He wasn't all that great anywhere in the past either. Think this is his normal level in his current age. Bringing him on to change game against Atleti was stupid.
I don't know if anyone ever called him great.
He is, and has always been, a good squad player, one of not so many players able to play in a great Barcelona team, because of his very good basic technique and vision and decent physique.
Here are some stats, comparing him with Dest:
https://fbref.com/en/players/335fa267/Sergi-Roberto
https://fbref.com/en/players/5976f83e/Sergino-Dest
https://fbref.com/en/stathead/playe...0-2021&player_id2=335fa267&p2yrfrom=2020-2021
I have not gone into detail into them but only glanced, and have no point I want to make with them but link them for potential discussion (it should be said that Robertos stats are doped by him playing MC as well)
I think him and Dest are of pretty similar quality, it's a question of taste (and gameplan) who you prefer. I think it's tasteless and dumb to shit on Roberto the way most do here.
edit: what I did see on these stats though, is the amount of progressive passes between the players. Dest is 23th percentile, while Roberto is 76th, compared to other full backs in the last 12 months. Roberto has been shat on very much because he "constantly passes backwards"...
Dest dribbles more often obviously, but they're pretty equal in "progressive carries". Roberto attempts more passes and has a better pass% and also seems to have a slightly better "xA" and passes leading to shots...