In mid-December, Jack Grealish fans threw themselves at the keyboard after watching another City game for the star, where he runs around with work instructions from Pep Guardiola that play to anything but Grealish’s strengths. After the Brentford game on Tuesday, where Grealish got enough ninety minutes on the bench, a former Arsenal star reacts more strongly than Grealish fans. He believes it is a loss for football.
First, to December’s reactions to Guardiola’s use of Grealish: @UtdPride wrote on X: “Total example of ‘The coach killed his career.'” Pep Guardiola and Jack Grealish were never meant to happen.”
@johnathonpacino tweeted: “Oh my God. That is a shocking statistic. And just three years ago, Grealish was hailed as England’s next David Beckham. To be fair to him, Guardiola has destroyed him. Plays him out on the left, when he’s a wandering midfielder.”
@TheEuropeanLad commented: “0 goals in Jack Grealish’s last 44 games for Manchester City. One of those footballers where “all the football has been sucked out of him”, all that remains is backward passes and possession. I miss Aston Villa-Grealish. «
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@eemz_em said: “Just saying it, the Pep Guardiola style has ruined him. Jack Grealish’s strengths at Aston Villa were ball movement, pressure on defenders and dribbling. Pep bought him knowing that his team doesn’t take the risk of losing possession. Grealish doesn’t take any risks anymore.
On Tuesday, a former Arsenal player in the BBC studio reacted to Guardiola’s failure to exploit Grealsih by putting the 29-year-old in various positions throughout the season to carefully detailed instructions on everything he should do.
-Some games can be quite stagnant and boring to watch. Catch the ball, receive it, turn, let the full-back do one-on-one against the other full-back. I say “No!”. He (Grealish) has gone away from his strength; he has walked away from everything that is Jack Grealish. It’s been worked out of him,” begins former Arsenal winger (2006-18) Theo Walcott, on BBC Radio.
-When was the last time he picked up the ball and did that maverick side of things, and got people out of their seats? I don’t see people jumping out of seats anymore,” Walcott complains.
For the former Arsenal player, football needs more natural and impulsive players like Villa-Grealish, not instructed football robots like Guardiola’s Grealish.
