Was a massive fan of the lad when he was here and the likes of Carlin and Tel will know I defended him to the hilt on here. Having said that it's very difficult not to have been effected by the way he left the club. I'd have liked to have wished him well but at the moment it would have to be through gritted teeth.
Notwithstanding that, I fail to see this apparent renaissance he's had this season. He played the first 2 league games and was substituted in each early in the second half having made little or no impact. He then lost his place in the team to Kovacic, and up until the Southampton game had been restricted to the odd minutes from the bench and 2 starts in League and Europa cup games.
I didn't watch the Southampton game and only saw the highlights on MOTD, but I've seen him in about 4/5 other games this season and his performances have been totally underwhelming. Probably the best word to describe his performances is "safe". None of the dynamic running or taking the game to the opposition that characterised his early career.
I saw a clip on SSN yesterday and his stats (goals, assists and chances created) this season are nothing to write home about either. Decent pass completion but as I said, these were all very safe.
Hope he get's a game against Croatia so we can judge him against a decent midfield, but I suspect he and England will be totally overrun in that department.