Jack Grealish admits that he didn’t help himself at points during his Manchester City career, saying he chose to enjoy himself at the wrong times.
The England international fell down the pecking order under Pep Guardiola after being an integral part of the treble-winning squad in 2022/23.
The 30-year-old is now on loan at Everton, where he is performing impressively, as he looks to reignite his chances of making England’s World Cup squad next summer.
Grealish memorably celebrated that treble success in 2023 pretty wildly and he has been known to enjoy a party during his career, which he admits has not always been helpful to his football.
While he does not think that was the reason he fell out of favour under Guardiola, he accepts it did not help.
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‘People go, “he likes to go out, he likes to party”, and I do. I want to be able to live my life and enjoy myself but obviously there’s a time and a place to do that,’ Grealish told Sky Sports.
‘Sometimes, I’ll be honest with you, I probably haven’t picked the right times. At City, I didn’t help myself at times, I’ll openly say that, but then I don’t think it was all down to that.’
The former Aston Villa star is enjoying himself again at Everton under David Moyes, having felt somewhat discarded at Manchester City.
‘I’m at my best when I feel loved,’ Grealish said. ‘You know, I’m quite vulnerable off the pitch and I wanted to go somewhere to just feel the love again and just wake up with a smile on my face and want to play again.
‘I don’t mean this in an arrogant way but I do like it when managers say, “you’re the footballer, go and do what you want to do”.
‘Obviously you have your jobs. You have your roles to do without the ball and set pieces but he says to me, “when you get the ball just go and do what you want to do”.’
It was a big coup for the Toffees to bring in the stylish midfielder, and Moyes admitted he had actually underestimated Grealish, such is his level of talent.
‘He is even better than I thought,’ Moyes said last month. ‘He probably needs a bit of love and attention. He needs the games as well.
Jack Grealish Premier League stats
Apps: 195
Goals: 27
Assists: 32
‘Hopefully he starts building on it and he gets even better as the season goes on.
‘He is making a big difference. Whether it is his assists, his presence, lots of things. So all credit to him. He is playing the minutes he may not have had in recent years.
‘You know, he’s so good. What Jack gives us is something just on the edge, which, hopefully it’s on the edge of creativeness and maybe scoring goals.’
from: elfutbolero.us