10 | Jack Grealish - 2021/22 Performances

[samuelyeboah]

See, this is what I mean. Jack's doing alright (imo) but not as well we expected. Pointing this out is fine. But it's also fine to point out that we might have all put too much stock into Grealish's individual performances. We might all need to calm down a bit and just let him get on with trying to fit in. What I've said doesn't really warrant the way you've jumped at me saying "Fuck off" with this "claptrap". I'm a big boy and I can take it, but we're all popping veins for no reason.

I just don't agree that he's doing "alright". I think that's generous.

 

[Shaelumstash]

Played decently today, but needs a slice of luck. It’ll come. Time to just keep your head down and do the work, just like Sterling has.

He really didn’t. Slowed everything down, came far too deep, held on to the ball for far too long, regularly missed the chance to play others in by delaying and dicking around too long and then playing safe, offered no goal threat whatsoever.

I like him as a character, and think he’ll come good when we get a proper striker. But he didn’t play decently today.

 

[Radiohead1981]

One passage of play in the first half summed him up so far perfectly.

He had the ball in an advanced area on the left, zinchenko and jesus both make good runs for him, both passes were on, simple and should have been played, he kept hold of it. fine recycle and go again, gundogan comes over for the option, he doesn't play that either, by now all passing options are gone he's not gone anywhere other than a few shuffles sideways, the wolves defender senses he's kept it too long and goes tighter, Grealish pokes it through to jesus before he loses it who is in the process of recovering from the initial run and making another run to provide an option and is in no state to receive the ball but it comes anyway, the defender nicks it, they break and Dias ends up on a yellow card. Both jesus and gundogan make a point of letting him know he should have released the ball earlier

As I said the other week before being slated for it, he's nowhere near the same wavelength as the rest. He's getting worse because he's still not in tune with what the correct action is at any point yet he's been here long enough now for his villa game to have been scrubbed from his natural instinct and its resulting in him just doing nothing.

Whilst we have got options on the bench like mahrez who's in decent form and not getting on, he should be restricted to sub appearances once we're ahead for him to play enough to get it not starts.

Graeme Souness did point out that flaw in grealish of not releasing the ball quick enough last season when all the other pundits were singing his praises.

It looks like Souness was bang on the money.

 

[youngbob]

I just don't agree that he's doing "alright". I think that's generous.

I think he's lost some confidence and, at the moment, isn't quite responding to the increased scrutiny that comes with being a £100m player for the Premier League champions. Go back through the MOTM threads from the first couple of months of the season and you'll see that he started like a house on fire (or at least we thought he did). He was voted MOTM two or three times in a small group of games, so clearly we all felt impressed by him!

Ever since then I think he's been reigned in a bit by Pep. In my view, the things he's been getting wrong ever since that away game at Liverpool are down to him having to re-learn how he plays football. It's something all City players talk about - they spend their entire careers playing football one way, then suddenly have a huge culture shock when they realise Pep sees football completely differently.

He's gone from being the main man at Villa to being part of an oiled system at City. When he first came and all eyes were on him, he probably still felt a bit like the main man. But then the season rolled on, he became just another City player who got cheered on and shouted at just as much as everyone else, and things changed a bit. He's used to being a central creative type with leadership qualities - at the moment he's out on the left and more of a cog.

I'd be more worried about his contributions but we've seen this before, especially with midfielders and attackers we've signed under Pep. They come in with big reputations but don't quite work at first. It took a season for Pep and Leroy to work each other out, it took 12 months for Pep to realise Bernardo was best down the middle. Mahrez, Rodri, Cancelo - they all took about a season to adjust, then something clicked.

Heck, it took three years for some City fans to stop demanding Gundogan's sale. The one attacker we've signed under Pep that started brilliantly was Nolito, and boy did he burn out fast!

I think some people who are being critical of Grealish are going a bit overboard. Anyone who defends him or asks for a bit of patience really does get shouted down. It happened to me about an hour ago. Criticism of him isn't a problem because when a player costs £100m it's natural to expect more than what he's given us so far, and we're only on a forum, but we're all watching him so closely to see if he'll get it right or fuck it up and I'm not sure it's helping any of us.

It gets like that with Sterling sometimes, where every single occasion he gets the ball you're hoping he does something decisive or game-changing because he'll get absolute dog's abuse if he doesn't, and more often than not he doesn't. It got like that with Mahrez for a bit and there were games I wrote off during the 19-20 season simply because Rodri started them. It's something all of them play their way out of in the end.

If we're still having these conversations in December 2022 then we'll need to analyse whether he's worth keeping around. But 4 months into his City career is too early to draw any conclusions, negative or positive. So far he's been a bit indecisive and predictable on the left - but he's not exactly costing us games and, at the very least, you can trust him to find a blue shirt, even if that blue shirt is always the easy pass inside to Gundogan or back to Cancelo.

Some say they want more for £100m and that's fine. To be honest, so do I. But we've not paid £100m because we think he's the best player in the world, we've paid £100m because we wanted him for our system and that was just what Villa asked for. It's not really about him being worth £100m, it's about him being worth the time we spent scouting him and negotiating for him. He's not showing that just yet, but I wish we'd be a bit more relaxed while we wait for him to do so.

 

[Radiohead1981]

He really didn’t. Slowed everything down, came far too deep, held on to the ball for far too long, regularly missed the chance to play others in by delaying and dicking around too long and then playing safe, offered no goal threat whatsoever.

I like him as a character, and think he’ll come good when we get a proper striker. But he didn’t play decently today.

Souness pointed out that flaw of grealish of holding on to the ball to long when all the other pundits were labelling grealish as world class.

At the time I thought grealish was only holding on to the ball because he had nobody to pass to at villa. But it seems that souness saw a big flaw in grealish game that nobody else saw. He maybe seen as a dinosaur by some. But he really knows the game.

 

[Tokyo32]

I think he's lost some confidence and, at the moment, isn't quite responding to the increased scrutiny that comes with being a £100m player for the Premier League champions. Go back through the MOTM threads from the first couple of months of the season and you'll see that he started like a house on fire (or at least we thought he did). He was voted MOTM two or three times in a small group of games, so clearly we all felt impressed by him!

Ever since then I think he's been reigned in a bit by Pep. In my view, the things he's been getting wrong ever since that away game at Liverpool are down to him having to re-learn how he plays football. It's something all City players talk about - they spend their entire careers playing football one way, then suddenly have a huge culture shock when they realise Pep sees football completely differently.

He's gone from being the main man at Villa to being part of an oiled system at City. When he first came and all eyes were on him, he probably still felt a bit like the main man. But then the season rolled on, he became just another City player who got cheered on and shouted at just as much as everyone else, and things changed a bit. He's used to being a central creative type with leadership qualities - at the moment he's out on the left and more of a cog.

I'd be more worried about his contributions but we've seen this before, especially with midfielders and attackers we've signed under Pep. They come in with big reputations but don't quite work at first. It took a season for Pep and Leroy to work each other out, it took 12 months for Pep to realise Bernardo was best down the middle. Mahrez, Rodri, Cancelo - they all took about a season to adjust, then something clicked.

Heck, it took three years for some City fans to stop demanding Gundogan's sale. The one attacker we've signed under Pep that started brilliantly was Nolito, and boy did he burn out fast!

I think some people who are being critical of Grealish are going a bit overboard. Anyone who defends him or asks for a bit of patience really does get shouted down. It happened to me about an hour ago. Criticism of him isn't a problem because when a player costs £100m it's natural to expect more than what he's given us so far, and we're only on a forum, but we're all watching him so closely to see if he'll get it right or fuck it up and I'm not sure it's helping any of us.

It gets like that with Sterling sometimes, where every single occasion he gets the ball you're hoping he does something decisive or game-changing because he'll get absolute dog's abuse if he doesn't, and more often than not he doesn't. It got like that with Mahrez for a bit and there were games I wrote off during the 19-20 season simply because Rodri started them. It's something all of them play their way out of in the end.

If we're still having these conversations in December 2022 then we'll need to analyse whether he's worth keeping around. But 4 months into his City career is too early to draw any conclusions, negative or positive. So far he's been a bit indecisive and predictable on the left - but he's not exactly costing us games and, at the very least, you can trust him to find a blue shirt, even if that blue shirt is always the easy pass inside to Gundogan or back to Cancelo.

Some say they want more for £100m and that's fine. To be honest, so do I. But we've not paid £100m because we think he's the best player in the world, we've paid £100m because we wanted him for our system and that was just what Villa asked for. It's not really about him being worth £100m, it's about him being worth the time we spent scouting him and negotiating for him. He's not showing that just yet, but I wish we'd be a bit more relaxed while we wait for him to do so.

Most people are not judging him now though, most people have not called him a flop, they are just saying what they think about him for now. I am pretty sure everyone would be happier if he was doing great. He has been underwhelming so far and that is all, hopefully when he gets more comfortable here he starts shining more.

 

[Radiohead1981]

Most people are not judging him now though, most people have not called him a flop, they are just saying what they think about him for now. I am pretty sure everyone would be happier if he was doing great. He has been underwhelming so far and that is all, hopefully when he gets more comfortable here he starts shining more.

He will have to get out of the habit of holding on to the ball and at 26. It's a very difficult habit to break.

 

[5 Hit Gibbon]

He wasn't great today but wasn't poor either really. Should have buried the chance he got but played OK apart from that I thought.

I'm not ready to write him off yet. I think he will come good but even if he doesn't it's not the end of the world, no one is going to die & I won't lose any sleep over it. We can just sell him back to Villa for £20m!

 

[Shaelumstash]

Souness pointed out that flaw of grealish of holding on to the ball to long when all the other pundits were labelling grealish as world class.

At the time I thought grealish was only holding on to the ball because he had nobody to pass to at villa. But it seems that souness saw a big flaw in grealish game that nobody else saw. He maybe seen as a dinosaur by some. But he really knows the game.

It’s something Mahrez does as well and it’s absolutely infuriating to watch. He’s got better, but still does it far too often.

I really hope it can be coached out of Grealish, but I think vision and quick thinking are two of those attributes, a bit like pace, that just can’t really be improved all that much. You either have it or you don’t.

He’s clearly a talented boy and I expect Pep to improve him and find a role that suits, but at the moment wide left or false 9 just doesn’t seem to be it.

 

[Joe city]

Not in confidence awful today