Jack Grealish, who played a significant role in Manchester City's victory over Chelsea, has spoken of the difficulties in adjusting to life at Manchester City.
In a 1-0 victory at Stamford Bridge, the winger assisted Riyad Mahrez after coming off the bench. This put them five points behind league leaders Arsenal.
Grealish admitted he didn't think it would be as difficult to adjust to life at the club after leaving his childhood club Aston Villa when he signed with City for a British record £100 million fee in the summer of 2021.
When asked what life is like at Manchester City, he told Sky Sports after the win over Chelsea: ‘I’ve said it before, but it’s so much different to what I was used to at Aston Villa. Playing for Dean Smith, he’d say to me “go and find where you think the weak link is in the defence. If you want to go in the right, in the middle, if you want to hug the touch-line”.
‘Just certain stuff… at Villa, I’d always have an overlapping full-back. Stuff like that.
‘Coming to City, I’d been at Villa my whole life and I’ve never had to change. I didn’t realise how hard it is to adapt to another team and another manager. When I came here, it was so much more difficult than I thought.
‘In my head I was thinking, “Going to the team that’s sitting top of the league, I’m going to get so many goals this season”. And obviously it isn’t the case.
‘It’s so much more difficult. A lot of teams do tend to sit in against us, which obviously wasn’t the case at Villa.’
When asked about his role against Chelsea coming on as a substitute, he added: ‘You sit there on the bench, observing the game and seeing what Phil’s (Foden) doing in the position that I’d be in, if I do come on.
‘But I always want to start – every player does. I’ve been here 18months and I’m enjoying it honestly. It’s a great group of lads and it’s a pleasure to work under Pep.’
At the hour mark against Chelsea, Grealish and Mahrez were both introduced, and their combination was devastating.
The left wing cross from the England international was millimeter-perfect for Mahrez, who slid in at the far post to score the game's only goal and give them the three points.
When asked about his relationship with Mahrez, Grealish responded: ‘I’m so close with Riyad and we were warming up together and we were saying, “I’d love to come on here”, because the game was open.
‘We’ve had games against Brentford and Everton this season where they’ve had a back-five and they’ve sat in against us.
‘Today, it just seemed so much more open and we were saying that we were desperate to come on.
‘The manager told Riyad to go and warm up – he didn’t actually tell me to warm up.
‘I thought, I’m going to warm up here even if I ain’t coming on. Next thing I know, Riyad was like “Jack! Come on, we’re going on”. I was like “Buzzing, see ya later”.
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