10 | Jack Grealish - 2024/25

[ninjamonkey]

Was about to kick on even more after the Treble season - then Doku arrived. Unfathomable purchase.

Eh? Doku arrived more as a right winger that could play either side if anything.

his first few games were as a right winger then he played on the left because he was better there than the right and because grealish was shit. If grealish was about to kick on, the pressure of another player after his spot should have push him to these new heights he was supposedly about to reach.

we can very clearly see the results of a lack of competition elsewhere in the squad

We’ve had a lot of mystery illnesses and injuries this season that we only find out about on match day

I wonder what’s really going on

They're not obliged to disclose every reason a player is unavailable and does it really matter why anyway? Theyre available or they're not. players get niggles all the time or pick up an illness. Theres no reason to jump to wild theories.

Injuries will naturally increase when the small squad forces players to play who probably shouldn't, it's far more noticeable when in a bad run and it's also true that some players simply don't fancy it when it gets tough. Our injuries are not out of the ordinary, there's teams worse off than us, just other teams don't have such a small squad to start with. Villa away last week would have been the game for him to duck like he did last year if he was going to duck any game. There's no reason to believe he simply picked up a muscular injury as reported.

 

[Damanino]

agreed, not only Grealish done it, but these mysterious injuries of feeling unwell yet player is training previous day we had one too many of these this season.

I guess we have another surprise injuries before we play Leicester.

 

[GaudinoMotors]

Eh? Doku arrived more as a right winger that could play either side if anything.

his first few games were as a right winger then he played on the left because he was better there than the right and because grealish was shit. If grealish was about to kick on, the pressure of another player after his spot should have push him to these new heights he was supposedly about to reach.

we can very clearly see the results of a lack of competition elsewhere in the squad


They're not obliged to disclose every reason a player is unavailable and does it really matter why anyway? Theyre available or they're not. players get niggles all the time or pick up an illness. Theres no reason to jump to wild theories.

Injuries will naturally increase when the small squad forces players to play who probably shouldn't, it's far more noticeable when in a bad run and it's also true that some players simply don't fancy it when it gets tough. Our injuries are not out of the ordinary, there's teams worse off than us, just other teams don't have such a small squad to start with. Villa away last week would have been the game for him to duck like he did last year if he was going to duck any game. There's no reason to believe he simply picked up a muscular injury as reported.

Very revisionary.
He was deployed on the left and it was a real either/or.
"Grealish was shit"
You've got your view.

 

[K-Bo]

Just never been that good? He has his attributes but I don't think there's been attacker worse in the box then he is since we got good really and its been a major problem given the other departing goal threats. Final pass always crap, shooting always crap. He should be the senior winger right now, but he seems the most fragile and emotional one.

 

[The Stockport Iniesta]

agreed, not only Grealish done it, but these mysterious injuries of feeling unwell yet player is training previous day we had one too many of these this season.

I guess we have another surprise injuries before we play Leicester.

Pep's not one to hold back. I wouldn't be surprised in the least if he's called out a few and some have seen their arse. It would explain a lot.

 

[ninjamonkey]

Very revisionary.
He was deployed on the left and it was a real either/or.
"Grealish was shit"
You've got your view.

So if its an either/or situation, that should encourage both to be at their best to make sure its them and not the other one shouldn't it? You repeatedly hear from elite professionals have competition pushes them. We've seen it first hand within the squad, we've seen it on a wider scale with how the dippers pushed us to new levels. Half the team at present are displaying the results if there is no either/or in each position. Competition is never a negative.

Both grealish and Pep has since said he had a poor season last year. He found himself out of the side a lot, got dropped from the england side because of poor performances and hasn't scored in a year. I'm not sure how that opinion can even be challenged anymore.

 

[chiswick blue]

I’m not sure with Jack if football is anywhere near as important as his social life.

 

[meeesh]

I’m not sure with Jack if football is anywhere near as important as his social life.

Unless it’s England

 

[hilts]

Never seen someone with so many fanboys like this guy, when you mention his 14 goals in 4 years, they say look what hes won, its more then goals blablabla. 100M for 14 goals in 4 years AS A WINGER been carried 45 out of 48 months hes been here fucking joke. Not scoring ONE goal for a whole YEAR in a team thats top in this league is a fucking mindblowing, hes one of MANY problems not putting all blame on him but hes nowhere good enough and should leave ASAP WITH MANY MORE

Can't believe you think Pep is an idiot

 

[GaudinoMotors]

So if its an either/or situation, that should encourage both to be at their best to make sure its them and not the other one shouldn't it? You repeatedly hear from elite professionals have competition pushes them. We've seen it first hand within the squad, we've seen it on a wider scale with how the dippers pushed us to new levels. Half the team at present are displaying the results if there is no either/or in each position. Competition is never a negative.

Both grealish and Pep has since said he had a poor season last year. He found himself out of the side a lot, got dropped from the england side because of poor performances and hasn't scored in a year. I'm not sure how that opinion can even be challenged anymore.

Yep true, but Grealish was developing into the player we wanted. Brilliant later part of the Treble Season. He was fragile and struggling at first and it was just coming together. Plus the commeraderie of the team mix was excellent. Then all of a sudden he was out for the new shiny toy.

 

[applejuice]

Eh? Doku arrived more as a right winger that could play either side if anything.

his first few games were as a right winger then he played on the left because he was better there than the right and because grealish was shit.

You are making things up.

Doku arrived at the game vs Sheffield United as a sub unused. Grealish won MOTM and got injured at the end of the game. Grealish was out the next few games and Doku played as left winger. The medical team messed up did not take actions at Sheffield until the team bus arrived at City training ground by that time Grealish could not move.

Maybe Doku was purchased as a right winger but he started his career here mainly on the left wing because Grealish was injured.

 

[chiswick blue]

I was very excited when we signed Jack but also surprised because at Villa he had a reputation as a bit of a party boy (crashing his Range Rover and running off). This didn’t strike me as a player Pep would like at the club and if rumours are true he’s been at Mendy’s parties and carried out of clubs totally pissed up. Again this is not something I imagine Pep would like but let’s say Pep puts up with it when he’s playing well.

Now Jack hasn’t playing well for a season and a half, not sure why but this is the case but If he’s partying too much (and it always gets back) then I can imagine Pep would be furious when it’s all hands to the pump. Would Pep say something to him in private, probably as a good manager, would this make the situation better, maybe not.

 

[ninjamonkey]

Yep true, but Grealish was developing into the player we wanted. Brilliant later part of the Treble Season. He was fragile and struggling at first and it was just coming together. Plus the commeraderie of the team mix was excellent. Then all of a sudden he was out for the new shiny toy.

He was actually fairly anonymous in the latter part of the treble season, it was the period straight after the world cup where he was effective before a sig ficant drop off at the end. The finals and even semi finals that season, he barely showed up.

Pep didn't just freeze him out in favour of a new shiny toy all of a sudden, he had plenty of game time to prove himself, he started the season with the shirt his, he simply wasn't performing. Then he got injured, doku came in and pushed him out with better performances. Doku then got injured himself, which gave grealish ample opportunity to restake his claim to that position but he didn't and found himself down the pecking order. That's exactly how it should be for every single player in the squad. if grealish or anybody else cannot thrive under competition and pressure, they don't have the correct mentality to be here.

 

[GaudinoMotors]

He was actually fairly anonymous in the latter part of the treble season, it was the period straight after the world cup where he was effective before a sig ficant drop off at the end. The finals and even semi finals that season, he barely showed up.

Pep didn't just freeze him out in favour of a new shiny toy all of a sudden, he had plenty of game time to prove himself, he started the season with the shirt his, he simply wasn't performing. Then he got injured, doku came in and pushed him out with better performances. Doku then got injured himself, which gave grealish ample opportunity to restake his claim to that position but he didn't and found himself down the pecking order. That's exactly how it should be for every single player in the squad. if grealish or anybody else cannot thrive under competition and pressure, they don't have the correct mentality to be here.

You have clearly made up a narrative that bares no reflection to what actually happened.
We'll leave this one here. Pointless.

 

[Lauz9888]

We’ve had a lot of mystery illnesses and injuries this season that we only find out about on match day

I wonder what’s really going on

As frustrating as it is as fans, players are entitled to medical confidentiality just like anyone else, and Pep is very good at being vague when he has to be.

When it comes to illness, there's rumours of viruses going round the club. I don't know about you lot but in my social circles there's been some pretty nasty respiratory viruses going round all winter. A football club has people in such close proximity that of course a bug will spread like wildfire. A flu or a sickness bug could easily take out multiple players over the course of several games.

As for injuries, we have a small squad and a busy schedule and unfortunately that means we've got into a really nasty injury cycle. Player A gets injured so Player B has to play more, the extra strain causes an injury in Player B, so Player A rushes back because we're desperate, but he's not fully recovered and his injury returns...

You can't ever really rule out the things that people are speculating about, like players falling out with or being frozen out by Pep. But injury and illness are both much more likely.

As for Jack, the past year or two he seems to have been plagued by niggling muscular injuries, usually in the groin region as far as I'm aware? Kev's recurring problem is a groin issue too. Coincidence or something needing tweaking in our training or recovery processes? Not sure.

 

[ninjamonkey]

You have clearly made up a narrative that bares no reflection of what actually happened.
We'll leave this one here. Pointless.

Your narrative here is that he was tossed aside for a shiny new toy in doku and not given a fair crack which is completely false and what I was pushing back on. my narrative is simply he had plenty of opportunities and didn't take them.

The facts are Grealish started 2 of the first 3 games of the season, doku wasnt even a city player then. Then he misses a couple of games through injury, doku is signed and starts making an impact almost instantly whilst grealish is out.

Grealish returns, is eased back in as expected, doku has started off very well in the meantime and deservedly keeps himself in the 11 regularly. Despite the good form grealish actually still gets picked for the big derby game in that period ahead of him. Shortly after, Doku gets injured for over a month, this takes us into January and there's been just a handful of games to that point where both have actually been available and its an either/or choice and some of those games its actually been neither.

Doku comes back for a handful of games then grealish gets himself injured again for about a month too. Its march by the time they're both available again, doku is now ahead of grealish in the pecking order but neither are nailed on starters as the likes of foden, alavrez bernardo etc are all getting minutes across the attack and doing more.

So no he wasn't tossed aside for a shiny new toy in Doku, he was regularly given chances throughout the season to stake his claim and didn't find himself battling directly with doku for a starting spot all that much for the first half of the season. Doku did more when he was in but both were in and out of the side and grealish was repeatedly given chances. infact, aside from injury, he never completely sat out 2 league games in a row until the last few games of the season when something clearly happened after he was dropped from the squad for whatever reason that was.

 

[King Jay]

Sell him in Summer and get Kvara or Nico Williams. Can’t go with Doku and Savinho into the next season alone.

 

[GaudinoMotors]

Your narrative here is that he was tossed aside for a shiny new toy in doku and not given a fair crack which is completely false and what I was pushing back on. my narrative is simply he had plenty of opportunities and didn't take them.

The facts are Grealish started 2 of the first 3 games of the season, doku wasnt even a city player then. Then he misses a couple of games through injury, doku is signed and starts making an impact almost instantly whilst grealish is out.

Grealish returns, is eased back in as expected, doku has started off very well in the meantime and deservedly keeps himself in the 11 regularly. Despite the good form grealish actually still gets picked for the big derby game in that period ahead of him. Shortly after, Doku gets injured for over a month, this takes us into January and there's been just a handful of games to that point where both have actually been available and its an either/or choice and some of those games its actually been neither.

Doku comes back for a handful of games then grealish gets himself injured again for about a month too. Its march by the time they're both available again, doku is now ahead of grealish in the pecking order but neither are nailed on starters as the likes of foden, alavrez bernardo etc are all getting minutes across the attack and doing more.

So no he wasn't tossed aside for a shiny new toy in Doku, he was regularly given chances throughout the season to stake his claim and didn't find himself battling directly with doku for a starting spot all that much for the first half of the season. Doku did more when he was in but both were in and out of the side and grealish was repeatedly given chances. infact, aside from injury, he never completely sat out 2 league games in a row until the last few games of the season when something clearly happened after he was dropped from the squad for whatever reason that was.

Yes he was.
Doku is the modern day Rodney Marsh signing imo.
We always look a better side with Grealish in it and Doku out. Unless we need 5 minutes of utter chaos and little control.
We all know that Grealish is better with a run of games, yet he's was the make weight for the "Belgian wonderkid".

 

[Txiki Txiki Bang Bang]

Yes he was.
Doku is the modern day Rodney Marsh signing imo.
We always look a better side with Grealish in it and Doku out. Unless we need 5 minutes of utter chaos and little control.
We all know that Grealish is better with a run of games, yet he's was the make weight for the "Belgian wonderkid".

Lord give me strength

 

[dhruvblue]

Yes he was.
Doku is the modern day Rodney Marsh signing imo.
We always look a better side with Grealish in it and Doku out. Unless we need 5 minutes of utter chaos and little control.
We all know that Grealish is better with a run of games, yet he's was the make weight for the "Belgian wonderkid".

If opponents were given choice among Grealish or Doku they would happily choose Grealish bcoz they know he won’t do shit. Will keep all the ball outside box win free kicks outside the box hit first man while attempting cross.Teams are okay with us HAVING CONTROL and do fuckall with that CONTROL. We are probably the only team that prioritises CONTROL and WINNING FREE KICKS over Goals assists