Struggling to believe what I'm reading here.
Firstly, he's a great talent. Full of natural ability with the ball at his feet. I've enjoyed some of his performances this season.
Personally, I have no issue at all with how he has been used however. He was nowhere near ready to be playing in The Premier league when he got here and Martinez was bedding him in slowly. Around December time he was beginning to play a bigger role in the side. He got injured at a dreadful time for both Everton and him - we were already stretched by injuries and we could really have done with him over that period, especially since he had been just starting to contribute properly. Since he came back he hasn't done much in his fleeting appearances to look like he merits a starting role. We have 4 wide players at the club currently, there's a role for Deulofeu - especially since Pienaar is injured and Mirallas is badly lacking in form, but Ged isn't doing enough to force his way in currently.
His defensive work is practically non-existent and his passing is well below par, especially since he's such an acclaimed graduate of La Maisa. These are the areas I would guess Barca have been hoping would develop while he's been here, but if we're being completely honest they haven't. He's got by at times by his ability to go past a man. He does this better than probably anyone else we have in the squad, but at times it's not enough.
I would say that currently he is disappointing me more than at any point he's been here. In the beginning he was settling in, then his injury happened and since he got back he's had the excuse of needing to build up sharpness etc. The problem is though that we've got 3 other players he's competing with and he's not done anywhere near enough in his recent appearances (however brief some of them have been) to merit being picked. We actually really could do with him showing some form at the moment as push for Europe, but he's not doing enough with the chances he has to merit starting games more.
I hope he stays for another season as I think he'd be much better off next year after having a season under his belt here, but if he doesn't then I've got to be honest and say it won't be a huge loss as I don't think he's done much that we'll miss. Still, the potential is undoubtedly there. I just think he's much further away from being the finished article than the casual observer may think.
