At one point in Wednesday night's game, I saw Eberechi Eze pick the ball up from deep, take a touch, then very smoothly roll the ball out to Jurrien Timber. It was just inside the Arsenal half. He had got on the ball quite a bit up until that point. It struck me that it wasn't the first time it had happened.
Indeed, I then counted half a dozen times in which a similar situation unfolded.
Eze had 56 touches of the ball against Bayer Leverkusen – he was involved, he was a central part of the team, I was positive – but the trouble Arsenal had was that he wasn't involved in the part of the pitch where we want Eze to be.
If I think about the times he has been able to cause maximum impact this season, it has been in the box and around the edge of the opposition penalty area by the D.
It felt like he never really got into those positions on Wednesday, which felt like a microcosm of Arsenal's overall performance.
In attack, they faced a well-organised side who were happy to let the Arsenal players have the ball, but only in areas where it did little damage.
In Arsenal's defence, other than the goal Leverkusen scored, they offered just as few opportunities.
But the role Eze played just felt like a bit of an explanation as to why the game was low on events – for both teams.
If Arsenal want to get over the line in competitions in Europe and domestically, they have to find a way to lean into Eze's skills.
Wednesday night felt like he was doing a bit of an Martin Odegaard impression. It didn't quite work.
Find more from Chris Howard at Suburban Goonersand the Same Old Arsenal Podcast
