A lot of stuff I disagree with in here, mind.
Your post speaks more of your dislike of Benitez than anything else imo. He was pragmatic and defensive, but if you couldn't see control in his systems, if you couldn't see a plan, then I'm afraid you weren't looking hard enough at all.
Benitez got plenty out of players, certainly more out of the centre backs and central midfielders. When RB parked the bus we looked in control of our area and we would successfully kill off a game. When Bruce parks the bus we're reliant on Dubravka having a good game, again. We allow far too many shots, far too many opposition passes, far too much possession in dangerous areas. The outlets that we saw under RB do not exist with SB, despite having players perfectly capable of posing a threat on the counter. It's not even hit and hope, it's get hit and hope.
My disdain for Bruce has fuck all to do with his time as Sunderland manager and everything to do with how bang average he is. How bang average he has been for much of his career in the Premier League.
If you think football is as simple as 11 lads, jumpers for goalposts, or whatever other reductionist claptrap you spouted, you've totally ignored the way the game has changed. Gone is 4-4-2 with a big man/little man combo up front and in come deeper lying forwards who aren't necessarily the main goal scorer. Wingers are playing as inside forwards again. Winning the ball back is every player's responsibility, not just the hatchet-man in the middle. Tiki-Taka, Gegenpress, these aren't just hipster terms, these are tactical set ups that changed the game entirely. Look at Klopp's Liverpool, Guardiola's Barcelona, even Wilder's Shef Utd. They're all making complicated, comprehensive plans for every game, for specific periods or situations in a game.