Was it a coincidence that Jack Grealish's best performance for Manchester City in weeks came less than 24 hours before Gareth Southgate announced his England squad for the Qatar 2022 World Cup?
Grealish can expect a place on the plane to Qatar next week, and it would be a big shock if he isn't on Southgate's list. However, his form for City has been up and down this season, and a starting spot for England at the World Cup is far from guaranteed.
He has to compete with the likes of Phil Foden, Mason Mount and Raheem Sterling for a place in England's starting line-up, so he was handed a very useful opportunity to move ahead of those three players as they were all on the bench at the Etihad in City's Carabao Cup clash with Chelsea.
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And with Foden strangely out of favour with Pep Guardiola in recent games, Sterling struggling to replicate his City form down at Chelsea, and Mount also performing below his best, there is an opening for Grealish.
There's no doubt that Grealish is performing at a high technical level this season. He's arguably better tactically and positionally than he was at Euro 2020, 18 months ago, when he was the nation's favourite. That mantle may have passed to someone like Jude Bellingham as a result of Grealish's slow progress at City, but Southgate had previously pointed to his positional awareness as a route towards more starts for England, and he's certainly focussed on that in the last year.
This season especially, Grealish has done everything Guardiola asked of him, but often at the expense of taking the risky shot or pass. There's an important role in keeping the possession, maintaining the shape, and creating overloads - it's just not the exciting, swashbuckling Grealish that went into Euro 2020.
So it was a timely game for that approach to return, with Grealish on the front foot from the off, running at makeshift wing-back Ruben Loftus-Cheek, taking the shot instead of the easy pass, and forcing Eduoard Mendy into three decent saves. It was as if the shackles had finally been taken off, and Grealish was able to feed his attacking instincts without the pressure of making space for other attackers to shine.
There was no Foden, no Erling Haaland, no Kevin De Bruyne, so Grealish was City's attacking output. It was a role he took with both hands, and can replicate for England in a tournament where they need to be on the front foot.
However much he tried, the goal would not come. Whether by good Mendy saves, last-ditch blocks, or just bad luck, Grealish's goal drought continued on a night where he deserved something more to show for his efforts.
At the Etihad, though, fans know a hard-worker when they see one, and they were singing Grealish's name throughout the second half. Guardiola said some players may naturally hold back this week to avoid injury ahead of the World Cup, but Grealish disproved that notion with his natural, all-action instincts against Chelsea. City - and England - can only benefit.
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