10 | Jack Grealish - 2024/25

supercity88 said:
I think Jack's issue has always been the fact he came from being the main man at Villa to one of a number of very talented players at City and the pressure of delivering has weighed heavy. He knows he needs goals and assists and he's put so much pressure on himself he's ended up playing with less freedom and allows himself to be affected when something doesn't come off, rather than keep sticking at it. Doku made the wrong decision so many times last night, but got a goal and assist so you can't fault his overall effort or performance. For Jack he'd make the wrong decision once and let it get to him. How many times does De Bruyne give the ball away or have a pass not find its mark? The key is to keep at it and forget about the mistake.

The benefit of him being in the middle is he sees the ball a lot more and can go and play a lot of good passes and build that confidence. He's definitely the best option for the middle of the park that we have at the moment and the burden on him getting goals/assists is reduced. He still needs to improve in that regard - Pep said as much - but if the team is winning and if we're keeping clean sheets then it doesn't matter as much.
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I think he might definitely start chipping in with more goals from this position..

As you say, he scored some crackers for Villa. He scored vs Ireland not so long ago because he was taking up more central positions. Foden said once that Jack is a quality finisher in training.

He can do it, he just needs to find it and I think he will in this position. Hugging the touchline wasn't doing him any favours in playing to his strengths. Get him in a middle, get his confidence up and the rest will follow.

He's never going to be a big scorer, even at villa he wasn't, but he scored enough there to show he's capable.

Gundo was only a 5 goal a season player at one point, but he got so smart in his position that he ended up getting a knack for getting into positions and scoring.

He's a quality player if used correctly.
 
Oh... sometimes Pep is so stubborn..

Why we had to wait for 3.5 years I don't understand.

Fantastic stats from Jack, hopefully he will keep that position..

Apart from Rodri, he and Foden are the only U30 players, so he still has the energy and everything to play box-to-box role..

Gundo is 34, KDB 33, Kovacic due to injuries can't be relied on that much, Bernardo is left-footed so he is more suitable for RW / RCM roles..

I don't understand why we shouldn't play Jack there and use his potential fully. I understand that this role also needs some defensive abilities, but since Pep arrived we played David Silva there (LCM position), then Gundo, then Foden, then Alvarez and none of them is monster in terms of defense and I don't think Jack is significantly worse than them, not to be worth to play that midfield role.

And also when we bought him from Villa and payed 100m, he was playing that position.

and statistics are good. The only issue is Jack's overall health, I don't like that fact that he is frequently injured. Other than that, if we give him this role and he starts to play week and week out, eventually we will have a great asset here.

 
Best game in absolutely ages last night, deserved a goal. Had it not been for Kev then he was my MoTM.

Looking forward to seeing him more in this position.
 
Kevin De Bruyne: “We performed well as a team but I think Jack Grealish did EXCEPTIONAL! He’s so good at controlling the tempo of the game, at holding the ball - you can’t really get it off him! Sliding through players, that’s his quality! Maybe with the type of guys we have on the flanks, he’s very good at that! I think we needed a bit more control, he was able to do that!”

I wouldn’t argue with Kev , no doubt others ….well ……
 
Crooked_rain said:
I think he might definitely start chipping in with more goals from this position..

As you say, he scored some crackers for Villa. He scored vs Ireland not so long ago because he was taking up more central positions. Foden said once that Jack is a quality finisher in training.

He can do it, he just needs to find it and I think he will in this position. Hugging the touchline wasn't doing him any favours in playing to his strengths. Get him in a middle, get his confidence up and the rest will follow.

He's never going to be a big scorer, even at villa he wasn't, but he scored enough there to show he's capable.

Gundo was only a 5 goal a season player at one point, but he got so smart in his position that he ended up getting a knack for getting into positions and scoring.

He's a quality player if used correctly.
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Ultimately, as long as we're winning games it doesn't matter who gets the goals. He held the width and stayed wide left, he allowed space for others and he had an impact in the treble season. Goals and assists didn't back it up, but he was a critical player for us. It suited the way we played that season. Now we need a bit more of an attacking threat and return out wide and we have a lack of control and energy in the middle and last night showed Grealish moving into the middle is a great potential answer. It gives him the ability to go back to what he knew best, and why we bought him in the first place - finding space to operate, keeping the ball or drawing a foul if under pressure and finding a team mate and getting the attack going. I think he'll excel. The first 45 he was a bit further forward, second 45 he was so much better and more effective. That's all it took for him to identify where he needed to influence the game.
 
supercity88 said:
Excellent performance. Got up and down the pitch really well, and was helping create space for others with his movement. So composed and solid on the ball he's exactly what we need in terms of controlling the tempo and ensuring we don't get overrun. Was good even in a deeper position. If he does get given the ball under pressure he's so good at protecting it or winning a foul, it's the ideal place for him to play given the injuries we have in that area.
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That performance was the one many of us have been hoping would happen, once Grealish was given the chance and moved inside.

Not sure why it has taken Pep so long to try him out there, but better late than never imo.

Obviously any success achieved will be sulked over, frowned upon and ignored by the Grealish haters and experts who have decried his signing since arrival, but in truth it reveals more about them than the player or the club.
 
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