The team doesn't exist for Micky to have his favourite position. Rightly or wrongly, Barlow had lost his place in the midfield pecking order because he couldn't give them what they were looking for. From what I saw he was drifting along to a fair extent. Even with his forward work, he still had extended runs through the midfield. He's got his spark back, for whatever reason (I'd wager it's having gone back to Peel and coming back in with a clear purpose), but ultimately he's the one responsible for that too,