What does he bring? Last time we tried this you stated goals which is probably not the place I'd start for a player deeper in midfield.
My take is he runs a lot but is relatively low impact in the actual midfield. He tackles a little but not enough, he carries the ball sometimes but not enough, he isn't really great positionally or on the ball. So you're actually right, what he brings is a good goal threat for his position but for me that doesn't offset everything else.
I think you may be underappreciating putting pressure on the ball.
I've told my kid for years that as a defender, your job is simple: don't get beat. Winning the ball is a bonus. Your job is to turn attackers outside, slow them up so that your team can reset, and force a pass that they didn't want. On a set piece, just deny your responsibility a clean look. If you continually do that as a team, eventually you'll force a legitimately bad pass and somebody can take the gamble to go for the ball-winning tackle or intercept the pass.
A really good DM can function as the heartbeat of the team or crash forward and contribute to the offense, but a merely good one will handle the defensive basics, make quick outlet passes to an open player that can do something with it, and be available to redistribute the ball when an attacker falls under pressure.
The only difference between levels of the game is whether or not you can keep up with the speed and physicality of that level.
Beginning to think football isn't for you pal.
