Martin O'Neill believes Gareth Barry is a totally different player at club level - and is pleased to see him back to his Aston Villa best.
Villa midfielder Barry has shrugged off the saga of a protracted summer move to Liverpool and shone for club and country in the last seven days.
The 27-year-old was singled out by Villa manager O'Neill following the 2-1 away win at Tottenham which sent them into the top four of the Barclays Premier League.
But this was a contrasting display to the assured performance Barry gave in the midfield holding role in England's 4-1 humbling of Croatia in Zagreb last week.
"He was brilliant," said O'Neill, of Barry, who will make his 400th Villa appearance in Thursday's UEFA Cup tie against Bulgaria's Litex Lovech.
"He wasn't alone, but he was really magnificent. He was back to his best at club level.
"Interestingly, he plays a totally different game. He's not a holding midfield player for us. If he is, I've picked the wrong player.
"Stiliyan Petrov is the central midfield player and Gareth is given a licence to go and play but he'll get back and do his job as well.
"He made the goal against Tottenham when Luke Young played him into trouble.
"He extricated himself brilliantly to set up the move and Ashley Young finished it off."
The Barry-Petrov partnership in the middle has forced Nigel Reo-Coker onto the right flank and it was his fifth-minute finish which climaxed one of several flowing moves to put the visitors in control at White Hart Lane.
Villa's overall performance, in fact, suggested O'Neill's tinkering will pay off.
"Stiliyan Petrov is now showing the form, in a totally different position to what he did at Celtic when he was the one going forward," O'Neill added.
"Anyone could go forward when you had Henrik Larsson and Chris Sutton playing up front - I would have scored 25 goals a season.
"Now he is playing this role, he is very strong and the Villa crowd are now seeing the best of him.
"He has been consistently excellent since the start of the season, taking it up from last season."
O'Neill's summer shopping has bolstered the squad at Villa Park and its depth will be tested in the coming weeks with the club's return to European competition.
The extra numbers - including new full-backs Young and Nicky Shorey and midfielder James Milner - should help the bid to compete on two fronts.
But O'Neill reckons it is too early to assess either the team's credentials or potential.
"I'm not so much worried about being fourth, it's about getting the points on the board and getting confidence," he said.
"If we can't get confidence from that performance then we never will.
"We went to Tottenham, won the game and played delightfully.
"We're capable of doing that - brilliant moves and fantastic performances - but you can't make assessments.
"We played Manchester City and were terrific but couldn't cope with Stoke.
"We've got loads of things to do to make us a proper side, a big side."
One of the most pressing things to do is to re-think the attacking line with Norwegian striker John Carew (ankle) not travelling to Bulgaria with the rest of the squad.
Fellow forward Gabriel Agbonlahor was also forced off on Monday night but his thigh twinge is not considered to be serious.
His pace has already attracted England manager Fabio Capello but O'Neill joked that his best young talent was not quite ready for the next step on a regular basis.
""With Ashley Young and Gabby Agbonlahor, their time will come," he said, in the aftermath of the midlands club's first win in London for four years.
"I'm really selfish about this and want them to be on the fringe of the internationals but not actually play.
"I'd hope that would continue for another eight years!"
