Jack Grealish is always good value for a quote when he's given the chance to express himself, and this week was no different.
Speaking to media ahead of England's last-16 World Cup clash with Senegal, Grealish gave an honest apology to Miguel Almiron for his summer insult and told Gareth Southgate he's ready to start for the Three Lions and take a penalty in any shoot-out they may face.
He also gave a fair assessment of his challenges for the Blues that have limited him to just one assist this season, and Manchester City can only benefit from his assessment of his own situation.
ALSO READ: Jack Grealish defends his one Man City assist this season by making Bernardo Silva comparison
Firstly, Grealish insisted he is a technically better player at City than he was at Aston Villa, saying: “Technically, I’m better. It is so much more difficult than I thought.
"It was different at Villa because Dean Smith used to say to me ‘go wherever you think is the weak link. If you think you can destroy the left-back stay there. If you think you can come into the middle of the pitch stay there, or you can go on the right - just go wherever you think, play off the cuff’ - because that is what I think the type of player I am.
“But when you come to City it is much more structured that even a year later I’m still getting used to it."
Grealish has discussed the differences between Villa and City before, and he expanded this week on one of the main contrasts.
“There’s obviously a lot of pressure and, since I’ve gone to City, I’ve felt it more than ever," he said. "At Villa, there wasn’t really a lot of expectation but as soon as you go to a club that are challenging for stuff - and for the price tag I went for - there’s so much expectation. I could have three bad games at Villa and I don’t think anyone would say a word. Now, at City, you’re on BT and Sky every week, you have one bad 60 minutes and everyone’s saying ‘he’s this, he’s that, he’s not playing well’.
“There’s not much expectation but I did know it was going to come with that. I’m just trying to enjoy it as much as I can.”
Grealish also spoke about enjoying the culture at City of always kicking balls around in the dressing room, and the obsession with football he has. He's undoubtedly performing at his highest level since joining City, and has taken that into the World Cup with England in three eye-catching cameos off the bench.
The Blues will hope he can continue the momentum he started before the World Cup in the coming weeks and bring it back to the Etihad. When they do, they can continue to give him the confidence he says makes him perform at his best. Whatever they've been doing so far this season is clearly working.
That means taking any pressure off if those goals and assists continue to wait, then City will carry on doing that. If it means finding a balance between the structure at City and the 'off-the-cuff' approach at Villa, those goals and assists could also start to return.
Grealish is clearly at his best when he's happy and relaxed, though, and judging by his interview he is happy and relaxed at City - playing football 24/7 with the best players in the world. His suggestion that assists aren't as important as they are made out to be shows he has been won round by Pep Guardiola's plan for him, even if everyone concerned wouldn't complain if he started scoring and creating more.
Keep him happy and pressure-free, and it's only a matter of time before the floodgates open.
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