Pep's post-match comments about Brentford and the pace and rhythm we needed to beat them: "if you attack quick, they attack quicker".
I think we all want to see Grealish running hard at defences and taking them on because that's exciting to watch and he did it so well at Villa.
But Pep is a better tactician than all of us, he sees things we don't, and I suspect how we saw Grealish play last night was according to his orders (we had options on the bench, specifically Sterling, that would have been an obvious change to make if Pep was displeased with Grealish or wanted to change the tactics on that wing to be about attacking at pace).
He's been an admirer of Grealish for years. He's watched him closely and knows his skillset. Ball retention and pace control are more boring to watch, especially in a match like last night's, than direct, dynamic attack - but they're also rarer skills and they're difficult to teach to those who don't have them. It's not unfeasible that this was the reason Pep was so keen to buy him at any price. It's his love of "la pausa" all over again.
If there's space in behind the opposition defence, Grealish should be exploiting it. If he's up against a congested defence in a team with a strong counter-attack, running straight at it is statistically very likely to result in a turnover of possession and the opposition running at us at pace. That means risk and uncertainty and loss of control, and Pep hates that.
I'm not going to call Grealish's performance last night a masterclass or anything like that. Like many people here I found it frustrating to watch and I'd be much more entertained seeing him marauding down the wing as he did at Villa. I'm just open to the possibility that he was actually following orders and carrying out a tactical plan just like all the rest of our players, and it was a plan that got us a win against a tricky opponent in a week where our title rivals dropped points.