Izzy Christiansen believes Erling Haaland is sorely “missing” Jack Grealish at the moment.
Haaland’s finishing has not been at its lethal best in recent weeks, as he missed a sitter in the first half against AFC Bournemouth as well.
Whether that is down to a potential lack of confidence or just a rough patch when it comes to the Manchester City striker is a mystery.
Izzy Christiansen says Erling Haaland is “missing” Jack Grealish
After the Norwegian international’s coolly-taken strike against Brentford, he fluffed his lines against the Cherries, which indicates that he may not be firing on all cylinders currently.
Of course, as Pep Guardiola recently claimed, even criticising the 23-year-old is futile as he will “shut your mouth.”
But Izzy Christiansen believes Erling Haaland may be missing Jack Grealish, who has been a victim of injury and Pep Guardiola’s rotation policy this season.
“I will say, I think he might be missing [Jack] Grealish a little bit and I think it’s massive for Man City to have Jack Grealish back on the bench because I think in the final third, what he brings to that team is that kind of difference in creativity”, she claimed on Sky Sports.
“As soon as Jack Grealish gets on the pitch, I think this man here, [Erling] Haaland will start, you know he’s had a little bit of criticism.”
“Not much but there’s been questions because of the chances he’s missed but he has been scoring. But as soon as Grealish comes back from the side, I think we’ll see even more from that man.”
Jack Grealish is missed by Manchester City as a whole
Whether Izzy Christiansen is correct about Erling Haaland missing Jack Grealish will only be revealed once the pair start in tandem for Manchester City once again.
But it is worth pointing out that City are missing Grealish’s presence in their ranks.
The 300,000-a-week (Sport Rac) man offers a sense of control when he starts that is sorely missed in his absence and as a result, the Sky Blues have not been as proficient in several games when trying to close them out.
Partly, that has been down to their leaky defence and faulty midfield balance at times this campaign,
But for instance, if Jack Grealish started against Bournemouth, he would have slowed the game down, won fouls and allowed Manchester City to dominate the ball to help them control the game in the second half.
On another day, the Cherries would perhaps deservedly have earned a draw after their attacking onslaught after the first half.
Once Grealish returns to the fold, he could cement his place in the City XI as there is no replacement for a player of his profile.
