Jack Grealish during his time at Manchester City was more often evaluated based on his price tag rather than his performances. The former Aston Villa-man had a pretty medium return of the 17 goals and 23 assists in 157 appearances, which was not very impressive but not antagonizing either by any means.
Pep Guardiola’s methodology of positional play along with zero risk passing greatly restrained and tamed the Grealish’s natural instincts. He was basically a ‘part’ of a ‘whole’ that was working very efficiently, passing the ball back and forth with a 91% pass accuracy but creating only 24 chances and 13 successful dribbles in the Premier League last season. The very features that he was unbeatable at Villa – flair, directness and unpredictability, were downplayed.
Comparing to his loan at Everton, he is not weighed down by the heavy metal anymore. Just three Premier League games under David Moyes and Grealish is changed beyond recognition. He has, so far, been very close to last season’s performance in terms of assists and has also provided more chances for his teammates and completed more successful dribbles. He is not yet playing safe, but he is attacking the defenders with force, dragging them to him, and thus, letting the play continue in the final third.
The change has been visibly significant. In fact, he was the player who set up the first-ever goal at Everton’s new Hill Dickinson Stadium and thus became part of club history, and his reaction with the away fans after the Wolves victory was typical of his strong relationship with the supporters.
Moyes seems to have discovered the Aston Villa side of Grealish — the icon, not the bystander. I mean, if he continues with this level of play, the 29-year-old not only can lead Everton to the most thrilling campaign in years but also can Jamie Vardy aside to have a chance in Gareth Southgate’s squad for the World Cup. Grealish hasn’t looked himself for a long time, but now he looks like his old self again.
