Rafael Benitez said: "The problem with Xabi is that people think he's not playing on the same level as last season, but he was on such a high level season. I think it's okay.
"His attitude's really good and he's always looking to improve with every training session, so I think it's fine. He is improving from a good level. He can play much better because he has such quality, but he also needs to have those options in wide areas. He can spread the play better if he has options around him but it's difficult because people are marking him tightly now. They are putting pressure on him.
"Xabi has the ability to play well even when he's tightly marked, especially when he has Steven Gerrard next to him in the middle of midfield.
"If you have two or three options, that's the difference between the big teams and others. If all our squad are fit, we have those options with Gerrard, Hamann, Xabi, Sissoko."