Yep, I always felt he was a more effective player when deployed in the 'number 8' role rather than as a 'number 6'... The only trouble is, now he's in his 30s, the tendancy will be to play him deeper because he'll have inevitably lost some pace that is crucial to the '8' role (yes, I know he was never the fastest player in the world in the first place, but it's all relative...)
I'm going to sit on the fence on this one... #noshitsherlock