A lot of this will sound like cliched: always turns up, creative, tenacious, aggressive, he’s literally everywhere – should be captain next season. Yes, it does read like a list of cliches but probably because they are true. We were lost without him early season, then when he came back, the points will follow.
I saw him on occasion for Sunderland, so probably I can’t really talk about how he was with you with absolute certainty to be fair. I was impressed the first time I saw him (the game when you were already relegated from the PL: Pickford and Defoe essentially took us down with you) but I saw a few games in your Championship relegation and subsequent season, and I thought he looked a little lost at time. Perhaps, overburdened and seemed to struggle.
He was like that with us at first. A little rudderless, all effort and nowt to show for it.
But, he’s developed massively and as he enters his prime, he’s a real asset. Top player for us and the way we played under McCann. Seems like a great bloke off the field too and does a lot with fans, community stuff etc. Speaks really well too.
Apologies for the midfield general cliché ticklist above– but how else do you describe great players?