nige was underrated by opposition fans and the media and he was publicly slaughtered after breaking ben arfa's leg, as a result we all got behind nige to give him confidence. he developed a devoted following who vastly overrated and continue to overrate him and his contribution on the pitch as an antidote to the public negativity towards him.
he was underrated by everyone besides us and we overrated him, his stock has risen since then and he has gained the recognition he deserves. but he remains overrated by us.
we play much more coherent and fluid football without nige in the side. not only does he stifle the opposition's game, he stifles ours too. he upsets the balance in the side. i think our last two games have demonstrated that it isn't a necessity to have one outright one dimensional 'destroyer' in the side, we have a balance now, we attack and defend as a collective and the defensive responsibility is shared.
tbh i also think nige has shown himself unworthy of all the adoration, particularly in light of his contract dispute.
you don't unnecessarily tinker with a winning side, especially one playing as well as we are. as it stands he'll remain on the bench once he's fit, and he'll likely be staying there until we have an injury to barry or yaya.