When Poulsen had his duties only to defend he did very good against top Serie A sides. And i don't think Poulsen is too weak physically to be bullied. Yes, one of the reasons he underperformed was misusing him in a CM position, the other was continuety, which he didn't get due to injuries.
Just put your dislike of this transfer aside and think of him as pure DM, not some CM who can defend, but just DM and you will see that he is a quality player. By the way Poulsen is very solid when it comes to defending.
Personally i was never impressed by his hard core defensive characteristics.
I m rather impressed by his a la CZ ability to pass.
To me a a true DM is more like Davids, a beast like Sissoko fits the bill for me.
He must be strong, reliable, durable and very dynamic. I am not at all convinced by Poulsen ability to intimidate players in a similar way to Sissoko's.
He can get the job done, with dirty playing and smart positioning, but when we have lacked the presence of Sissoko and his physicality, i ve always thought, that we look far more exposed and our defense proved that by collapsing right there, right then.
Poulsen, despite having a couple of decent games at the period he was used as the direct Sissoko replacement,
he was unable to recover the situation(defensive wise) and do the difference, like our black ninja.
Nor any other midfielder we currently own of course...
I believe that Poulsen value lies on his versatility to both defend and attack satisfacatory! Not his solid defensive duties.
And as you have noticed, i see him rather than a CM who can defend, or to be more accurate, a DM who can pass. But not a DM, who can defend.
I am sure that his injuries and change of championship took their toll though,
i hope that he will surprise me next year! And still let some playing time for Marchisio too...