Man City star has had his entire ‘maverick’ game ‘trained out of him’, with fans tiring of attacker – pundit

Ciaran McCarthy
Man City transfer
Jack Grealish and Kevin De Bruyne at Manchester City

Theo Walcott feels Jack Grealish has had what made him the player he was “trained out of him” at Manchester City, as people aren’t “getting off seats anymore” for him.

Grealish was a potential world-beater when he was at Aston Villa. Largely playing in the No.10 role, he was given the freedom to roam into whichever pockets he wanted, pulling defenders with him to open up space, and winning a lot of fouls.

At Manchester City, he’s been moved out wide, and sees far less of the ball than he did at Villa. He has won seven trophies, but is not the same player, and only recently broke a spell of more than a year without a goal.

Former Premier League winger Walcott feels Grealish has had his spark taken away at City, and doesn’t impact the game in the way he can.

“Some games can be quite stagnated and boring to watch – get the ball, receive it, turn back, let the full-back do the one-v-one against the other full-back,” he told the BBC.

“I’m like, ‘No!’ That is his strength. He’s gone away from his strength; he’s gone away from everything that is Jack Grealish. It’s been trained out of him.

“When was the last time he picked the ball up and done the maverick side of things, and got people off their seats? I don’t see people getting off seats anymore.”

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This season, Grealish has one goal and four assists in all competitions. Last season, he scored three goals and provided three assists.

In his final season at Villa, he had seven goals and ten assists in all competitions. There, he was the star man, where at City, he is currently no more than a role player, having started 11 games in all.

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