Funny thing that, what exposure does to you - both ways. When we had a "system", Lamela and Sissoko really stood out as mediocre players. And when I say system, I mean an Eriksen in form. I cannot emphasize enough how important (I think) he was for us. Arguably the best buy we've made in eons, his peak coincided with the best seasons I've ever seen from Spurs. His vision, distribution and ability to make things happen allowed other players to be themselves (exhibit A: Alli) and even look better in the process. Without Eriksen we have no one to create anything (the best "initiator" we have now is probably Kane for GHod's sake). This exposes Winks as a player who is much more comfortable passing the ball sideways and backwards to someone who makes things happen, even when 2-0 down and said person does not exist, and Sissoko as someone who prefers to pass the ball straight back at the very person he received the ball from (later interpreted as "solid"). If he on top of that makes a successful pass or two forward, he's shoe-in MotM. Still it's a little unfair to expect them to be players they never were, and they're rightfully applauded when trying. Those kind of players' reasons for standing out negatively are now their reasons for standing out positively, so to speak.
Same goes for the defence, even Sanchez would and did look better before. Not because he's suddenly become an idiot, but because our defense had much less chance to go tits up when 85% of the league sat back against us, and rarely had more than one man in our half. No one double and triple teams Kane anymore, because he spends most of his time going walkabout in a non lethal position on the field. Look at Liverpool now, their dip is not all down to Van Dijk being injured. It's about when put under regular pressure, not all players are as solid as you maybe thought they were.
Put old Lamela in our team today, and he'll look good. Even if he hasn't changed much, if at all. This goes for Son too actually, the same Son who hardly started a game in our "heydays" unless Kane had one of his annual ankle break breaks. He's pretty much the same player as well, but he's more visible and has more responsibility. He has always had an engine, he's always been direct, and up until recently he's always been oblivious to that there may be players (Kane) better placed in the box than himself. He's actually a bit worse now in my opinion, because his suspect decision making sometimes makes him pass out of "obligation and favour", not because it's a better option than going for it himself. At least that's the way I see it.
The more I think about it, the more I agree with those who feels a massive rebuild is for the best.
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