Tuesday, 12th March, 2013
Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard believes that the club are now starting to see the real Stewart Downing, who is proving to be "money well spent".
The winger was snapped up by previous Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish, who paid the princely sum of £20M to sign Downing from Aston Villa.
He could only put in a miserable season for Dalglish however and was soon written off by the Scot’s successor Brendan Rodgers.
Indeed, Rodgers even informed Downing that he could leave the club if an acceptable bid arrived in January.
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But the former Middlesbrough winger has knuckled down, won back a spot in the Reds’ first team, and was on the scoresheet at the weekend as Liverpool beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-2.
For Gerrard, Liverpool are now seeing the real Downing, with the winger well on the way to repaying his transfer fee.
"He’s a different player now. Now we’re seeing Stewart Downing the England international and why he has got all those caps", Gerrard told his club’s official site.
"What is impressing me the most about Stewart Downing at the moment is the work he’s doing for the team without the ball – sliding tackles, his double marking with Glen Johnson and his effort.
"The stats that go up on the board after every game underline that. He’s a different player and if he can keep producing those types of performances then it will be money well spent.
"If he keeps to that level of consistency he can make that position in the team his own."
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