I commented on that passage in the lead up to the goal in the Zubimendi thread but that gives a brilliant angle of the space Rice was moving into that I hadn't seen before. The Odegaard aspect is also interesting, for all the talk of him generally playing too deep and safe, in that particular situation he needs to be recognising Rice's movement and complementing it by taking up Rice's usual space.
I'm struggling now to come to a view as to whether passages like that are due to confidence or design. I cannot fathom that in normal circumstances a player of Zubimendi's talents would actively choose the 'safe' option of recycling it in the defensive third rather than taking on what is a fairly standard forward pass into space, even if there is a clear instruction to do so by Arteta. It just feels like it would be so unnatural for someone of his talent to actively choose the regressive choice.
