As have most Liverpool players, Nathaniel Clyne has come under fire since Christmas after a string of below-par performances.

Clyne has always been a solid and dependable right-back, with the defensive and discipline side of his game never in question, particularly as he’s been paired in the right-hand channel with the dependable Joël Matip.

However, as increasingly Liverpool’s full-backs function as attacking players first, the question remains whether Clyne is technically good enough to succeed at Liverpool.

Best attacking right-back in the league?

The idea that Clyne’s passing in the final third isn’t good enough simply has no basis in the facts.

Yes, Clyne is currently going through a bit of a sticky patch, but given that the entirety of the Reds' starting eleven is currently going through a sticky patch, that’s not exactly surprising.

However, as poorly as Clyne has played at times since Christmas, he’s been better than most of his team-mates and his stats are still holding up.

This season Clyne averages 1.4 key passes per 90 minutes. Since Christmas, he has played 11 key passes in eight games in the Premier League, which is bang on his average for the season.

So even if Clyne’s performances aren’t as solid, he’s still been producing the goods in 2017 - even thought it might not appear that way.

As for whether 1.4 key passes per game is good enough, the answer would surely have to be yes; compared to other attacking full backs, it is excellent an excellent average.

Kyle Walker, widely touted as the best attacking right-back in the league, plays just 1.2 key passes; Hector Bellerin a meagre 0.6; Antonio Valencia also manages 1.2 and Chelsea wing-back Victor Moses only manages 0.8.

Moreover, Clyne’s overall passing game stands up to scrutiny.

At 50 passes per 90, he’s level with Valencia, and marginally ahead of Walker and Bellerin (both 48), and his passing completion rate is very similar (83 per-cent, the highest being Valencia on 86 per-cent and the lowest Moses on 78 per-cent).

So Clyne stacks up well against similar players in the other top sides. But how does he stack up amongst his own team-mates? Pretty effectively.

The big comparison is with James Milner on the opposite flank, and Clyne’s stats are very similar. He’s only clocked up one less key pass in admittedly 150 more minutes, as Milner’s average per 90 is 1.5, compared to Clyne’s 1.4.

But Clyne puts in considerably less crosses than Milner, 0.6 per 90 compared to 1.4, which given how awful Liverpool’s crosses and execution of crosses has been, isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Other than Milner, only the front three of Phillipe Coutinho (2.1), Roberto Firmino (2.1) and Sadio Mané (1.7) have clocked more key passes per 90 than Clyne and he has more than Jordan Henderson (1.3), Adam Lallana (1.2) or Georginio Wijnaldum (1.0).

Finally, it’s worth noting that this is Clyne’s most effective Premier League season, as his previous highest key passes was 1.1 for Southampton back in 2013/14.

Last season Clyne was managing just 0.7 key passes, meaning that he has doubled his output.

So whilst key passes aren’t the only measure of a player’s technical ability, the fact that Clyne has created more chances for his team-mates than any other top right-back in the league, and that he stacks up similarly well against his own team-mates means that his technical ability in the final third should not come under pressure, even if his form is not the best in 2017.