Riker is sent to command the Excalibur, La Forge becomes his first officer, and other experienced Enterprise personnel are assigned across the fleet. Those measures expose a wider readiness problem because Starfleet has assembled ships without complete crews or settled command teams. They also create a headquarters problem because the flagship loses the officers Picard most needs as advisers while he assumes responsibility for the formation. Sending away La Forge is especially risky because he developed the tachyon system on which the blockade depends. The scene shows how emergency personnel transfers can make individual ships usable while weakening the command node responsible for the entire operation.
Chapter · 47:23-51:09
Stripping the flagship to crew the blockade
The blockade force is so poorly prepared that Picard must disperse Enterprise officers to other ships, weakening the very flagship expected to coordinate the operation.