Liverpool legend Graeme Souness has expressed the annoyance he feels when watching one Manchester City star.
City failed to win a game for the first time in 2024 on Saturday as they were held to yet another draw by Chelsea.
The dropped points felt like a defeat for Pep Guardiola’s side who have now slipped four points behind leaders Liverpool as a result.
City’s momentum was likely to buckle at some point though and they weren’t helped by a spate of injuries suffered last week.
Bernardo Silva, Josko Gvardiol and Jack Grealish all missed the match, a game in which the latter’s ability to keep hold of the ball would have come in handy.
Yet, Souness has admitted he gets frustrated when watching Grealish out on the pitch.
Why Graeme Souness gets annoyed watching Jack Grealish
Speaking on TalkSports’ Simon & Souness show, Simon Jordan put it to Souness that Grealish irritates him.
“Yeah, I think to a point,” Souness replied. “The way I was educated in my footballing life was to take as few touches as you possibly can.
“The only people that need time and space are the ones in the box who are going to score the goals.
“If someone runs with the ball before he’s picking a pass, that’s telling you he’s not really playing with the ball in his head before the ball arrives at him.
“That’s how I see Jack Grealish. I would like him to pick a pass quicker.”
That’s what Pep Guardiola wants
It’s a game of opinions, of course, but how can you not see Grealish is doing exactly what he is being asked to do?
Grealish takes his time on the ball and retains possession because he brings the tempo down. It allows his teammates to rest after just pressing to win it back and then begin to build their own attacking patterns.
The implication that the 28-year-old doesn’t have football intelligence as he isn’t ‘playing with the ball in his head’ is ludicrous.
Grealish plays a complex role under the most tactically demanding manager in the game. If he wasn’t intelligent, he wouldn’t have just played a crucial part in winning the treble.
His contributions can’t be undermined just because he doesn’t have a great number of goals or assists.
