I thought Nigel for the first time in a long while had acres of room in which to operate in and wasnt suffocated by having a player 5 yards infront of him at all times. It made so much difference.
He can hold the midfield shape by himself and slide into the pivot position when he has 4 or 5 players infont of him and an option to find every time.
Ive always given De Jong a hard time because I saw him when he was a youngster at Ajax on 10 to 15 occassions and he had lots and lots of ability on the ball, not game winning ability, but he can use it much better than his role often dicates in our team.
Ive often thought the reason he looks so limited is because hes suffocated by players dropping into his position from further up the pitch to collect the ball whereas they should stay within medium range and 9 times out of 10 he will find them.
De Jong is an asset and I wish our management time would use him to his potential