He did his job against Arsenal yesterday as a central midfielder, kept things neat and tidy and fulfilled his defensive duties well. People forget that when he goes on his marauding runs bagging goals and assists it is just a bonus to his game, it's not his duty. Yesterday, he completed his role in the team and put in a good shift. We can't ask for a goal/assist every week, especially at the Emirates.
Never forget the role he played at Barcelona, that is still the same player we signed. Seriously, the expectations people have for him is ridiculous at times, presuming that if he doesn't burst past 3 or 4 players every 10 minutes or so then he's had a poor game. Not to mention that yesterday we played a 4-2-3-1 meaning he had 3 midfielders ahead of him, meaning he had less reason to bomb forward than normal in comparison to our more traditional 4-2-2