"There are only a few players in this country who have had the sort of education where they look as if they could have been brought up in Holland, Spain or France. Tom is one of them. I think he is as good a talent as we have in the English game, and he is still growing."
Maybe he is just being nice, but Everton manager Roberto Martinez has revealed his bemusement at the harsh criticism and petitions aimed at Manchester United and England's Tom Cleverley.
Martinez would know the midfielder's game quite well seeing as he had the 24-year-old under his wing at Wigan during the 2010-11 season as a loan signing.
Cleverely was generally impressive during that spell but no one can deny that he has failed to hit those heights in the glaring spotlight at Old Trafford. He has been poor, failed to impose himself when given a chance in Man United's 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1-1, becoming an easy scapegoat as the Red Devils flounder this season.
It has not helped that he has yet to provide a single assist and has scored just once.
But what is interesting about Cleverley is the fact that he has tended to look towards Spanish football rather than the mediocrity of English football with its emphasis on pace and power, attributes which are not part of his armoury.
A few years ago, he said: "I think I can model my game on Xavi and Iniesta and also Pedro. The movement from those guys is incredible. They are not massive physically but they stay on the ball. They shield it so well. They used their body brilliantly. I need to get that into my game."
Before anyone points out the patently obvious, he does not have anything approaching the ability of Xaviesta.
But perhaps it is not surprising that he impressed under a Spanish manager at Wigan, where he appeared more comfortable in their 4-5-1 formation where team-mates are positioned closer together and in a more fluid system.
In the less pressurized environment at the DW Arena, he found the net four times and assisted two goals in 25 matches.
But at United, there is far more required from him in a two-man midfield with emphasis on the flanks, rather than the three-man version. And as a player that sees himself as more comfortable in a short-passing side, some aspects of his struggles are understandable.
Overall, some of his individual stats are not bad this season. With a pass success rate of 89 per cent, he is generally reliable on that front and indeed it is better than Michael Carrick's rate this season. That pass success rate is among the Top 20 in the Premier League in 2013/14.
One caveat is that he has a greater rate of backward passes than midfielders like Carrick and Fletcher. But when you look at the Squawka stats, the vastly superior Xavis and Iniestas of this world have very similar rates of backward passes, albeit in a different tactical scheme.
But it is also notable that he attempts fewer long balls forward (3.7) than Carrick (6.3).
He also ranks 13th at United in terms of the average length of his passes, with the likes of Carrick, Fletcher, Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney putting more distance on their passes.
Cleverley would be more suited to being a link man alongside a holding midfielder and a short-passing attacking midfielder like Juan Mata in a central zone positioned more tightly together.
The problem for Cleverley is that he is not of the required quality to build a team or system around, certainly not at a club like Manchester United and with the club set to strengthen in midfield, he will only fall further down the pecking order.
But clearly he is more comfortable in a less direct system than the one employed by Moyes.
