Jack Grealish was criticised by Alan Shearer and Ally McCoist in wake of Manchester City’s victory over Brentford on Wednesday night.
City won, again, to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League to eight points. You get the feeling that Pep Guardiola’s men will now be running away with it.
Guardiola shuffled his pack for the fixture, bringing in Phil Foden and Jack Grealish, and still managed to record another three points, to the surprise of absolutely nobody.
While Foden’s impact was decisive, scoring the goal which won the game, Grealish did very little to contribute to City’s victory – and hasn’t since signing for £100m, in truth.
Unsurprisingly, such is the nature of the scrutiny when you move for such an amount, Grealish is now a hot topic of conversation with the pundits.
As part of Amazon Prime’s coverage of Brentford vs Man City last night, pop Alan Shearer and Ally McCoist had a pop at the former Aston Villa skipper.
Alan Shearer: “Everything Grealish did was safe and simple. It looked as if he was scared to lose possession and take a gamble. That hasn’t come from Pep as he gives his players the confidence to take players on.”
“I understand Grealish is doing his job defensively when they don’t have the ball. But in this Manchester City team there is room for him to express himself more.”
“He was the danger man at Aston Villa. He went past two or three people and won a foul or got a shot. But he was too safe today. He only played four or five-yard passes all night. He should be saying he wants to be the star in this team.”
“They’ve paid £100m for me. It’s not my fault they have paid that but I am going to show you my quality.”
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Ally McCoist: “Grealish was taking the easy option all the time. He is so good at running past people but he wouldn’t do it. He would just play it back. He has the license to go and make things happen but he didn’t.”
“He hasn’t been a major disappointment. But we haven’t seen him do the things we’ve seen him do at Aston Villa.”
“Technically he’s very good, he’s passing well and keeping the ball well but we want to see that little step over.”
Grealish would be the first to admit that he needs to improve. It’s one thing to admit it, though, and another to actually achieve it.
Everyone knows that he’s a talented footballer but the question mark is over whether he can deliver at a club with expectations as loft as Man City’s.
It’s still early days in the grand scheme of things, but the signs are not particularly positive from his perspective.
