Jack Grealish - how far can he reach?

[ChTab]

Jack Grealish says Harry Kane has helped him mature while on England duty

Grealish, who captains Aston Villa, made his England debut in September last year and has amassed seven caps over the course of the season, with his form putting him in contention for a starting place in Sunday's Euro 2020 opener against Croatia.

The 25-year-old also credited Liverpool skipper Jordan Henderson, explaining that the duo's professionalism has shown him what was required to take his game to the next level.

Asked about the impact of becoming captain of his club, Grealish said: "I think it's changed me on and off the pitch. I think that was always going to come - I was always going to grow up a bit more at some stage.

"But I think the main thing is being here for this season, you come here and you see the likes of Jordan Henderson and Harry Kane, and what they do off the field.

"Obviously what they do on it we can all see that, but what they do on the training pitch and around the place and how they look after themselves, and you sit there and you think it's no wonder why they've had the careers that they have had.

"And that's I think one of the main things that has made me mature as a player, as a person and as a captain."

Asked which individual - either opponent or teammate - has had the biggest influence on him, Grealish added: "I'd probably say Harry Kane. I speak to him a lot. I speak to everyone in the changing room. I think it's good when you do come away with England to get different opinions off people, see what certain people do, what certain people don't do.

"But when you come away here there's no better person to look at than Harry Kane, to see the way he looks after himself and stuff like that."

https://www.skysports.com/football/...e-has-helped-him-mature-while-on-england-duty

 

[PetroDollars]

Typical of you to take a dig at Martial. Is he not English enough for you?

Rashford missing the start of the season won’t be a bad thing. If we sign Sancho, he can play on the left with Cavani down the middle and Mason on the right. We all know that your favourite Ole will never have the guts to drop Rashy if he is available. He will drop the kid Greenwood who is so much more talented than PRashford, but because Mr “I spoke to Barack Obama” is an experienced player and is a celebrity now, Ole won’t have the guts to drop him.

since when did Martial become english?

Ole doesnt have the guts to drop Rashford because the board doesnt give him recruitments and has a thin squad, all the players are over worked and injured all the time. Talent doesnt matter anymore, because we all saw how talented MArtial was, but result and end product was ZERO, more talented then Rashford but not a better player.

As for next season, you cant rely on Cavani to play every game, he will be injured after 2 weeks.

 

[OMB]

Manchester City are reportedly ready to smash the all-time Premier League transfer record in order to land Aston Villa midfielder Jack Grealish

 

[Giannis]

Apparently he played for Ireland first before England poached him.

 

[Firebat]

Manchester City closing in on signing Jack Grealish for £100m from Aston Villa

Manchester City are closing in on the £100m signing of Aston Villa skipper Jack Grealish.

A deal could be concluded in time for the England midfielder to play in the Community Shield against Leicester City on Saturday.

The move for the 25-year-old would make it a British record.

The fee for him would surpass the £89m Manchester United paid to re-sign France midfielder Paul Pogba from Juventus in 2016.

Grealish is set to make the move after returning to pre-season training with Aston Villa following Euro 2020.

It seems as though the transfer has been conducted in a much smoother way than that of City's other main target, Harry Kane, who is presently in a stand-off with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy over the striker's claim a gentleman's agreement exists for him to leave the club this summer.

Grealish signed a new five-year deal with Villa in September.

City made their move for him at the end of last week, following up a summer of conversations with Villa by lodging a bid.

Guardiola believes Grealish's creativity can offer an extra attacking dimension to what is already one of the most potent attacking units in the English game.

City scored 83 goals in the Premier League last season, 10 more than the second-highest scorers Manchester United, but Guardiola evidently feels they are capable of more.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/58088911

 

[Firebat]

Record-breaking transfer.

Grealish will become the most expensive British player ever, surpassing £85m for Gareth Bale.

This is also the most expensive player a British club has ever bought, surpassing Paul Pogba:

 

[Mamoon]

Sane wasteful, LOLzz - City have looked toothless in attack since he left.

As for Grealish, hes not going anywhere, Villa was already demanding £80M from MU in the summer, if he was going to sell for £50/60M he wouldve been at MU instead of VDB and this season his stock has gone up, no club is going to meet there value. Even though he would have made a great match up with ole.

No team will pay this much for a 25 year old who is still proving himself. Man Utd have been throwing money away in the last few years but didnt want to pay £80 million for him, which is why he signed another contract with Villa. The same Utd spent £50 on Fred.

Perhaps because Grealish who may end up in jail if he keeps on driving like a clown, reason for him being banned now.

Villa fans are arrogant but dont know why, since their team has won nothing for decades lol.

Genius.

 

[Mamoon]

Grealish, De Bruyne and Foden playing together under Pep.

Oh my.

Man City will be brilliant to watch next season, if they are not brilliant to watch already.

 

[shaz619]

Grealish, De Bruyne and Foden playing together under Pep.

Oh my.

Man City will be brilliant to watch next season, if they are not brilliant to watch already.

This is a big shame for us but we made a few quid out of it at least and truthfully it’s a great move for Grealish to play under Pep especially will defo be something to look forward to watching this season.

Hopefully Emiliano will fill the creativity void to a degree because when Grealish was injured we won something like 20% of our fixtures

 

[Mamoon]

This is a big shame for us but we made a few quid out of it at least and truthfully it’s a great move for Grealish to play under Pep especially will defo be something to look forward to watching this season.

Hopefully Emiliano will fill the creativity void to a degree because when Grealish was injured we won something like 20% of our fixtures

Villa is a fantastic club, but unfortunately unless there is a takeover, it is not going to be able to compete for the top honors.

If they use this £100m wisely they could make some major strides. They knew this was inevitable which is why they proactively signed his replacement (Buendia) and also wanted to sign Smith Rowe.

Villa should also some of these funds to tie Martinez to a new deal. Arsenal’s blunder proved to be Villa’s gain. He is a world class keeper now and some big European club will come calling soon.

A lot of Villa fans are understandably angry and are calling Grealish a traitor, but it is very difficult to be a one club man when you are not winning trophies.

In time Villa fans will make peace with his decision and respect him. I am sure he will get a fantastic reception when he returns to Villa Park in City colors.

 

[AdamM97]

Tough luck to Mahrez and Bernardo Silva who’ll be benched in most Prem and CL matches lol.

 

[IAJ]

Villa is a fantastic club, but unfortunately unless there is a takeover, it is not going to be able to compete for the top honors.

If they use this £100m wisely they could make some major strides. They knew this was inevitable which is why they proactively signed his replacement (Buendia) and also wanted to sign Smith Rowe.

Villa should also some of these funds to tie Martinez to a new deal. Arsenal’s blunder proved to be Villa’s gain. He is a world class keeper now and some big European club will come calling soon.

A lot of Villa fans are understandably angry and are calling Grealish a traitor, but it is very difficult to be a one club man when you are not winning trophies.

In time Villa fans will make peace with his decision and respect him. I am sure he will get a fantastic reception when he returns to Villa Park in City colors.

They have every right to be angry but to call him traitor is plain stupidity. A true fan should understand and respect his decision. Had Villa been like Juventus or Barca or even Man Utd he would never have left his team, but he has potential to become a world class player and have ambitions so why not let him fulfill his dreams?

I have been Leeds fan since 1987 and Calvin Philips wasn't even born then. But if he one day decides to leave Leeds I will be sad of course, but will also be happy for him as he is also becoming one of the very best in his position. Everyone changes jobs etc whenever it suits them, so they should respect the athletes decisions as well. That's at least my opinion on this.

 

[IAJ]

Tough luck to Mahrez and Bernardo Silva who’ll be benched in most Prem and CL matches lol.

Yes, the competition will be tough. And Grealish would have to deliver as well, it will be tough for him as well.

 

[Bewal Express]

Grealish needs the ball and lots of it, De Bruyne will get the ball, it will be interesting how this dynamic works.

 

[SpiritOf1903]

Overrated

 

[shaz619]

Villa is a fantastic club, but unfortunately unless there is a takeover, it is not going to be able to compete for the top honors.

If they use this £100m wisely they could make some major strides. They knew this was inevitable which is why they proactively signed his replacement (Buendia) and also wanted to sign Smith Rowe.

Villa should also some of these funds to tie Martinez to a new deal. Arsenal’s blunder proved to be Villa’s gain. He is a world class keeper now and some big European club will come calling soon.

A lot of Villa fans are understandably angry and are calling Grealish a traitor, but it is very difficult to be a one club man when you are not winning trophies.

In time Villa fans will make peace with his decision and respect him. I am sure he will get a fantastic reception when he returns to Villa Park in City colors.

Top honours would be difficult but a trophy down the line or European football would be a dream. Definitely a massive blunder there on Arsenal’s part I don’t know what they were thinking lol Martinez would be the first bloke I’d pump that extra £££ into.

Maybe online the sentiment will be negative but I think he will get a nice reaction possibly this season even, for me he is in our top 2 or 3 best players ever for the club during the PL era although Gabi Agbonlahor will always be my personal favourite.

 

[Firebat]

BREAKING: Jack Grealish has completed a medical at Manchester City ahead of his proposed £100m transfer from Aston Villa.

 

[PetroDollars]

Genius.

Didnt expect anyone to bid over 70m for him, good player, would suit pep but 100m is mental for a player that hasnt even been anywhere near the best in the league, yet you though we overpaid for maguire, now you gona try and hype him for pep )

 

[IAJ]

Didnt expect anyone to bid over 70m for him, good player, would suit pep but 100m is mental for a player that hasnt even been anywhere near the best in the league, yet you though we overpaid for maguire, now you gona try and hype him for pep )

Maguire should have gone for max 50 and Grealish max 70. But the prices have gone out of control long ago. It’s mainly future expectations and the revenues the player will generere which is also calculated in that price. Anyways good for Villa, with that amount they can easily bring in 3 class players, and that shows how redicilous these fees for single players are.

 

[Saj]

Manchester City have signed Jack Grealish from Aston Villa for £100m in the biggest deal in English football history.

The 25-year-old midfielder joins on a six-year deal after the Premier League champions activated the £100m release clause in his Villa contract on Friday.

The transfer fee also breaks the previous record in English football held by Paul Pogba when he re-joined Manchester United for £93.25m from Juventus in 2016.

 

[PakLFC]

Hey if you've got the money then flaunt it I see a bit of Gazza in Grealish in how he runs with the ball taking on players. He could develop to being as good as Gazza once was before he hit the dummy and bottle for that matter We all know English players are overpriced.

 

[pillionrider]

The guy with the silly hairstyle and who didn't step up to take the most significant penalty ever for his country, but actually wanted to? That guy broke the records? No wonder the English sing unrealistic songs like "It's coming home". Their reality is totally different from the rest of the world.

Pep must be regretting this, now that Messi has become available.

 

[pillionrider]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Pep Guardiola running to Sheikh Mansour asking him to cancel the Jack Grealish deal and bring in Lionel Messi instead <a href="https://t.co/926zAl9PJZ">pic.twitter.com/926zAl9PJZ</a></p>— Footy Humour (@FootyHumour) <a href="https://twitter.com/FootyHumour/status/1423344697532112899?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 5, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Ahmad-GERMANFC]

Didnt expect anyone to bid over 70m for him, good player, would suit pep but 100m is mental for a player that hasnt even been anywhere near the best in the league, yet you though we overpaid for maguire, now you gona try and hype him for pep )

Pep buys lot of players but he rarely breaks the bank for any one player. If he’s willing to sanction 100mm pounds for Grealish then surely he has developed enough credibility and pedigree in the game that one must accept that there must be solid reasons

 

[Ahmad-GERMANFC]

[MENTION=46929]shaz619[/MENTION] - would Grealish be considered villa legend? Must be gutted to lose 2 finals (FA Cup and a league cup) with villa

 

[shaz619]

[MENTION=46929]shaz619[/MENTION] - would Grealish be considered villa legend? Must be gutted to lose 2 finals (FA Cup and a league cup) with villa

It’s a good question because he played for Villa in some unique circumstances when the team had their backs against the wall on every level, but taking us back to top flight and keeping us there when it didn’t look that way will always be massive achievements and how he was an inspirational leader especially, there are other players who were around in better circumstances and did well, Grealish as we’ve seen passes the eye test and I think he will be considered a legend for the way he performed when things were not great

 

[MenInG]

Man City 2-0 Norwich

Grealish's first goal since £100m move!

 

[PakEngFan]

One of the most overrated players I have seen.

 

[Firebat]

Gareth Southgate happy to see Jack Grealish score first England goal

Jack Grealish has taken an important "psychological" step by scoring his first goal for England, says boss Gareth Southgate.

Grealish came off the bench to get the fifth goal in a 5-0 World Cup qualifying win over Andorra from keeper Sam Johnstone's assist.

The Manchester City midfielder was making his 16th appearance for England.

"The longer the number of caps stack up and the goals column stays blank, it can become a thing," said Southgate.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/58859580

 

[James]

Good player who has a star quality. Look forward to seeing what he achieves in his career.

 

[Firebat]

Jack Grealish: Man City move has been so much more difficult than I thought but so much more to give

Jack Grealish has told Sky Sports life at Man City has been "much more difficult" than he expected - and that he has "so much more" to give the club.

The Premier League's first £100m player has yet to regularly hit the level of performance which persuaded Manchester City to sign him from Aston Villa in the summer, but he has still managed to score and assist two goals each from 12 league starts.

Grealish was dropped by Pep Guardiola as City thrashed Newcastle last weekend, a consequence of pictures published in The Telegraph showing the 26-year-old leaving a nightclub with team-mate Phil Foden following their previous win over Leeds, with City reportedly unhappy with the condition of the pair when they arrived for a recovery session the next day.

But he could be straight back in the Premier League champions' squad to face Leicester on Boxing Day, and he is eager to show the Etihad crowd what he can do in 2022.

"I've done okay so far," he said. "I've got so much more to give. It's been so much more difficult than I thought it was going to be. I'm still learning and adapting. I've heard some people take a year to adapt here so maybe it will be the same for me. I want to score more and set up more goals next year.

"It's crazy because the standards here are so high on and off the pitch. It's unbelievable and it's why they have been so successful over the years.

"Having a £100m price tag means when you are going through a dry patch people ask if you are worth the money - where are his goals, where are his assists? I understand that, but I have to see it as a privilege that the club wanted to spend that much money on me and I hope I can repay them with goals and trophies.

"Playing in the Champions League is completely different to the Premier League - I had never played in Europe before, and I really wanted to. It's unbelievable to hear the Champions League anthem, it makes you pinch yourself. It's one trophy the players here really want to win."

https://www.skysports.com/football/...icult-than-i-thought-but-so-much-more-to-give

 

[James]

Middling start to the season from him. He is however doing enough to win a place in the City side and has got a few years until his career peak — he’ll be fine.

 

[shaz619]

Coward traitor deserves it, hope he continues to flop

 

[in_cutter]

O v e r r a t e d

 

[Kroll]

Silky skills but too much of a player, on and off the pitch and its his off the pitch playing that's costing him.

 

[Manunited18]

OVERRATED, city don't need him, infact their a better team without him.

 

[Bewal Express]

Grealish needs the ball and lots of it, De Bruyne will get the ball, it will be interesting how this dynamic works.

Not well so far

 

[silentkiller187]

In order to fit into pep project players need a very high iq and very high work rate, grealish has abundance of talent but I fear he lacks the other 2 , he would have been better at Chelsea man u maybe even Liverpool but at city he will just be an ordinary player

 

[Manunited18]

In order to fit into pep project players need a very high iq and very high work rate, grealish has abundance of talent but I fear he lacks the other 2 , he would have been better at Chelsea man u maybe even Liverpool but at city he will just be an ordinary player

No thanks, we don't need him at united

 

[silentkiller187]

No thanks, we don't need him at united

The way Fred mctominy and Fernandes are playing he is exactly the type of player Man Utd need right now.

 

[Geordie Ahmed]

I think with City players under it's always tough to judge them in their first season, whilst some have hit the ground running (Walker, Ederson, Dias) you find that others usually find their first season finding their feet and it's the second season they really improve and reach a new level (think of Mahrez, B.Silva, Cancelo, Rodri). Which makes sense as it takes a while for players to fully get what Pep wants from them.

 

[Manunited18]

The way Fred mctominy and Fernandes are playing he is exactly the type of player Man Utd need right now.

Grealish is a attacking player, Fred mctominy are 6-8's, Bruno has created most assist in open play in the league.

 

[Geordie Ahmed]

Grealish is a attacking player, Fred mctominy are 6-8's, Bruno has created most assist in open play in the league.

This season? Bruno only has 3 assists

Or are you referring to chances?

 

[Manunited18]

This season? Bruno only has 3 assists

Or are you referring to chances?

Yes chances

 

[James]

In order to fit into pep project players need a very high iq and very high work rate, grealish has abundance of talent but I fear he lacks the other 2 , he would have been better at Chelsea man u maybe even Liverpool but at city he will just be an ordinary player

Interesting point on the IQ level, not seen it mentioned before in relation to playing for Pep but it does strike a bit of a chord.

 

[silentkiller187]

Interesting point on the IQ level, not seen it mentioned before in relation to playing for Pep but it does strike a bit of a chord.

the thing is peps football is like trigonometry, lots of triangles spaces positions, the games played out in the mind before the pitch, some players thrive in this environment, unfortunately some players with "less iq" may struggle to grasp the theories Pep puts out there. Grealish unfortunately seems to be one of them right now thats struggling

 

[silentkiller187]

Grealish is a attacking player, Fred mctominy are 6-8's, Bruno has created most assist in open play in the league.

how many goals have man utd scored in last 3 games let alone their attacking presence this whole season? utd are currently sitting in 7th with prospect of no champions league again next season, they could defo do with a player like grealish right now, the type of player that does something different similar to what pogba would offer this utd team if he actually performed .

 

[Firebat]

Gareth Southgate challenges Jack Grealish to become more tactically aware after impressive Germany cameo

Gareth Southgate has challenged Jack Grealish to improve his tactical knowhow and all-round game if he is to become a regular starter for England.

Harry Kane's 50th international goal guided England to a 1-1 draw in Germany and their first Nations League point of the campaign. Southgate's team struggled for rhythm in the final third until the introduction of Grealish with 20 minutes to go as his influence down the left flank helped England force their late equaliser.

In his last 11 caps in a competitive game for England, only three of those have seen Grealish play from the start as Southgate ultimately used him to change a game for him from the bench, including in three of the four knockout matches at last summer's European Championship run to the final.

When asked if he sees him as a starter or an impact sub, Southgate said: "He can do both. If we didn't trust him we wouldn't put him on the pitch with 20 minutes to go in the belief he can make a difference.

"At the start of the game the challenge for the wide players was to attack, defend and to try and score goals - high tactical level and you've got to be spot on - and that's an area Jack can get better at. What he did do was carry the ball as the game opened up with a little bit more space and opportunity. The impact both he and Jarrod Bowen had was really important in those attacking areas. There is a good challenge there among those players but we've got to keep pushing them."

After Saturday's defeat in Hungary, England were staring at successive Nations League defeats when Jonas Hofmann's second-half strike took Germany to within three minutes of victory of the Allianz Arena in Munich. However, Kane's strike capped a strong final quarter of the game from Southgate's men who deserved their draw.

Southgate said: "I was pleased with the level of performance. This type of fixture challenges everything; technical, tactical, physical, psychological and players had to give everything to get a result. In the first half we were OK but the quality of our passing wasn't at the level it needed to be. In the second half, we were passive in that period when we conceded but the response was fantastic. The quality of our attacking play, we created quality chances and deserved something from the game. That's a huge credit to the players in showing that mentality not to give in and to keep pushing.

"It's an important sign for when you are in a team - we've got seven or eight players still in there that got to a World Cup semi-final. That's important as they put their bodies on the line and on nights like this, you have to do that to get a result.

"These series of matches are about improving and learning as a team and you can't get that against lesser opposition so the quality of the game tests every part of the player. I think we'll review it and see things we can get better at but coming away from home and getting a good result was a challenge for the players. Top teams don't lose two games on the bounce and they've responded to that in the right way."

https://www.skysports.com/football/...ctically-aware-after-impressive-germany-cameo

 

[SpiritOf1903]

Usually the first bend before a lamppost

 

[James]

England looked a different team and a better one as soon as Jack Grealish came on as a sub last night. It’s getting quite obvious that Southgate doesn’t particularly rate Jack, but he really needs to be in the starting XI going forward.

 

[shaz619]

How’s it going at City for old boy Jack

 

[Bewal Express]

Style doesn't suit City. He needs to do less party tricks and release the ball quicker

 

[Firebat]

Jack Grealish says adapting to life at Man City has been 'difficult'

"When I came here, I'll be honest with you, it was so much more difficult than I thought," Grealish, 27, told Sky Sports after City's 1-0 win moved them to within five points of leaders Arsenal.

"In my head I thought I was going to the team sitting top of the league and I was going to get so many goals and assists and obviously it isn't the case. A lot of teams tend to sit in against us and that wasn't the case at Villa."

Grealish added: "[Ex-Aston Villa manager] Dean Smith would tell me to go and find the weak link in the defence, whether that was on the right, the middle or whether I wanted to hug the touchline - and at Villa, I always had an overlapping full-back.

"I came into City, having been at Villa my whole life, and I've never had to change. I've always been used to that. I didn't realise how hard it is to adapt to a different team and manager."

"We've had games this season - Everton and Brentford recently for example - where they've had a back five and they've sat in against us," Grealish added.

"Against a back four today it just felt so much more open and we were saying we were desperate to come on."

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/64182643

 

[James]

Jack Grealish was basically put in a no win situation by his transfer fee to City, which was so exorbitant because Villa had put a huge release clause in his contract.

£100 million, the English record (although likely to be broken soon by Jude Bellingham).

Do well — “he should have done for £100 million”. Do badly — “biggest flop ever”.

Grealish has done ok at City overall up to now, considering the very high standards that are expected at City.

He will continue to make an impact at important moments imo.

 

[shaz619]

Jack Grealish was basically put in a no win situation by his transfer fee to City, which was so exorbitant because Villa had put a huge release clause in his contract.

£100 million, the English record (although likely to be broken soon by Jude Bellingham).

Do well — “he should have done for £100 million”. Do badly — “biggest flop ever”.

Grealish has done ok at City overall up to now, considering the very high standards that are expected at City.

He will continue to make an impact at important moments imo.

At the time it was so crushing to lose Grealish because we were so reliant on him, our style of play was built around his playmaking versatility and he was wonderful to watch. At the same time, it’s a blessing in disguise because we’ve had to figure out a way to get the job done without Grealish, I think some of our top names became complacent with him there.

At City he has been very dull but as you say he has done ok and the manager is utilising him fine in the role he requires from him, but you just feel at the same time his abilities are somewhat constrained at the Club

 

[SpiritOf1903]

Most overrated player in the world

 

[James]

At the time it was so crushing to lose Grealish because we were so reliant on him, our style of play was built around his playmaking versatility and he was wonderful to watch. At the same time, it’s a blessing in disguise because we’ve had to figure out a way to get the job done without Grealish, I think some of our top names became complacent with him there.

At City he has been very dull but as you say he has done ok and the manager is utilising him fine in the role he requires from him, but you just feel at the same time his abilities are somewhat constrained at the Club

Yes as per the Dean Smith stuff, Super Jackie has gone from having a high degree of autonomy — the showstopping player at a club that was on the comeback trail after some difficult years — to a useful impact sub in a Champions League squad.

Jack hasn’t done much wrong following his move, a few goals and some nice assists, but in the context of what City have at their disposal, he isn’t the exciting star anymore & has been made into just another guy.

And whereas Jack wears his heart on his sleeve and responds to this passionate style of leadership accordingly, Pep Guardiola doesn’t strike me as a manager who views football as having much sentiment to it; obviously he enjoys winning; but he is clinical in a footballing sense and his primary concern is player utility — some of the more romantic stuff doesn’t seem to interest him, as seen by the way he has managed Jack and also Phillips.

Most football managers would have given Kalvin Phillips a run out for a few minutes at Elland Road when City were going to comfortably win the game, most of the Leeds fans would have stood to their feet, given Kalvin a rapturous hero’s reception and warmly welcomed him onto the pitch in a City shirt, but he was left rotting on the bench and trying to awkwardly smile his way through the experience.

Take the cheeky local lad at the core of the team away from clubs with less money, strip away most of their personality, and only make use of their mannequins now & again. That’s what the big clubs do to us.

 

[MenInG]

Jack Grealish has hit back at criticism received by Graeme Souness after he said he ‘held the ball for too long’ at Aston Villa.

The England international is now one of the best players in the Premier League after finding his feet at Manchester City.

It took him time to adapt after his £100million move from Villa, a club where he was regarded as the boy wonder after breaking into the first team fold.

As a key player at the club, Grealish was tasked with single-handedly dictating play in the middle of the park, leading to long spells on the ball.

Grealish specifically remembers being criticised by Liverpool legend Souness for holding onto the ball during his time with his hometown club, something that he says still frustrates him about the game today.

Asked about the criticism, Grealish told the Daily Mail: “Oh don’t.

“The way some of the TV pundits talk I can’t actually catch my breath sometimes. It’s as if they never played bad themselves.

“Graeme was an unbelievable player. But he used to say I held on to the ball too long. I was like, ‘Mate, I play for Aston Villa’. A lot of the time we didn’t have the ball so when we did the manager told me to keep it.

“It’s the same here. Everyone sees Pep as a tiki-taka manager but before the Bayern game away in the Champions League he said, ‘You know what having balls is? It’s about being the one to keep the ball, to calm the game down’.”

“So you do that and you get criticised. It’s tricky. When I was at Villa nobody had paid any money for me so it didn’t matter if I played bad. Also, 90 per cent of the games were not live on TV so people wouldn’t notice anyway.

“It is different now but I will be honest here — if I have played well I go back home and watch everything and listen to the commentary and what they say afterwards.

“If I play s***, I will not listen to a word they say.”

TalkSports

 

[MenInG]

Gareth Southgate has warned Jack Grealish not to cross the line with his partying after winning trophies.

Grealish’s alcohol consumption drew much of the focus after Manchester City completed the treble last weekend and Southgate wants the winger to be ready to play for England.

City’s England contingent have been on a high since beating Internazionale in the Champions League final and were never going to start Friday night’s Euro 2024 qualifier away to Malta.

Southgate, who indicated that he will use Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield, will look to rest Grealish, Phil Foden, Kyle Walker, John Stones and Kalvin Phillips. He also has a decision to make on Declan Rice after the 24-year-old won the Europa Conference League with West Ham.

But while Southgate acknowledged the emotion of winning the Champions League, he has spoken to the players about maintaining focus. There was also a message to Grealish about his wild celebrations days before an England international.

“There is a line,” England’s manager said. “But in our head we weren’t thinking of including the City players for this game. We’ve been through this scenario three or four times in the last few years with our players leading into games. It’s a huge occasion.

“We’ve got a lot of our players in for the full training week and we were able to work tactically. And we needed to give those guys [City’s players] the time to take everything in.

“But point No 1, they all wanted to come in to be with the group, which is fantastic. The focus has been good.” Southgate was asked if it was excessive of Grealish to party for three days.

“As I have said, I have spoken with the players and we have talked about where our focus needs to be and where we need them to be,” he said. “We have acknowledged what they have experienced and that is for me to manage over the coming weeks.”

It is rare for modern players to be so visible with their drinking. “A few of our players would be teetotal [when I played],” Southgate said. “What is different is that everyone posts everything. I wouldn’t have liked a few of my nights out to be posted publicly. My generation would have been in a lot more problems.”

England top Group C after winning their opening games against Italy and Ukraine. Southgate could start Marc Guéhi in central defence and Conor Gallagher in midfield against Malta, who are 172nd in the Fifa rankings.

The trip to Ta ‘Qali Stadium will bring back memories of one of the lowpoints of the Southgate era – the night when England were booed by their supporters after leaving it late to beat Malta 4-0 in a World Cup qualifier in September 2017. “It wasn’t a pleasant journey to the stadium, and it was less pleasant going home,” Southgate said.

Guardian

 

[Bewal Express]

I know people that taught him and he was quite literally Jack the lad. Not the sharpest knife in the box

 

[Kianig89]

Grealish is alot better than fake Foden and Rashfords only Saka and Grealish are proper world class players in English team rest all are hyped including Captain Kane who has Proteas genes

 

[shaz619]

Grealish winds up so many people.

Why are United fans especially so upset by him on social media [MENTION=138670]The_KING[/MENTION]

 

[shaz619]

I know people that taught him and he was quite literally Jack the lad. Not the sharpest knife in the box

He gets the job done though mate, we wouldn’t be playing top flight footy without him, restored our pride