In our view, Jack Grealish was sorely missed by Manchester City during their 1-1 draw against Liverpool.
Recently, Pep Guardiola admitted that he was unsure when the 28-year-old would return to full fitness after sustaining yet another injury in City’s 6-2 walloping of Luton Town in the FA Cup.
As a result, Grealish could not even make the cut in the Sky Blues’ matchday squad for their trip to Anfield on Sunday.
Manchester City sorely missed Jack Grealish in 1-1 draw against Liverpool
Against Liverpool, an area where Manchester City were uncharacteristically poor was their ball retention, which is one of the primary strengths Jack Grealish possesses.
Recently, Graeme Souness revealed that he is not a fan of the Englishman’s habit of taking as many touches as he does before passing the ball.
However, in our view, such claims indicate a clear lack of understanding of the treble-winner’s role at City.
Especially in high-octane affairs for Manchester City against teams like Liverpool, Jack Grealish allows his side to exert control over proceedings by playing as many passes as possible.
This very trait was missing on Sunday, as the visitors seemed to have been sucked into the hosts’ rhythm and tried to match them by rushing their approach in build-up, which likely would not have been the case had the former Aston Villa captain been fit.
Grealish, as he has done in several big games against Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium last season understands when to be aggressive in his approach and when to allow his side to simply dominate the ball.
The reason why such an approach is imperative for Pep Guardiola’s men is because their most glaring weakness is end-to-end games like against Jurgen Klopp’s side and unsurprisingly, in other such games against Tottenham and Chelsea in the league this season, they have failed to get a win under their belt.
It is not a coincidence that Grealish has failed to start in any of these games, either due to being benched or due to injury.
In addition, against Liverpool, Jack Grealish would have also allowed his Manchester City teammates like Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne to exploit the space that he would have provided them after attracting the opposition’s press.
Considering how skilful the two-time Premier League winner is, right-backs tend to closely mark him and as he takes multiple touches, City have a free man or two in and around the box to work his magic.
With the inexperienced Conor Bradley having never played against as tactically switched-on a winger as Jack Grealish, he could have had a tough time.
Apart from his elite ball retention and ability to allow his City teammates to find space close to the Liverpool penalty area, Grealish would have also won smart fouls, which was a quality that was barely used by the visitors during the contest.
As the Reds were on top, the England international’s knack for knowing when to draw a foul to stop the opposition’s momentum would have proven key and had an impact on the Anfield crowd’s mood, which was jubilant for much of the encounter.
Lastly, Jack Grealish is incredible at tracking runners and pressing, which Manchester City often failed to do against Liverpool.
Especially on City’s left-hand side, the likes of Harvey Elliott and Conor Bradley seemed to have far too much space to cause mayhem.
Grealish, however, would have had the experience of following the pair to a tee, knowing winning a foul was key to dismantling the momentum of their swift attacks or simply used his technical brilliance to allow City to play out of their press from deep areas.
From a Manchester City perspective, Jack Grealish’s return from injury will prove key in their hopes of winning on multiple fronts once again.
