Jack's not ruined.
I can only assume, as I've assumed all season, that he's following Pep's instructions to the best of his abilities, and Pep's giving him those instructions for a reason - even if I can't necessarily fully understand that reason right now.
I don't doubt there have been matches where he's followed those instructions better than others. And I certainly don't dispute that there have been times where it's been frustrating to watch him.
He came to City to better himself. Not just to play in the CL and prove himself against the best teams in Europe, but to learn under arguably the best manager in the world.
According to people who know him, Jack's a student of the game who loves watching other players and teams and trying to understand what they're doing, how and why. For the past few years at Villa, he had a free role under a tactically naive manager, where he was basically used as a get out of jail free card, going wherever and doing whatever he felt in the moment was needed. That must have been frustrating, but even more frustrating would have been the noise around him being too much of a maverick to fit in with the national side.
He's not a maverick. He's a talented player who does what he's told, and when all he was being told is "go out there and win it for us", he looked like a maverick. But now his instructions are more complex and he's trusting Pep to be instructing him in a way that works best for the team.
It all seems to come down to whether or not you think Pep would authorise a big-money transfer for a player he'd been admiring and praising for years, but either not have a plan for how to use him, or keep playing him despite him not sticking to that plan. History suggests not.
I can only assume, as I've assumed all season, that he's following Pep's instructions to the best of his abilities, and Pep's giving him those instructions for a reason - even if I can't necessarily fully understand that reason right now.
I don't doubt there have been matches where he's followed those instructions better than others. And I certainly don't dispute that there have been times where it's been frustrating to watch him.
He came to City to better himself. Not just to play in the CL and prove himself against the best teams in Europe, but to learn under arguably the best manager in the world.
According to people who know him, Jack's a student of the game who loves watching other players and teams and trying to understand what they're doing, how and why. For the past few years at Villa, he had a free role under a tactically naive manager, where he was basically used as a get out of jail free card, going wherever and doing whatever he felt in the moment was needed. That must have been frustrating, but even more frustrating would have been the noise around him being too much of a maverick to fit in with the national side.
He's not a maverick. He's a talented player who does what he's told, and when all he was being told is "go out there and win it for us", he looked like a maverick. But now his instructions are more complex and he's trusting Pep to be instructing him in a way that works best for the team.
It all seems to come down to whether or not you think Pep would authorise a big-money transfer for a player he'd been admiring and praising for years, but either not have a plan for how to use him, or keep playing him despite him not sticking to that plan. History suggests not.