Manchester City are struggling in the final third this season.
There has rightly been plenty of talk about the team’s defensive woes, with clean sheets proving very hard to come by.
But it can also be argued that there is an overreliance on Erling Haaland at the moment, with the Norwegian scoring 15 across all competitions so far.
Five other players have scored three goals each, but in terms of forwards scoring in the Premier League, it has very much been the Halaand show so far.
The likes of Matheus Nunes, Phil Foden, Savinho and Jack Grealish have all failed to score in the Premier League so far this term and that is a concern for Pep Guardiola.
Grealish has again had his injury problems, but that has not spared him from criticism from pundit Pat Nevin about his goal contributions rate.
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Pat Nevin criticises Jack Grealish who is ‘nowhere near as good as Cole Palmer’
Grealish has not played for Manchester City now since the win over Wolves on October 20.
The winger came into the new season with fire in his belly after being snubbed by Gareth Southgate for England’s Euro 2024 squad.
Grealish was vocal with his disappointment about his England snub, and was looking to really shine for City this season.
But it’s been another frustrating campaign for the 28-year-old so far, and his lack of goal contributions are again coming under the microscope.
Pat Nevin has been giving his thoughts via his BBC Football Extra email newsletter, saying of Grealish: “City have been good at buying the best lately, Haaland and Josko Gvardiol were impossible not to spot so not that clever, but what about spending £100 million on Jack Grealish. He is a seriously talented footballer, but when you look at what a player who cost that much should be contributing, the numbers are way off for a top-class creative forward.
“In terms of combined Premier League goals and assists it is well below contributing roughly one in every three games. Contrast that with De Bruyne and Mo Salah or even David Silva who he partially replaced.
“More concerning, his numbers are nowhere near as good as Cole Palmer since he left to join a club who should have been much harder to create and score for.”
Grealish’s numbers are disappointing
There is no getting away from it – Grealish’s goals and assists numbers for Manchester City are disappointing for a £100 million player.
People can talk about how he’s not that kind of player, and that he is someone who is all about providing control and ball retention and buying fouls.
But scoring goals and making assists semi-regularly comes with the territory of costing £100 million.
| Grealish for Man City in 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 (so far) |
| Appearances – 39 | Appearances – 50 | Appearances – 36 | Appearances – 10 |
| Goals – 6 | Goals – 5 | Goals – 3 | Goals – 0 |
| Assists – 4 | Assists – 11 | Assists – 3 | Assists – 2 |
In 135 games, Grealish has scored just 15 goals and made 20 assists. That is one contribution every 3.8 games.
By contrast, former City youngster Cole Palmer has provided a whopping 52 goal contributions (32 goals, 20 assists) in just 58 outings for Chelsea. That’s one every 1.1 games.
Once he is back fit, Grealish needs to try and stay that way and then kick on. Should he not have a particularly good season this time around, City might just start thinking about selling him on.
