Jack Grealish's role at Manchester City has become centre stage in recent weeks.
His critics, such as Graeme Souness, have been highlighting his limited goal contributions this season – with the England international providing the perfect response as he opened his goalscoring account in City’s last fixture against Wolves. Grealish has been the first to acknowledge that his goals and assists return could be improved, admitting after the win over Wolves: "I should be scoring and getting more assists. The only thing I can do is score and get assists. I’m always going to have people talking about me with the amount I got bought for.
"If you look at my whole career, I probably haven’t scored as much as certain people, even when I was at Aston Villa I only scored 14/15 goals over the two seasons in the Premier League. It’s something I do want to add to my game and playing with this team and in front of these fans, hopefully, I can."
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And City boss Pep Guardiola has also been quick to defend his player, stating: "We didn’t sign for the incredible goals or assists at Aston Villa. It was another reason and when he played, he did it. I want [him] to make goals and assists and he does too. But it’s not that, it’s about his contribution without the ball and what he can produce for the other ones."
What is forgotten about when simply referring to Grealish's goal contributions is his unique ability to control games, something his boss is all too aware of. Speaking to Sky Sports last season Guardiola said: "When you play 60 metres away from your goal, then the controlling of the counter-attack is important. Sometimes it is not possible because of the opposition players, but if you use the ball well and do not make mistakes, you will concede few."
United are likely to line up to hit City on the break, a strategy which has worked in previous meetings between the sides particularly in their 2-0 win at the Etihad last year in which United only had 34% possession. Erik ten Hag has had to adapt his preferred style of play following his nightmare start to the season with heavy losses to Brighton and Brentford, and it would be reasonable to assume he will continue to deploy the counter-attacking approach that brought wins over the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool.
While Grealish does not provide the same attacking output seen from the likes of Phil Foden or Bernardo Silva for City, his ability to slow down the game will allow his teammates to pick their moments in transition and maintain control in the final third could prove to be a pivotal factor in the derby. Traditionally Pep's wingers have arrived at the back post, anticipating the ball to run through the defence for an easy tap-in, a move Raheem Sterling seemed to make his trademark while playing for the club.
However, since the arrival of Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne has become increasingly instructed to cross from the right and provide the potential for Grealish to become a greater goal threat – as seen in his goal against Wolves. It means Guardiola may well be looking to once again utilise the Englishman’s striker-like run-making to attack both the middle of the goal and back-post against United.
Grealish has all the ability to control the derby against United – and what's more he's now starting to show he can add a goal threat to his game as well. If he can do both on Sunday, United won't stand a chance.
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