MY ACCOUNT
Jack Grealish believes it is a “brilliant time” to be in his shoes, as the England star focuses on improving his attacking output to impress Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.
Grealish produced a lively display as England beat Ivory Coast 3-0 in Tuesday’s international friendly, with the attacking midfielder playing a leading role in a largely inexperienced starting XI.
The former Aston Villa man set up his City team-mate Raheem Sterling for England’s second goal, with what was one of three key passes – only James Ward-Prowse supplied more.
While his performances for City since his massive £100million move from Villa last year have been far from alarming, Grealish’s productivity in terms of goals and assists is lacking.
Eight City players have managed more goal involvements than Grealish (who has seven) across all competitions, and while Guardiola has indicated he is not worried, the 26-year-old playmaker is eager to see his end product improve.
“I’m just happy to get goals and assists,” Grealish told Sky Sports after teeing up Sterling for England.
“They have been difficult to come by at Manchester City, but with England I have got quite a few. I want to continue playing well because I’m really enjoying it.
“Of course, I’ve spoken to Pep Guardiola. He’s shown me every other stat in the world that you would be happy with, apart from goals and assists.
“He’s the only person I need to impress, but if you’re a forward you want to get goals and assists, so hopefully in the business end of the season I can get them.”
He did not seem overly concerned in general, however, clearly recognising he is in a good place.
“It’s a brilliant time to be in my shoes,” Grealish said. “We’re in so many competitions still and then at the end of the year we have the World Cup. I need to keep impressing the manager to get into that squad.”
Tuesday’s match was effectively ended as a spectacle in the 40th minute when Serge Aurier was shown a second yellow card for dissent, reducing an Ivory Coast side that was already struggling to hurt England to 10 men.
Curiously, even Grealish was protesting in favour of his opponent at the time.
“I wanted [Aurier] to stay on because it’s a friendly and you get more from playing against 11,” Grealish explained.
“I think it would have been more of a challenge for us. I said to the referee: ‘Come on!'”
England are next in action at the start of June when they start their Nations League campaign against Hungary – but first, they turn their attention to Friday’s World Cup draw, which will reveal who they are to face in the group stage of Qatar 2022.
