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‘It was a lot harder than I thought’: Jack Grealish talks about his struggles adjusting to Man City after a £100m move but insists ‘it’s a pleasure to work for Pep’ after setting up a winner at Chelsea
Jack Grealish has opened up candidly about his struggles adjusting to life at Manchester City after setting up their winner against Chelsea.
The winger came off the bench to help Riyad Mahrez in a 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge, moving them within five points of league leaders Arsenal.
Grealish joined City in the summer of 2021 for a British record fee of £100m, admitting he did not think adjusting to club life after leaving his childhood Aston Villa would be so difficult.
Jack Grealish has spoken candidly about his difficulties adjusting to life at Manchester City.
It came after he made an immediate impact coming off the bench during the win over Chelsea.
Within minutes of coming on, fellow substitute Riyad Mahrez finished off his cross.
After the match, he spoke openly about his problems in an interview with Sky Sports pundits Jamie Carragher, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Karen Carney.
Asked what life is like at the club, he told Sky Sports: “I’ve said it before, but it’s very different to what I was used to at Aston Villa.” Playing for Dean Smith, he would tell me “go and find where you think the weak link is in the defense. If you want to go to the right, in the middle, if you want to hug the touchline.”
‘Only certain things… at Villa, he always had a superimposed full-back. Things like that.
‘I arrived at City, I had been at Villa all my life and I never had to change. I didn’t realize how difficult it is to adapt to another team and another coach. When I got here, it was much more difficult than I thought.
“In my head I was thinking: ‘Go to the team that is at the top of the league, I’m going to get so many goals this season.’ And obviously not the case.
It is much more difficult. A lot of teams tend to sit against us, which was obviously not the case at Villa.
Grealish has opened up about the differences between playing for Aston Villa and Man City
Grealish has found it more difficult than expected to adjust to Man City, although he enjoys life at the club with Pep Guardiola.
Asked about his role against Chelsea as a substitute, he added: “You sit on the bench, you watch the game and you see what Phil (Foden) does in the position I would be in, if I come on.” .
‘But I always want to start, all the players do. I have been here 18 months and I sincerely enjoy it. It’s a great group of guys and Pep is a pleasure to work with.’
Grealish and Mahrez came on the hour mark against Chelsea and combined to devastating effect.
The England international’s cross from the left wing was perfect for Mahrez, who slipped in at the far post to score the only goal of the game and give them all three points.
When asked about his relationship with Mahrez, Grealish replied: “I’m very close to Riyad and we were warming up together and we were like, ‘I’d love to come here,’ because the game was open.”
“We’ve had games against Brentford and Everton this season where they’ve had a back-5 and they’ve sat out against us.
‘Today, it seemed much more open and we were saying we were desperate to get in.
Grealish played a perfect cross for fellow substitute Riyad Mahrez to get the ball home.
Grealish has given three assists in as many league games since the World Cup break
“The manager told Riyad to go warm up, he didn’t actually tell me to warm up.
‘I thought, I’m going to warm up here even if I don’t come.’ The next thing I knew, Riyad was like, “Jack! Come on, let’s go.” I was like “Buzzing, see you later.”
One criticism of the former Villa captain has been his lack of goals and assists for the reigning Premier League champions.
He has scored just once this season, but has been in fine form since the World Cup break, giving three assists in as many league games.