Roberto Martinez believes Jack Grealish is continuing to adapt to Manchester City's exacting style following the winger's goal against Arsenal on Wednesday.
Grealish netted City's second goal in a crucial 3-1 win at the Emirates, handing his side the lead for the second time that evening. Kevin De Bruyne had opened the scoring with a wonderful lobbed finish before Bukayo Saka's penalty levelled the score at the break.
Pep Guardiola's side showed their killer instinct in the second-half, Grealish slotting home to finish off a swift counter-attack after Arsenal were dispossessed in midfield, before Erling Haaland all but ended the contest 10 minuted later. Analysing the goal after the game, the City winger was praised for holding his position out wide when the ball was being worked forward in the build-up, and Martinez believes it is emblematic of a player mastering his manager's demands on the pitch.
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"You need to understand Jack Grealish arrives off of a huge transfer fee so that puts a lot of pressure on him," Martinez told Prime Video. "You embrace that pressure or you fall behind, and Jack had to adapt a lot into becoming a team player. He’s come from being the most creative player of your team with real freedom, and it’s very difficult to be disciplined and understanding that there will be other players to bring you the ball.
"You need to be wide and almost respectful of the pattern of play, and then you can use your qualities. It’s great to see that a player wants to be good for the style that the team has invested into you, and the way he was talking, he’s just such a caring person that he wants to do well for the team. It’s refreshing to see."
That goal was only Grealish's second across all competitions this season, coming a month after his first in the 2-1 defeat at Manchester United. But a run of form down the left has been strong enough to earn Guardiola's trust without finding the net too often, and former England international striker Eni Aluko believes finding the net more consistently presents the next challenge.
"He wants to score more goals," she added. "He has to score more goals. Obviously Jack Grealish, the big price tag, he’s now in the team consistently, he needs to score more goals. He talked about affecting games - affecting big games - and you can tell it’s on his mind, he wants to score more goals. That’s why he’s working on it, staying behind, and you can see what it’s doing for him."
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