Eat. Sleep. Train. Receive frenzied instructions from Pep. Repeat.
That’s how life goes for Manchester City players and Jack Grealish has assimilated perfectly, despite his previous reputation as a work hard, play hard throwback footballer.
That was part of the reason that the wonderfully gifted playmaker was such a fan favourite throughout England’s run to the Euro 2020 final, with a palpable clamour for his every touch of the ball.
But Grealish now has a public of one to impress and Pep Guardiola’s demands are famously unwavering.
“We spoke about what he has to live when he’s not here in the terms of eating, resting and sleeping - living 24 hours just for his profession,” Guardiola said ahead of City’s Champions League group game at Club Brugge, before confirming Grealish is passing this part of the brief at the Etihad Stadium with flying colours.
“What he has done so far is excellent. For a manager, you have to see which is the best position for him but the games he played, he played really well.
“I’m pretty sure, if he’s focused on what we have to do in the game on and off the pitch he is able to do it because he’s strong, his weight perfect, his body fat is perfect. I think his mentality is in the right position. Hopefully, we can help him.”
Quality in the final third
You can feel Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s brow furrowing right now, as a celebrated maverick of the game becomes Guardiola’s latest “schoolboy”. There is also every reason to believe the City boss is genuinely impressed and these aren’t just honeyed press conference words.
Grealish rested among the substitutes during Saturday’s routine and forgettable 2-0 win over Burnley but prior to that he had started every Champions League and Premier League game - an uncommon level of involvement for a new attacking signing in the Guardiola era.
Asked why he felt the need to add Grealish to a squad featuring the myriad talents of Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden, Riyad Mahrez, Bernardo Silva and Raheem Sterling, Pep replied: “The quality in the final third, he is able to attract many opponents and have the vision to find his mates, the mentality to score goals and win games - especially in the final third, the quality that he has.”
With the latest of the Champions League nights Grealish so craved now upon us, it feels like time for him to make that quality in the final third count a little more
Up to and including his swaggering display in the 1-0 win over European champions Chelsea, Grealish felt like a breath of fresh air at City. He then underwhelmed slightly against Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool, but the negative reaction to those displays felt somewhat disproportionate.
At Anfield, he played in an unfamiliar false nine role and the focus on his relative struggles in that game can in part be attributed to almost everything else in City’s performance functioning to a very high level.
Playing it safe?
Statistics collected by FBref show Grealish has adapted to new demands playing for the Premier League champions. His pass completion is 86.1% this term, having never gone above 80% at Aston Villa in the past two seasons. He is attempting more short passes and fewer long passes.
As you might expect, Grealish is averaging more touches in the final third and opposition penalty area per match than he did at Villa, but this has not yet yielded a higher output in terms of goal involvements.
Two goals and as many assists in 10 City matches amounts to a solid start, although his expected goals (xG) per 90 of 0.23 is barely any different to the past two campaigns at Villa (0.18). Grealish’s expected assists (xA) per 90 of 0.23 is down on 0.35 last term, suggesting he is not finding teammates in dangerous areas quite as frequently.
An average of two shots per game is again in line with his Villa average, while in terms of “shot creating actions” - a pass, dribble or foul won that precedes a shot - he is down on last season, even if an average of 5.3 per 90 is not to be sniffed at.
"I think the big challenge with us is he's 15 games without a goal,” said England manager Gareth Southgate earlier this month before Grealish duly opened his international account against Andorra.
“So the big challenge is to start registering those numbers that our other wide players have been able to produce over a period of time. There's no reason he can't do that."
Guardiola seems similarly convinced that Grealish could be about to explode in terms of goals and assists, given how well he has adapted to life at City overall.
It would certainly stop awkward questions along the lines of “why did you sign this guy and not a striker”, with the added bonus of aiding his new sleep regimen.
If Grealish can get among the goals regularly and make himself undroppable, it will be Guardiola’s turn to stay up all hours, furrowing his brow at the tactics board. Of course, he's probably doing that anyway.
What do you think of Grealish's start to life at City? Follow our City Is Ours editor Dom Farrell on Twitter to get involved in the discussion and give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
