It must be very frustrating to feel one's facility slipping away due to aging.
Clapton's career has been very mixed, to say the least. Arguably his best material was the Derek and the Dominos stuff co-credited to him and Bobby Whitlock, even if Whitlock was the dominant partner in that collaboration.
The tunes EC's come up with since that period have been pretty bland but then he once characterized his musical taste as "schmaltzy", so at least he's honest. Most of his career has been spent smack dab in the middle of the road. That's apparently where's he's felt most comfortable and after all, you can't legitimately criticize someone for being true to themselves.