This. Pep’s style of football is far too boring and takes no risks. It’s very effective, but not fun to watch.
Jack Grealish | Man City
- Thread starter RDCR07
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Guardiola turned him into a pressing/defensive monster though
You can’t really hold an opinion that Pep is one of the greatest managers of all time, and that Grealish isn’t a top player, at the same time.
He was great last night, and at the weekend. He’s a really important player for them.
He was great last night, and at the weekend. He’s a really important player for them.
Eh. Why not?
He is so important for them that he was dropped for half of his time there.
The fella can buy almost any player on earth, he bought him. He trained him to be the kinda player he wants in that position. He picks him. He performs. He plays in big matches.
It’s not as if he’s stinking the place up. He was important last season and after an injury afflicted season, he’s being asked to play against Real Madrid away.
He’s a top player and there’s not much evidence to the contrary.
I think he’s been OK, grand scheme of things.
There’s a lot of tactical guff and bending over backwards to justify Grealish that just doesn’t seem to happen with fans judging quite literally any other winger anywhere.
This is from 2019, when he was still at Villa:
I think it's been clear what he offers and why it's invaluable for a long time - what people expected with the £100m was compound interest on the more flamboyant side of his play; to become a more all-encompassing player that screams £100m+, but what has actually happened is he's become a refined specialist who is in the team specifically to do 'his thing' and the other bits added, like his pressing and work-rate being bonuses. But it's abundantly clear he's an ace up the sleeve who Guardiola doesn't particularly need for lower level games or the more unimportant portion of the season, but come run-in, when the big games and more typically, big teams feature rather routinely (whittling in the CL as well as the big pressure domestic cup games and big league games), you'll see Grealish rolled out as one of the key names because of what he does and how consistently he can do it.
Can't claim to have heavily scoured the leagues to be certain there any out there who rival him for what he does, but that specialist toolset he has is, and always was, rare and it's not in being able to do it once or twice, but all the time that it becomes a viable and workable asset you can build off of tactically. Grealish guarantees ball progression, fouls and yellow cards; he stymies games and can really take the pace out of them as and when your team needs him to. He is not a flashy dribbler, but he's a dead certainty to get the ball from A to B if he isn't fouled en route. I don't know how many other players in the league you can assert that for and a lot of it comes from his body strength and balance - there might be others as sure-footed as him, but how many can withstand shoulder-to-shoulder challenges and upper body strength engagements whilst trudging along to their intended destination? Most wingers, you can't catch because they are faster and more agile, but if you can get touch-tight, they simply don't have the strength or mass to withstand the contact of a heavier or stronger player; Grealish moves into a much more unique subset at this juncture and you're talking about an amount of players you can count on your hands over the last few years, rather than the abundance of talented wingers who can dribble for days, but are as strong, relatively, as a wet paper towel once gotten a hold of.
I note someone in one of these Grealish threads got absolutely torn to bits for comparing him to Ronaldinho, and in terms of raw talent, that's harsh but justified, but one trait they share is that body strength and balance, as 'dinho was the exact same, for all his skill and talent, he was an absolute powerhouse in physical tussles who it was a nightmare to go body to body with before anything to do with skill was factored. Zidane had that trait, so too, the legendary Moussa Dembele. It really doesn't come around often, and after Grealish, I would be curious to know who else has that who is active (I honestly don't know), so when you say 'does it take £100m to acquire' @Mike Smalling, it very probably does because it's dribbling combined with absurd amounts of body strength, which is the combination that is gold dust. All 4 of those players guaranteed elite ball carriage and that's an asset worth paying a fortune for.
It's ironic people thought Pep was falling out of love with Grealish by not playing him; it's more like this is the asset he wants wrapped in cotton wool and rolled out at the most important time of the season and one of the players he doesn't need or wish to risk in smaller games.
If England didn't have such a rubbish coach at the helm, they'd be looking to use him in the exact same way at international level.
Agreed
I think the criticism is more to Tixi etc. why did they spend £100m on a player only to take away large parts of what made him exciting? If he just wanted someone for the role Grealish players, they could have found someone with that skillset i.e. elite ball retention, wins freekicks, good workrate for a lot less. What he's doing isn't exactly reinventing the wheel. The reason I think people feel it's a shame with Grealish is because in a relatively poor Villa team, he'd had back to back PL seasons of 14 G+A and 16 G+A with many of those goals being created by himself versus just getting a few tap ins. At City he's never broken 10 and the quality of players around him is almost completely incomparable. There was a feeling he was ready to step up, go to a big club and absolutely smash it.
There's no criticism of Pep from a tactical perspective, Grealish is a player for his system and all Pep wide men generally have to make big sacrifices. I made this point before but it was obviously a commercial signing as much as a footballing one from City. As for Grealish only he can answer if he thinks it's worth it - he's winning more trophies than he'd likely win elsewhere (although it's not like he wouldn't moved to a top club after Villa so he'd still have won some I'd have thought) but how is he going to be remembered and does he care about where/how he plays? His best position is one where in the right setup you are an absolute talisman and he's good enough to be that for most top sides, I think he could start at basically any other club in a much more attacking role from the left or as a 10.
Haha, you won't like my post below yours then!
no further comments, your honour.I stand on it!
They aren't bonuses though. They are the main reason he starts games like yesterday's
With you on all of that. It’s Joe Cole to Jose all over again.
I reckon he probably detests Pep but loves playing for Pep at City for the trophies.
I’d argue that Haaland arriving and Foden kicking on has completely nuked any chance he had of being the player he was at Villa, at City.
Quality player. I wanted him at United back in 2020.
He would've been adored at Old Trafford.
He would've been adored at Old Trafford.
Aye. Similar to Hazard going to Chelsea. He was dazzling at a club under managers that wanted him to only be himself at the right time. He didn’t realise his potential.
At United both would have been given a longer leash from day one and would have become club icons.
While winning way less.
I don’t care how much exciting players win. I just want to watch them play for my club.
Why does his 100m price tag never get mentioned? I mean I wouldn’t say he’s lived upto expectations… maybe he’s got a bit of leeway though with his team winning trophy’s. If we won trophy’s consistently no one would mention Antony’s price tag no matter how bad the actual players been.
Is he? He’s a decent player, that’s about it. At Villa he was a big fish in a small pond but at city he’s not the star man, his stats aren’t really that good for a city team that score lots of goals. I don’t like his style of play either, he slows play down all the time and draws fouls even when he has an opportunity to get the ball in the box.
Do you actually watch City? Looks like you've literally watched the game at the weekend and the Madrid game and made some ridiculous statement.
He's been ousted out the team by Doku. He's been benched the last month, only played 9 games of 90minutes in the prem all season and then the few other games he's played between 5 and 15 minutes a handful of times at most and hence rumored that Pep is going to sell him. He's literally not important for them at all.
Not sure about that, loved me a bit of Park, but a top player he wasn’t.
Grealish is a top player mind, but not because his manager sees him as important in big games whilst dropping him for many others.
That’s tactical, there is a reason he plays in the big games. Him holding the ball and slowing it down enables the rest of the team to push up the pitch and regain shape in the opponents half.
How good would it be if United had a player that could keep the ball for longer than 4 seconds before attempting a ridiculous shot or a Hollywood pass.
Antony was actually very good at that last year but got constantly slated for not attacking his full back and not being productive enough so…
He's had a shitstain of a season off the pitch.
He's been a little too fond of the nightlife and had the sort of burglary that finished de Maria at United followed by a multi week injury just as he was getting his form back.
Since he returned from that he's been in good form and unlike many City players is fresh enough to play a big part in the demanding end of the season schedule.
Well I don’t watch them as much as city fans of course.
But Doku gives the ball away too often for Pep which is why Grealish is trusted in the biggest matches.
I’ll openly admit that he started the season slow, I don’t think he returned sharp in September. But his injury didn’t help him.
The fact is that you don’t start for Pep away against Real Madrid if he doesn’t consider you ‘important’.
Do cool your jets lad. I’m a United fan. I’ve seen the likes of Fletcher and Ji Sung Park be our most important players in some of our biggest matches. I’m not diminishing your fave. I just really rate Grealish.
I don’t think that Pep has ever tolerated a player as maverick as Grealish. He’s wild card and is the type of character that Pep has no time for. But the fact remains he’s been key for City in the most important games in their most successful season. He started in both ECL semi finals, FA cup final, and crucially - was rested in the closing PL matches to facilitate that.
He was brilliant last year and it’s mad to suggest otherwise.
I'm just correcting you for making an outlandish and quite frankly incorrect statement.
I don't really understand posters like you instead of going "yeah sorry you're right my bad" You go off on some weird tangents via some sort of mental gymnastics which have nothing to do with....well anything. See the above.
"I’ve seen the likes of Fletcher and Ji Sung Park be our most important players in some of our biggest matches"
What does that have to with Jack grealish or indeed....anything? Congrats?
Likewise "I’m not diminishing your fave" errr what? My fav? What?
Then using last season to justify that he's an important player for City and that it's mad to suggest he wasn't good last year. When no one is doing anything of the sort. You're just inventing arguments that no one was making.
First up, You’re not correcting me. We are exchanging opinions.
Secondly… I’ve used the Park/Fletcher example as United having ‘important’ players that don’t necessarily play every match.
With that said… Guardiola has selected Grealish in the biggest matches far more than Fergie did with those two.
Go hard I guess? Your manager is selecting a player in your most important matches, and did in the biggest matches of your best ever season, it’s fine if you define him as a squad player that is surplus to requirements. Maybe tell your manager though?
A more rational take would be that he’s brilliant, and that the on-pitch histrionics thrown his way recently were because he knows Grealish could have done better…. Which clearly had an impact in training as he selected him to start in one of the toughest away matches in football.
Honestly… just disagree with me. Quit acting like there’s an actual answer and that either of us needs to be right or wrong. It’s Fcuking weird.
Yeah, you’re not wrong, I think the rest of the just didn’t utilise that properly. Think there’s a good player in there with Antony still.
This is just blatantly incorrect - you clearly have not watched City at all this season either. He's been injured for big portions of the season and has struggled to find rhythm but is still Pep's preferred option on the left wing. He is extremely important to the way we play, and our worst performances this season have typically coincided with games that he was not involved in.
I feel Pep use him mainly as a way to get lots of freekicks awarded just outside the penalty area, especially on the sides. Wasted talent.
The Primark version of David Beckham.
All that dribbling talent and he has no interest in actually beating a man. Diving cnut.
Lil diving bitch
Greatest diver of all time? The refs certainly buy into it. They must think he’s the weakest player ever.
Incredibly dull footballer.
unwatchable player. has all the talent to be great to watch but ive rarely seen a player so keen to go down. It makes him so boring to watch - get ball, look up, burst of pace, dive. Any time he doesnt pass , this is what he does.
His whole game now is about daring people to try and tackle him so he can draw the free kick, if they don't he plays it backwards.
He must be one of the most unexciting expensive players ever, imagine that there are actual people who enjoy his football. English Ronaldinho.