Jack Grealish says adapting to Manchester City’s style of play has been “much more difficult” than he imagined.
The £100million England playmaker highlighted the champions’ strength through depth as he came off the bench to create their Chelsea winning goal.
City weren’t at their best at Stamford Bridge but Grealish produced the moment of incisiveness they needed with a slide rule pass across the penalty area to give fellow substitute Riyad Mahrez a tap -in.
Grealish’s third Premier League assist of the campaign matched his tally for the entirety of last season, but the ex-Aston Villa star had even more goalscoring involvements (16 – six goals, 10 assists) in his final season in the Midlands than he had in almost 18 months with City (10 – four goals, six assists).
“When I came here I’ll be honest with you, it was so much harder than I thought,” Grealish, 27, told Sky Sports afterward. City’s 1-0 victory put them within five points of leaders Arsenal.
“In my head I thought I was going to the top team in the league and I was going to get so many goals and assists and obviously that’s not the case. A lot of teams tend to s sit against us and that’s not the case at Villa.”
Greish added: “[Ex-Aston Villa manager] Dean Smith would tell me to go for the weak link in the defence, whether it was on the right, in the middle or whether I wanted to squeeze the touchline – and at Villa I always had a full-back who overlapped.
“I came to City, having been at Villa all my life, and I never had to change. I’ve always been used to it. I didn’t realize how difficult it was to get adapt to a different team and manager.”
Grealish and Mahrez had each been on the pitch for just three minutes and 43 seconds before combining for the crucial goal that cut away league leaders Arsenal’s advantage.
“We’ve had games this season – Everton and Brentford recently for example – where they had a back five and they sat against us,” Grealish added.
“Against a four-man defender today it was so much more open and we were saying we were desperate to play.”
City bench the difference in the title race?
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta presented just one replacement on Tuesday frustrating draw at home to Newcastle – and it was easy to see why, given the Gunners’ lack of attacking options on the bench.
By contrast, Guardiola was able to lure £160m of talent per hour to Chelsea and his double change paid off almost immediately.
“Grealish’s body language is exceptional whether he’s playing or not playing – this type of guy always plays well,” Guardiola told Sky Sports.
“With Riyadh [Mahrez] I knew the space would be there for him. He’s good one-on-one in the final third.”
Indeed, Mahrez is making a name for himself as a super-sub – the Algerian winger is the Premier League’s best substitute since joining Manchester City in 2018-19.
“It’s a bit unfair, isn’t it, the Manchester City bench?” former Chelsea striker Chris Sutton observed on BBC Radio 5 Live.
“And will that make the difference this season? With their team, do they have the advantage over Arsenal?
“Grealish has gotten a little roughed up at times – he doesn’t score enough goals, he doesn’t provide enough assists.
“But it was a brilliant moment for the goal – he knew exactly what he wanted to do and the weight of the ball, neither too hard nor too soft, it was just perfect for Mahrez.”
Grealish and Mahrez weren’t the only ones to make an impact as substitutes – with 18-year-old Rico Lewis producing another assured performance after coming on as a half-time substitute after an erratic first half for Guardiola’s side .
“In the first half everything was sloppy, we had no rhythm – but we improved when Rico came on,” Guardiola told Match of the Day.
“He has the ability and the talent to improve our game. Most players play well, but he has the ability to play well but make others play better.
“As a midfielder, this talent is extraordinary.”
