There's a few things I'd say but two of the key ones are that he needs lots of intelligent movement around him. You look at most of his best moments in games and they very often come off the back of runs which he can exploit. Not even runs in behind, just positive movement beyond him If things are slow and static, which is more often the case with us, he's about as useful as Denilson.
I'd also say he needs someone who can find him high up the pitch in pockets of space early like Santi was able too. Without that he's not able to pick the ball up in dangerous areas and he either ends up picking the ball up in deep areas or under intense pressure.
You also have the issue of him having to do so much tracking back and ending up playing most of the game deep in our own half, even fucking Giroud was coming back and trying to pressure the Tottenham midfielders ffs. How is he supposed to thrive in that environment? He's not a player who's going to drive forward with the ball or even someone who's going to work his way out of tight spaces. It's a non-starter.
Simply put, he's not an individual who's going to make things happen when the system isn't working, he just doesn't have the required skills in his locker.
