Perhaps the hangover from party-time in Manchester has worn off, perhaps the tiredness from raving in Ibiza has now gone.
Or perhaps Jack Grealish just happens to be the one England player who makes attacking things happen - a maverick in a team of well-disciplined, normally efficient operators.
Let’s face it, Grealish was on the Allianz Arena pitch for about 20 minutes but you would be well within your critical rights to give him England’s man of the match honours. And boy, was Harry Kane glad to see him as his penalty kick saw England fight back to claim a 1-1 draw against Germany.
Even though his international career has been relatively brief, there are times when Grealish looks more of a creative threat in an England jersey than he does in a Manchester City shirt. One of his first contributions after coming on as a 72nd minute substitute - at least ten minutes too late - was to play a delicious cross-box pass to Kane, who was somehow denied by the magnificent frame of Manuel Neuer.
Unlike Mount - and maybe unlike a lot of his first season’s work at City - Grealish likes to take risks. Not only did he play intelligent passes into danger areas, he drove forward with intent. And he played a part in the move that led to Nico Schlotterbeck bringing Kane down and - after VAR’s intervention and a monitor-visit for referee Carlos del Cerro Grande - allowing the England skipper to help himself to international goal number fifty.
It could well have been 51 and a highly improbable England win had Kane connected properly with another pass from Grealish that opened up the German defence. Grealish might have had more joy than anyone else because he came on fresh against a German team that did show signs of fatigue towards the end of a high-tempo contest. But that Grealish looked much more of an attacking danger than the man he replaced, Mason Mount, is indisputable.
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So, we are back to what is already becoming an old chestnut. Everyone knows Southgate thinks the world of Mount, a player he has seen come through the St George’s Park system. And there are times when Mount has been effective. In Southgate parlance, he has never let his manager down. But nor, over 29 appearances, has he really been a massively creative force for England when they go forward. Grealish is exactly that.
He was not great when he came on against Hungary the other day but, joking apart, maybe he really did need to get that partying out of his system. But against Germany, in those final 20 minutes, he teased and tormented in a way that was not coming from any other England player. Operating mainly on the left flank, he made chances and won corners with his confidence, with his impudence.
He panicked Germany - and that takes some doing. For all his relative success, Southgate is still perceived by many as an innately conservative coach. And if continues to prefer Mount to Grealish, that perception will not be going away any time soon.
