Pep Guardiola's Jack Grealish comments speak volumes as £100m star fights for Man City future
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If the statistics tell their own sorry story of Jack Grealish’s struggles at Manchester City, the words of Pep Guardiola after the win over West Ham United were even more damning. “Savinho is in better shape and everything than Jack. Is there anyone in this room who thinks Savinho doesn’t deserve to play right now? No. I want the Jack that won the Treble? Yeah, I want it.”.
Since winning that Treble, Grealish’s numbers for City have been alarming, to say the least. Last season, he scored three goals and provided three assists in 36 appearances across all competitions. This season, he has yet to score and has made two assists in 19 appearances. He last scored for City on December 16, 2023. So, what now for Grealish after Guardiola’s damning words?.
This feels like something close to the last throw of the dice from Guardiola in his attempts to rejuvenate Grealish. He has tried showing Grealish a lot of love and affection and has been patient with him during some niggling physical issues. But by saying he wants the Grealish of the Treble season to return, Guardiola is publicly announcing that the player’s standards have slipped. Pep’s right to call him out because he wants Grealish to read his comments and react positively. The manager has nothing to lose.
Most definitely and it has become a very commonly-held opinion to believe Guardiola has drummed the creativity out of Grealish, that he has curbed his sense of adventure, that he has turned a maverick into an automaton, that he has replaced his unpredictability with predictability. All that might be true - but only to a certain extent.
