I think you are right Ron. Having very good midfielders is now essential. Before it really didn't matter as long as you had a semi decent DM.
The big problem is what sort of message does it send out that a team gets promoted, can't score a point and then gets relegated again. It is going to kill off motivation for new teams. It's obviously weighted too much in favour of the big teams as we have never had a team on zero points at this stage of the season. It's no reflection on your team or tactics, it's just that you started later and the gap is wider then ever thanks to the match engine.