10 | Jack Grealish - 2024/25

[Colin Bells Boots]

If i had said that i would get battered ! I agree with you

there's not just you who doesn't rate him.

But Pep does so it is a bit immaterial either way imo.

 

[kaz7]

there's not just you who doesn't rate him.

But Pep does so it is a bit immaterial either way imo.

I ask again , can you explain his joy at the treble then last season was bad and pep has said he is not training well and other things like jack needs to get his head straight , how do you assess the last 18 months ?

 

[DMA's]

And some have been against him since he signed.
It is just another BM quirk

I don’t agree with that. I remember people being elated when he had signed. When he didn’t produce people started to get on his back. Even making up mythical reasons such as “pep tells him to pass backwards and win free kicks” when pep has publicly said the opposite when talking about his wingers.

I’m sure he is a nice enough bloke (unless you are his girlfriend) but for me he lacks professionalism and needs to grow up. He is 30 next year and he seemingly is picking up more niggly injuries. Pep often talks about players needing to live for football 24/7, I’m not sure Jack does that

 

[Colin Bells Boots]

I don’t agree with that. I remember people being elated when he had signed. When he didn’t produce people started to get on his back. Even making up mythical reasons such as “pep tells him to pass backwards and win free kicks” when pep has publicly said the opposite when talking about his wingers.

I’m sure he is a nice enough bloke (unless you are his girlfriend) but for me he lacks professionalism and needs to grow up. He is 30 next year and he seemingly is picking up more niggly injuries. Pep often talks about players needing to live for football 24/7, I’m not sure Jack does that

You are only justifying your own thoughts.

Which is your prerogative .

Jack is BM's marmite

 

[Colin Bells Boots]

I ask again , can you explain his joy at the treble then last season was bad and pep has said he is not training well and other things like jack needs to get his head straight , how do you assess the last 18 months ?

Read it again , it's your opinion which will not conform to the thinking of others.

You have never been supportive of him for as long as I can recall. No problem . You are not renowned for sitting on the fence.

 

[Mcfc1.9.8.0]

Big clear out of the squad needed in the summer Jack will make the cut just. Because so many need to go before him

 

[kaz7]

Read it again , it's your opinion which will not conform to the thinking of others.

You have never been supportive of him for as long as I can recall. No problem . You are not renowned for sitting on the fence.

And you cant give an objective view of the last 18 months either , i give up asking you lot

 

[Colin Bells Boots]

And you cant give an objective view of the last 18 months either , i give up asking you lot

not interested in arguing with you kaz.

the floor is yours.

 

[alexmcity]

Last season, Pep's biggest mistake was to start Grealish in the 2nd leg vs Real. He contributed nothing and we wasted 60-70 minutes, which helped Real to survive.

Grealish helped us with the Treble with a really good 2nd half of the 22/23 season. He has been largely disappointing, those several months aside. Personally, I expected much more from him and defended him in his 1st season.

Let's hope he returns stronger than ever and helps us to compete for the big trophies again. He has the attributes.

 

[kaz7]

not interested in arguing with you kaz.

the floor is yours.

Not trying to argue , one side has been put calmer by me and the other poster , i am interested in the other side

I was never a fangirl , but then i didnt see what he gave us bar getting yellows for disent and winning free kicks when we didnt need them , making us stop start which disrupts the way we play , pep has said he doesnt tell him to do this and that he needs to up his goals and assists

Pep also said him and phil turned up to training in too bad a state to train and they didnt play . Pep is not happy with him

As i say he thinks he has made it and doesnt have the mentality that pep demands , they must go again and again

for the record i am not straight here to bash him after games

 

[ninjamonkey]

Would it be a bad thing if he got some minutes in his legs for england to get him match ready for us?

For once the international break might be an advantage in a few ways

Normally for a player just returning from injury I'd agree with using internationals for fitness however pep's suggesting he hasn't returned from injury yet by claiming he's not available for tomorrow so he shouldnt be going with England.

He hasn't played well so far this season, we have many injuries and the whole team look a mess. We should be using the internationals to get as many of the squad as possible on the pitch with Pep for a week for both fitness and tactical training. Grealish not playing for 6 games in the run up is an easy withdrawal and extra man available lr in training next week, or at least it should be.

About time some of these players, including but not exclusively Grealish, put their club first for once before we fuck up our season.

 

[city warrior]

Normally for a player just returning from injury I'd agree with using internationals for fitness however pep's suggesting he hasn't returned from injury yet by claiming he's not available for tomorrow so he shouldnt be going with England.

He hasn't played well so far this season, we have many injuries and the whole team look a mess. We should be using the internationals to get as many of the squad as possible on the pitch with Pep for a week for both fitness and tactical training. Grealish not playing for 6 games in the run up is an easy withdrawal and extra man available lr in training next week, or at least it should be.

About time some of these players, including but not exclusively Grealish, put their club first for once before we fuck up our season.

Agree. Some people are bonkers justifying Jack, as if he hasn't given Carsley green light for the call (all national managers will talk to the injured players and clubs before making a call). The sensible thing is what Stones and Dias did.

People defending Jack, will say they haven't been training while Jack has. Then what about KDB and Ake? Both have been training, both have played some minutes, and yet none of them were called for their national team. Why? Because when the national manager talked to them, they told them they weren't ready, unlike Jack. FFS, Jack was even celebrating his call on Instagram!!

 

[blueparrot]

Not trying to argue , one side has been put calmer by me and the other poster , i am interested in the other side

I was never a fangirl , but then i didnt see what he gave us bar getting yellows for disent and winning free kicks when we didnt need them , making us stop start which disrupts the way we play , pep has said he doesnt tell him to do this and that he needs to up his goals and assists

Pep also said him and phil turned up to training in too bad a state to train and they didnt play . Pep is not happy with him

As i say he thinks he has made it and doesnt have the mentality that pep demands , they must go again and again

for the record i am not straight here to bash him after games

I’ll put it this way then, my opinion when he plays we hold possession high up the pitch far better, less quick turnovers and counters. Our one weakness against low blocks are quick turnovers and counters, the less we lose possession high up the more likely we are to win a game.
When it comes down to it though I don’t care what anyone else thinks they can see or not see, I don’t care what I think. Only what Pep thinks, if Pep plays him or doesn’t play him but he does quite often it’s for very good reason and that’s enough for me with Grealish or any other player for that matter. The trophy count gives him that right, and to expect to be trusted.

 

[applejuice]

People defending Jack, will say they haven't been training while Jack has. Then what about KDB and Ake? Both have been training, both have played some minutes, and yet none of them were called for their national team. Why? Because when the national manager talked to them, they told them they weren't ready, unlike Jack. FFS, Jack was even celebrating his call on Instagram!!

Ake and KDB went to the Euro. That is the difference.

Grealish was dropped from Euro. He cannot risk to refuse another England call up. England called up many player carrying injury like Rice and Palmer. It is within England manager right to call any player and determine if the player is fit enough to play. If Grealish has been training are u suggesting him to be dishonest and lied to FA?

 

[citizen_maine]

Agree. Some people are bonkers justifying Jack, as if he hasn't given Carsley green light for the call (all national managers will talk to the injured players and clubs before making a call). The sensible thing is what Stones and Dias did.

People defending Jack, will say they haven't been training while Jack has. Then what about KDB and Ake? Both have been training, both have played some minutes, and yet none of them were called for their national team. Why? Because when the national manager talked to them, they told them they weren't ready, unlike Jack. FFS, Jack was even celebrating his call on Instagram!!

I thought Kev said before the Oct window that he didn't want to play either international breaks

 

[Colin Bells Boots]

Not trying to argue , one side has been put calmer by me and the other poster , i am interested in the other side

I was never a fangirl , but then i didnt see what he gave us bar getting yellows for disent and winning free kicks when we didnt need them , making us stop start which disrupts the way we play , pep has said he doesnt tell him to do this and that he needs to up his goals and assists

Pep also said him and phil turned up to training in too bad a state to train and they didnt play . Pep is not happy with him

As i say he thinks he has made it and doesnt have the mentality that pep demands , they must go again and again

for the record i am not straight here to bash him after games

Hi Karen, I think that is a decent response and makes your view clear.

As I said earlier, he is a player who divides the forum. Whilst I sometimes get frustrated with him, because I think he should be more progressive, I have to believe that he is playing in a way that he is encouraged to do by Pep.

I doubt that we will ever get to see it, but I s would like to see him playing in the left centre mid position and driving forward. More akin to t.he way he played at Villa.

I don't believe a lot of the social media shit and I don't believe him to be reckless regarding his fitness of application .

Too much made up shit for me from knownowts trying to sound knowledgeable or just attention seeking. A bit pathetic really, but social media is a cesspit and easily accessible sadly.

 

[applejuice]

Last season, Pep's biggest mistake was to start Grealish in the 2nd leg vs Real. He contributed nothing and we wasted 60-70 minutes, which helped Real to survive.

Lets forget Grealish was MOTM (voted by City) away vs Real Madrid and directly contributed in 2 goals. He won the critical foul to ban reals only DM backup which gave City a huge advantage for the 2nd leg.

And for the 2nd leg by no means he played badly in the first 60 minutes. The others especially Foden played his worst game on that night.

I agree to let him move asap but it is silly to rewrite the history.

 

[Bluesince1979]

Can nobody see the bigger picture here , can anyone explain last season and the mystery of this season ? Why is he a protected species when every other player gets pulled apart for doing a lot more than he is doing ?

Whats the bigger picture?

 

[city warrior]

Ake and KDB went to the Euro. That is the difference.

Grealish was dropped from Euro. He cannot risk to refuse another England call up. England called up many player carrying injury like Rice and Palmer. It is within England manager right to call any player and determine if the player is fit enough to play. If Grealish has been training are u suggesting him to be dishonest and lied to FA?

Rice has been playing, and according to Arteta is fit for Chelsea, same with Palmer. Jack hasn't played for a month and our squad is in an injury crisis.

I am suggesting that the manager asked Grealish if he feels ready, and he answered emphatically yes, despite the club saying he is still not ready for this weekend. Again, if Grealish tells the manager, the club thinks I am not ready, and I do too, then Carsley would never have him as part of the England squad. I don't think he lied, he is just desperate to have his place in the squad, and is not smart enough to understand that the best way to secure his spot is play at a high level and injury free with his club.

The reason why Jack wasn't called to the Euro was his poor last season. If he was performing as well as he did in the treble season, there is zero doubt he would have been called. Going on this International break will make zero difference (if he gets to his treble season level back). He should focus on that first, and everything else will follow. If he thinks that his normal level is last season, or his first season, or the few times he has played this season, then yes, he has to do whatever his mates and the England manager tells him to.

 

[Lauz9888]

Not trying to argue , one side has been put calmer by me and the other poster , i am interested in the other side

I was never a fangirl , but then i didnt see what he gave us bar getting yellows for disent and winning free kicks when we didnt need them , making us stop start which disrupts the way we play , pep has said he doesnt tell him to do this and that he needs to up his goals and assists

Pep also said him and phil turned up to training in too bad a state to train and they didnt play . Pep is not happy with him

As i say he thinks he has made it and doesnt have the mentality that pep demands , they must go again and again

for the record i am not straight here to bash him after games

I'm definitely not going to fall out with you on this Kaz as life is far too short and I can see the argument on many of your points.

Personally, having forgiven Phil for the incident where he and Jack turned up worse for wear, and for breaking lockdown in Iceland, and various other incidents, and having forgiven countless other of our players for moments of shitty judgement on the pitch and in their personal lives, my preference is to extend the same courtesy to Jack.

I can fully understand and won't dispute the point of view that one such incident is one too many, and there are some things I'm inclined not to forgive. But getting pissed with Phil that time and training poorly in the run-up to that Fulham match are the only two such instances I'm aware of with Jack for us and on the other hand I've seen his teammates etc. describe him as a good trainer and that combined with his visible work rate on the pitch makes me inclined to think it's a case of occasional poor judgement rather than a general bad attitude. It's disappointed me when it's happened and I sympathise with anyone who can't get past it but like I said, having made it past judgement lapses by countless other players, I won't make an exception to that leniency here.

I think there's definitely a reasonable chance that the treble messed with his head a bit, but it's very unlikely that that impact lasted a year. I think it's more likely that the groin injuries he's been picking up across the past season or two have stopped him from getting into any kind of rhythm. Like many players, he's always taken a little while to come back after an injury, and unfortunately recently he seems to have been picking up new injuries or exacerbating the old ones before he gets properly into the swing of things. There may well be something that can be done to prevent those injuries through adjusting training and recovery etc. but considering how devastated he's been every time we've seen him get injured, I doubt he's not doing exactly as he's told. Like any player he wants to play as much as possible.

I also think we can't underestimate how last season was impacted by the robbery at his house, his family having been in danger and the aftermath of that coinciding with his partner and sister's pregnancies, and knowing that the perpetrators are still out there. I know, we all go through tough times and still have to do our jobs, but still - I sympathise.

If there's any credible evidence that he's been disruptive to the squad, disrespectful to Pep or the club, a nightmare to work with, not obeying his contract etc. then I'll get my pitchfork out and join the clamour for him to leave. But from what I can see from the outside he just seems like a bloke who tries his best, has really bought into what the club wants to do on and off the pitch, is really great with the fans, has had some bad luck with injuries and every now and then does something stupid.

As for his performances, I think that when he's been actually fit this season (and in pre-season) he's been good and has added a bit more directness back into his game. I'd love to see him get more goals and assists and I think those numbers are a fair criticism and I understand if you see them as the be all and end all for a player in his position.

Personally I think that when he's at his best he's very involved in the build-up to a lot of goals and I'm not going to get hung up on where in that process he happens to get his touches.

He's very good at drawing opponents to him and then putting the ball into the space they've vacated. He's very good at protecting the ball, which helps stop counter-attacks. I find him to be a very unselfish player who often does the thankless tasks that help others shine. He works particular well with whoever the left back is, making space and offering cover when the LB goes forward and making himself available for an easy ball whatever situation the LB is in.

He's an imperfect player who plays an important role in our squad. I don't know what's going on with his health, fitness or personal life but I trust Pep's decision making on whether or not to play him.

If he goes to the England camp, and especially if he plays, he'd better return to City after the international break with a boost in fitness and form and raring to go for us.