Sport
Grealish is finally living up to his £100m price tag
Everything Jack Grealish was meant to be for Manchester City, he was against Liverpool on Saturday. The 27-year-old has faced a lot of criticism since making the £100m switch to the Etihad Stadium from Aston Villa two years ago, but it all washed away as he found devastating form in a 4-1 win.
Grealish scored one and assisted another. He made a crucial defensive contribution to stop Liverpool from going 2-0 up in the first half just moments before setting up Julian Alvarez for an equaliser. Grealish was influential in all areas of the game with City channelling much of their attacking play through the England winger.
“All this season, he has been playing really well,” Pep Guardiola said. “Now it’s the Jack we thought. Aston Villa fans know this Jack. Nothing changed it’s just a question of believing ‘I am part of that, and I can be here.’ Now he has more minutes. The way he behaved in the beginning when he was not playing was exceptional. We are so satisfied for his performance. Today was amazing, he was really good.”
Under Guardiola, Grealish has had to change his natural game. He is a player who likes to take plenty touches of the ball, but Guardiola’s approach requires quick, incisive decisions from his attackers. Too often in Grealish’s first season at Manchester City, he was guilty of slowing down play in the final third.
Now, though, Grealish is moving the ball quicker. Liverpool could’t handle the directness of his play on Saturday, nor could they cope with the pace of his decision-making as he bounced passes around his teammates. It was exhilarating to watch a player with such natural talent at such high speed.
“It’s part of learning the way the manager wants to play and it does take time,” Grealish said. “I feel like I’ve got that now. There are times where the manager doesn’t want me to dribble all the time and [instead] keep the ball and play little short passes which I completely understand. When we play like we did today we are near enough unstoppable so fingers crossed it can continue.”
Guardiola’s system requires tactical and positional intelligence from his players, but it also needs difference makers in the attacking third. At Barcelona, that player was Lionel Messi and while Grealish isn’t at the level of the legendary Argentine he does perform a similar role for the Premier League champions. He makes things happen in and around the box.
Of course, Grealish isn’t the first player to have taken a season to acclimatise to his new surroundings in a Guardiola team. It took Rodri time to show his best form for Manchester City while Joao Cancelo also required a similar transitional period after joining from Juventus. There is an established trend.
Erling Haaland could be next in line to follow the precedent. While the Norwegian striker has scored goals for fun this season, questions have been asked of his ability in possession and effectiveness in pressing from the front. Haaland is an excellent striker, but perhaps not a Guardiola striker in his current form.
The way Grealish has adapted his game offers Haaland encouragement that he can also tailor himself to become an even better fit for Guardiola’s Manchester City team. He can be more comfortable and effective on the ball and more willing to drop deep and open up pockets of space against low defensive blocks.
Grealish stands as proof of the improvement Guardiola can bring out of players. Manchester City spent a lot of money on the England international, but Guardiola is now maximising Grealish’s talent and that is a frightening prospect. A £100m transfer fee will never be considered a bargain, but it is now starting to look like value for money.
