I can't agree more with you one this. People also talk about loyalty from players that are non existent in modern football...but at the same time I am amazed at how quickly fans opinions change regarding players depending on what the manager or media says.
He plays very well at Milan and in most games he had a huge impact even if he didn't score or assist. Even Spain thinks he is now getting good enough for their team...yet at Everton we think he is not good enough for us and slate him wherever we can. That is not the Everton I got used to over the years...where we slate players just because the manager or media says something.
I don't think anyone is slating him over what the manager says - the evidence of him standing on the halfway line, hands on hips, sometimes half-slumped forwards blowing after half an hour is enough for most people to know that he doesn't have the required fitness to put in a shift for the team and this manager won't allow luxury players in the side as Martinez did. Can't/won't press from the front, sporadic attempts to mark overlapping full backs, seems to lose interest after he gets a kick or two etc etc. I can see that with my own eyes, don't need anyone to put it in the media to confirm it.
Ability-wise, I think you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who doesn't think he's got the lot but unfortunately that's not enough in this day and age
He frustrates me massively because I know there is a potential superstar in there, but I don't think we'll ever see it here. That said, I admire him wanting to play every week rather than sit and pick up his wages like many players seem happy to do. That being the case, given it now seems really unlikely that he'll come back here and be a success, I hope he goes on somewhere else and fulfills that obvious potential