I do feel like his passing and playmaking was better in 2016/17 than it is now.
Here’s his highlight reel, footage from August 2016 to February 2017:
Notice the following time stamps:
0:41
2:25
2:58
4:18
4:45
8:01
He hasn’t been playing these kind of through-balls and passes recently.
Obviously he hasn’t lost his vision or passing ability, you don’t lose that. But I do feel that he has lot less creative duties nowadays. His main purpose is to score, not to create.
Our 16/17 team was rather stiff. We were well organized but not very creative going forward, so Paulo played as an attacking midfielder and everything went through him.