Jack Grealish got over his World Cup disappointment by going on a Home Alone 2 tour of New York … and his season has followed a feelgood script ever since.
The Manchester City midfielder has finally become a box office star at the Etihad and feels he is ready to be a leading man for his country.
After a largely underwhelming first year under Pep Guardiola, Grealish has emerged as one of the City manager’s go-to players this season, starting 28 times across all competitions. And as he tries to convince Gareth Southgate he deserves a starting place against Italy in Naples on Thursday night, Grealish is clearly buzzing.
He said: “I feel I am in the best form, especially since I moved to City. At the moment, I just feel a bit like I did when I was at Aston Villa. I feel like one of the main players.
“He (Guardiola) is trusting me in big games. And I do feel I have repaid him, played my part, done well. And I think that is why he is keeping me in the team. We are winning a lot of games, especially at club level, and I’m getting goals and assists, and helping the team in important matches.
“It is also the fittest I have been, especially since I have been at Man City. That comes down to playing a lot of games on the bounce and playing in big games, just making an impact really, scoring against Arsenal and United, getting assists at Chelsea away and then Arsenal at home in the Cup, big games like that.
“I’m really confident at the moment.”
After England’s exit from Qatar 2022, Grealish recharged his batteries in Dubai and then in New York, where he stayed at the hotel that featured in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
Grealish laughed: “You could get some mad room service, like 16 scoops of ice cream, like what he got in the film. I've watched it so many times. I love that film, man. Someone had told me about the Home Alone tour, so we went round Central Park.
“I’ve always loved Christmas and I’ve always wanted to go to New York around Christmas time, but, obviously, because of football we’ve never been able to. It was like a little bucket list moment. I loved it.”
A couple of days after returning from Manhattan and his mountain of ice cream, Guardiola sent Grealish on as a substitute against Liverpool in the EFL Cup at the Etihad.
“I was blowing out of my a***,” laughed Grealish. But since then he has been flying and next on his bucket list is to win more for his club and win the Euros with England.
And Grealish is actually convinced the manner of their World Cup exit - beaten in the quarter-finals by France - will actually increase their self-belief, explaining: “I thought the way the team played in that game was brilliant. I thought we deserved to win. When you look at the stats - possessions, XG, shots on target - I think we were higher on all three.
“So, it was a game we were devastated to lose but it boosted the confidence going into these qualifiers. We’ve got a great team here and you look around and a lot of players are in really good form, whether that be Harry (Kane), Bukayo (Saka), Jude (Bellingham) or myself. I feel like we’re in a really good space at the moment.”
Grealish is certainly in a good space, looking like the Hollywood player City paid all that money for. “It’s confidence,” he said. ‘And I’m loving playing football matches.”
