Jack Grealish endured a difficult first season with Manchester City after his £100m move from Aston Villa but he is excelling under Pep Guardiola now; watch Southampton vs Man City live on Sky Sports Premier League from 5pm on Saturday; kick-off 5.30pm
Saturday 8 April 2023 19:14, UK
Jack Grealish was named player of the match in Manchester City's 4-1 victory over Liverpool on Saturday after assisting Julian Alvarez, preventing an equaliser with a recovery run and scoring his side's fourth goal.
The 27-year-old's contribution had been scrutinised heavily since his arrival at Manchester City from Aston Villa 18 months ago but now, finally, the £100m man is winning the plaudits. This season, his ratio for goal involvements is up 50 per cent from last term and he has started in 12 of City's 14 Premier League games since the World Cup.
It was always likely to take an increase to his individual output for the narrative to change. A total of three goals and three assists in 26 Premier League games made for an underwhelming first season.
But the message from Pep Guardiola has been consistent: don't judge him on goals and assists. "It's not about that," said the Manchester City boss in September. "It's about his contribution without the ball and what he can produce for the other ones."
Guardiola had to fight to convince the player as well as the public.
"Players today play for the statistics, but this is the biggest mistake they can make," he said last February following comments by Grealish bemoaning his lack of goals and assists.
"Statistics are just a bit of information we have, but there are players that make the team play well and are not in the statistics. It's how you play if you perform to your maximum, to help your team-mates to make the process defensively and offensively better."
Guardiola felt Grealish was doing all that last season, despite his modest numbers, but the move from Villa Park to the Etihad Stadium required him to alter his game as well as his mindset.
"It's so different to what I was used to at Aston Villa," he said to Sky Sports last month. "Playing for Dean Smith, he'd say to me, 'go and find where you think the weak link is in the defence. If you want to, go to the right, in the middle, or hug the touchline'."
Grealish relished that freedom, contributing 14 goals and 16 assists in 62 Premier League games across his final two seasons with his boyhood club, but his instructions are very different now.
Guardiola's wide players are asked to stay high and wide when City have possession, the intention being to stretch opposition defences and create space in central areas. Wing play in a Guardiola team can, at times, feel like an exercise in self-sacrifice.
Grealish has had to curb his natural instincts to fulfil his manager's tactical demands and he is not the first wide player to have found the adaption process difficult.
In fact, it was a similar story for Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane and Riyad Mahrez, all of whom only really hit their stride in their second seasons under Guardiola. Sane later spoke of being "tactically reprogrammed" by the 52-year-old during his time at City.
Go further back, to Guardiola's Barcelona, and even Thierry Henry found himself bewildered, recalling, during an appearance on Monday Night Football in 2016, how he flouted his manager's strict positional instructions and drifted off the left flank to score in a Champions League game against Sporting Lisbon, only to then find himself hooked at half-time.
He took it as a valuable lesson. "When Pep has a plan - respect the plan," reflected the Frenchman. "You have to stay in your position and trust your team-mates that the ball will come to you."
It takes time to build that trust but it is there for Grealish now and it helps that it is starting to benefit him as well as his team-mates.
Indeed, by stationing himself on the left-hand touchline when City stole possession on the right in the build-up to their second goal against Arsenal in mid-February, Grealish was able to ghost into the box unopposed to apply the finish. It was the kind of goal Sterling once made his trademark.
Guardiola praised Grealish for his increased "ambition" and "aggression" in the final third after that game.
"Attacking the backline, the quality was always there," he said. "But his commitment to taking a risk and making important decisions right now is making the difference."
But finishing off chances like that is just one of his responsibilities.
Grealish was Aston Villa's game-changer, a free spirit they looked to for moments of individual brilliance, but at City his role is, as Guardiola says himself, primarily that of a facilitator.
His ball-carrying abilities are a key part of that and they have been harnessed to great effect by Guardiola at City.
This season in the Premier League, in fact, only City defender Manuel Akanji averages more carries per 90 minutes than Grealish, while nobody carries the ball further.
Those statistics reflect his importance when it comes to moving the ball upfield. He is an invaluable outlet and City are directing a higher proportion of their attacks down his flank as a result.
But what is also crucial is that he drags defenders with him while he does it. Again, it is about creating space for his team-mates. His assist for Nathan Ake's goal in the FA Cup win over Arsenal, when both Takehiro Tomiyasu and Bukayo Saka were drawn towards him, leaving Ake unmarked, was an example of its effectiveness.
If Grealish is not feeding his team-mates in those kinds of scenarios, he is usually winning fouls instead.
This season, he has won the free-kicks which saw Nathan Collins and Cristian Romero sent off for Wolves and Tottenham respectively. More recently, he won the penalty for City's third goal in their 3-1 victory over Aston Villa.
Grealish no longer benefits from the support of an overlapping full-back as he did at Villa - Guardiola's left-back tends to tuck into midfield rather than bomb forward on the outside - and that puts more emphasis on his one-on-one skill and ability to draw fouls.
Thankfully, those are areas in which he excels and Grealish is offering plenty in terms of creativity too. His average of 0.26 expected assists from open play per 90 minutes is second only to Kevin De Bruyne in the Premier League this season.
It is just another example of Grealish's growing influence in this Manchester City side. He offers much more than goals and assists. Just listen to Guardiola. But now that they are flowing too, the recognition is finally beginning to follow.
Watch Southampton vs Man City live on Sky Sports Premier League from 5pm on Saturday; kick-off 5.30pm
