I don't have the time to get caught up on the last 2-3 pages, so apologies if this has been said/discussed. My final word on LD is that the team would have been better with him on the roster. Most of the JK apologists even admit that. LD at 80-90% for 10-20 minutes is better than Aron Johansson at 100% for 45-90.
I also firmly believe that JK didn't expect to make it out of the group stage. I think he saw the group of death, figured the team was a long shot to advance, and decided to bring more youth to prepare for 2018. IMO he knew that if he didn't get out of the group of death, there wouldn't be much criticism, and if he did, then great, mission accomplished.