 is supposed to be played vertically. But we dont do that for obvious reasons.
With Messi still here 433 just makes more sense. At least give the midfielders in a static, possession based system someone to play with, to form the right triangles. And SPACE in front of them. At the moment Frenkie (and Busquets) have like a million players in front of them. Hard to shine like that.
Edit: Theres literally no point for him to dribble. He will pass to Messi right next to him anyway. Or to Coutinho/Pedri/Griezmann. When he beat his marker at Ajax the players in front of him would attack the box, which gave him space to run into.
