Arsenal: 3 improvements Dani Ceballos must make if he stays

2. Presence

When all else fails, even if that creative spark isn’t there, a midfielder has to know how to have a presence in the midfield. Granit Xhaka is a master at that. Even when he’s struggling with passing, or not able to contribute on defense as successfully as he would like, he still understands the importance of having security in the middle of the pitch, not overextending himself and retaining a certain degree of control.

Ceballos is by nature a more energetic player than Xhaka and that’s okay. That’s why they’ve paired together so well. but there is still the need for presence from Ceballos as well—on and off the ball. He’s shown potential for both, but not on a consistent basis (more on that later).

This also comes down to how easy Ceballos is to get around. No one on the club gets dribbled around more than he does. It’s at nearly twice a game, which is twice that of Xhaka.

When the Gunners were at their best this year, it was because they were able to put up a fort of sorts in the midfield and control proceedings from there. Ceballos needs to learn how to contribute to that, even on a bad day.

On to No. 1.