Yeah away from home especially. Every away game lately seems to be like a basketball match. Great watch for the neutral but it's end to end and its chaotic and the biggest reason for that is that we don't hold possession in the opponents half of the pitch as well as we used to do. Nasri is one of the best ball retainers in the league and he helped us tremendously in that aspect. That type of control over games improves our defence by proxy because we lessen the amount of times we lose possession, so we lessen the amount of times teams can break on us.
His ball retention also allows our full backs to play higher, and because his movements are normally focused on coming away from the touchline, he creates space for the full back. When Navas plays wide right or even KDB, they often occupy the same space as the full back, and in essence they tend to negate each other for a lot of the game. Nasri pulls opponents inside with him and opens up the flanks.
Currently, at home, teams sit a bit deeper against us so Sterling and De Bruyne have an impact. Away from home is a different story and for me, he can't come back soon enough.
