Jack Grealish put in a good performance for Manchester City in Wednesday’s EFL Cup win over Chelsea, but the 27-year-old once again failed to score a goal or make an assist.
Grealish has scored just one goal since May (16 games) and hasn’t made an assist for six months (18 games) either. Pep Guardiola swears that he’s happy with the England international, but his statistics paint a worrying picture for someone who’s meant to be a £100m playmaker.
In the Premier League this season, the 27-year-old is 8th in City squad for goals (1), joint-bottom for assists (0), 3rd for chances created per game (1.9), 12th for shots per game (0.9), 12th for pass completion (89.2%), 1st for fouls won per game (2.1), 9th for crosses per game (0.3) and 2nd for successful dribbles per game (1.5).
Grealish has managed only two shots on target all season, so he’s not even testing the goalkeeper with the majority of his efforts. And while he’s playing the pass into teammates that are taking shots, his expected assists is 1.2.
So from the statistics, it appears Grealish isn’t getting into dangerous positions that can lead to goals and isn’t putting ball into the box despite having Erling Haaland to aim at. This may be down to a lack of confidence or due to instructions from Guardiola to retain possession.
City didn’t pay £100m for a player to not contribute goals. Grealish scored and created 19 goals from 27 games in his final season at Aston Villa, so he’s declined dramatically even if he’s producing moments of quality with his dribbling. It’s not enough.
In other news, Cole Palmer quietly impressed for Man City against Chelsea
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