Quote Originally Posted by Peter View Post
He is very good without the ball and is crucial to the press. Unfortunately, with the ball, he has been a passenger for a while now. He was awful again last night. His confidence seems to be on the floor as well.

Just have to hope he rediscovers the player that he is next season.

We dominated Madrid but that was a team ready to implode. They now have, it seems. Last night we came up against a very good side and we couldn't get our best players in the game.

A look at our bench tells a story. Two keepers and three lads who don't have a senior appearance between them.
It's a good point re his pressing, finding creative players who are willing to press like that is not always easy. I think he's also hurt by our lack of a striker. Every time he gets it in the final third he either tries to play combinations with Saka or he switches it wide to the other side. It's very predictible but would be less predictible if he had a central option more often.

None of which, of course, completely excuses his performances. He's in a rut, and Arteta needs to figure out how to get him out of it.