10 | Jack Grealish - 2021/22 Performances

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Got a feeling he’ll step up with a BIG goal tonight. And before some smart arse says it’s about time - I know. He needs to contribute a little more.
 
He'll start on Tuesday and he'll have a big impact going into the final months.
I suspect this recent absence has allowed the penny to drop.
 
FantasyIreland said:
He'll start on Tuesday and he'll have a big impact going into the final months.
I suspect this recent absence has allowed the penny to drop.
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He was looking more settled recently and I think he will continue to improve. Plenty struggle at City and most of them have had experience of competing for titles and playing in the CL. Jack hasn't.

The rest of the squad need to trust him and vice versa. It was the same with Mahrez. Most of the squad seemed frustrated with him at first but now they've adapted to how he plays.

He will be a key player for us in the fight for the title and in the CL. Watching the dippers last night you can see how much space they leave if you get through the press. Jack would excel under that pressure and help expose them.
 
Been having a look back at the games he's missed this season and how our performances have been in them.

Burnley (H) 2-0, average performance against a poor side
United (A) 2-0, excellent performance against a poor side
Everton (H) 3-0, good performance against a poor side
West Ham (H) 2-1, average performance against a decent side
Newcastle (A) 4-0, clinical performance against an average side
Leicester (H) 6-3, complete chaos
Arsenal (A) 2-1, poor performance but nicked it at the end
Norwich (H) 4-0, good performance against a poor side
Spurs (H) 2-3, the less said about this game, the better
Everton (A) 1-0, uncomfortable performance and nicked it at the end

I think we're starting to miss his presence more and more.
 
youngbob said:
Been having a look back at the games he's missed this season and how our performances have been in them.

Burnley (H) 2-0, average performance against a poor side
United (A) 2-0, excellent performance against a poor side
Everton (H) 3-0, good performance against a poor side
West Ham (H) 2-1, average performance against a decent side
Newcastle (A) 4-0, clinical performance against an average side
Leicester (H) 6-3, complete chaos
Arsenal (A) 2-1, poor performance but nicked it at the end
Norwich (H) 4-0, good performance against a poor side
Spurs (H) 2-3, the less said about this game, the better
Everton (A) 1-0, uncomfortable performance and nicked it at the end

I think we're starting to miss his presence more and more.
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Possibly but we’ve had plenty of average performances with him this season too. Hopefully he’ll play false 9 again just so Bernado or Foden don’t get wasted there. No doubting Grealish is class but other than retaining the ball which isn’t difficult to do in this side we won’t get a great deal from him wide left.
 
Plenty more to come from him and lots for him to work on, but I think what he gives us (which is much easier to miss in his absence than notice when he's there) is space and time for the players around him.

I don't think it's any coincidence the dips in form we've seen in certain players while he's been injured. It's not solely because he's not there (some players I think have been overused and are hitting some fatigue, and arguably there's been some tactical issues too) but what he does that benefits the entire team is he keeps the ball, he draws the opponent to him, and then he passes to a teammate in the space that's created.

That's more important in some matches than in others, but when we're feeling the need for it and it's not there, there's a noticeably reduced level of control over the match.

Him being fit wouldn't solve all our problems. He's not our saviour. We don't need a saviour - we're top of the league and although we've got stuff to complain about, overall the season's going well. But I do think we've missed him and I'll be interested to see how the team performances change when he's back on the pitch.
 
Craig said:
Possibly but we’ve had plenty of average performances with him this season too. Hopefully he’ll play false 9 again just so Bernado or Foden don’t get wasted there. No doubting Grealish is class but other than retaining the ball which isn’t difficult to do in this side we won’t get a great deal from him wide left.
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Between Foden and Grealish, I noticed that Pep would play Grealish F9 - effetely playing a 442 space when the opposite was known for aggressive and physical - usually German style gegenpressing team like Southampton/Liverpool and often switched him/Foden when the pressing loosen up in the 2nd half.

Foden played as F9 when we pressed in a more or less 4-2-3-1 set up, often against 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 team.
 
We shouldn't make comparisons....

But Diaz on £80k a week and £36mil (max £49mil) seems like a killer deal comparing that to Grealish at £100mil and £275k a week

Grealish has been 'ok' but deffo seems like we've had our pants pulled down for an English talent which we all thought when we did buy him

Hoping that once we buy a proper striker (we have to right) Grealish form will ignite, think he needs a CF to get the best out of him
 
I think certainly over the past couple of months, his absence has coincided with a higher concentration of games that were more chaotic than we would have liked.

City 6 - 3 Leicester
Arsenal 1 - 2 City
City 2 - 3 Spurs
Everton 0 - 1 City

We've won most of them but we haven't had as much control as we do when we're at our best.

That's not to say things have always gone our way while he was on the pitch. But I do think he gives us levels of calmness and control that we miss when he's not there.

For all we can talk about his defensive contribution/tracking back/whatever, he does tend to take the sting out of an opposition's attack.

I expect that's what Pep's seeing too.

 
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Grealish and Mahrez are both very good at keeping possession and transitioning into attack. Say what you want about him but I think his absence + Mahrez on the bench plays a part in the recent "poor" form
 
yankblue said:
Grealish and Mahrez are both very good at keeping possession and transitioning into attack. Say what you want about him but I think his absence + Mahrez on the bench plays a part in the recent "poor" form
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yhp.

Sterling has been dispossessed 42 times in 1,568 mins, once every 37.3 mins.
Jesus 20 times in 1,341 mins, once every 67.1 mins.
Mahrez 15 times in 1,028 mins, once every 68.5 mins.
Foden 22 times in 1,431 mins, once every 65 mins.
Grealish 19 times in 1,271 mins, once every 66.8 mins.
Bernardo 20 times in 2,231 mins, once every 111.5 mins.

So pretty much, whilst Raz has brought some goals and directness in recent months we turn over the ball twice as much with him in compared to any other forward which means the opposition gets a lot more opportunities to counter on us from him, which we've born witness to in recent times, less defensively secure and dropping points as a result.

That's where you take the big gamble with Raz that has backfired on us in big games before.
 
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handsofstone said:
We shouldn't make comparisons....

But Diaz on £80k a week and £36mil (max £49mil) seems like a killer deal comparing that to Grealish at £100mil and £275k a week

Grealish has been 'ok' but deffo seems like we've had our pants pulled down for an English talent which we all thought when we did buy him

Hoping that once we buy a proper striker (we have to right) Grealish form will ignite, think he needs a CF to get the best out of him
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Buying other players to get the best out of him? Sounds like another massively overpriced midfielder playing in manchester
 
PannickAtTheDisco said:
yhp.

Sterling has been dispossessed 42 times in 1,568 mins, once every 37.3 mins.
Jesus 20 times in 1,341 mins, once every 67.1 mins.
Mahrez 15 times in 1,028 mins, once every 68.5 mins.
Foden 22 times in 1,431 mins, once every 65 mins.
Grealish 19 times in 1,271 mins, once every 66.8 mins.
Bernardo 20 times in 2,231 mins, once every 111.5 mins.

So pretty much, whilst Raz has brought some goals and directness in recent months we turn over the ball twice as much with him in compared to any other forward which means the opposition gets a lot more opportunities to counter on us from him, which we've born witness to in recent times, less defensively secure and dropping points as a result.

That's where you take the big gamble with Raz that has backfired on us in big games before.
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Thanks for that, never seen the statistics laid out before. The numbers definitely back up the eye test.

Look at Bernie. What a fucking player.
 
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