Sky-high £100m transfer fee sees Aston Villa agree to release JackGrealish officially attending
Manchester City football club
, getting the chance to fight on the same court as Kevin DeBruyne, a player he greatly admires, and he more than took over the
Manchester City football club
The #10 back number vacated by the departure of the legendary Aguero. He can give
Manchester City football club
What kind of new spark will it bring?
So let's start with what kind of player he is.
(The data is taken from TheAthletic's article, for those who like to read the original article, I suggest you read the charts and graphs for a clearer picture, I won't put it here due to copyright issues)
Tied for 10 assists
England Premier Soccer League
Third, 81 invented moments
England Premier Soccer League
Third, 70 non-located ball invention moments
England Premier Soccer League
Secondly, who are the players with similar stats to him, Bruno Fernandes, Kevin DeBruyne, Mason Mount, Harry Kane, all of them?
England Premier Soccer League
Big-name frontcourt players, and of course Grealish definitely has the credentials to be based in one of these strong groups.
80 carries into the penalty area
England Premier Soccer League
Top of the table and second placed Sterling with just 62, this statistic proves that Grealish is a very adept player at using the disc to drive forward. However, Grealish can do more than just damage an even level winger simply with a cross, he is also a capable setup man who can use crosses to penetrate defenses, crossing the ball into the box close to 3 times per game on average, and taking the ball into the box more than 3 times per game, which is far more than the vast majority of the other
England Premier Soccer League
Frontcourt players that become a handful of OUTLINERS in the charts.
Other than that, Grealish's dribbling intervals are also a part of concern, as players with long dribbling intervals will usually be center backs who play as backfield setups, but Grealish as a frontcourt player is ranked in the
England Premier Soccer League
12th; and progressivecarries (defined by soccer calculator fbref as carrying the ball at least 5 meters forward in the opponent's half of the field), in terms of even per-game data, ranked
England Premier Soccer League
Fourth, an even spacing of 6.8 meters ranked
England Premier Soccer League
Second.
Overall, as Aston Villa's winger, Grealish, as the team's main attacker, needs to drop back to get the ball and use his footwork to push forward for longer intervals; after coming forward, whether it's passing to find his teammates or continuing to bring the ball into the penalty area are all within his comfort zone. In the offense, Grealish is the one who carries the load.
Grealish's footwork is going to consistently serve as a take-home left winger, and using his inside-out disking skills to damage is a great option, but at
Manchester City football club
A radically different situation than he was in at Aston Villa, staying in the
Manchester City football club
The opponent's penalty area is often filled with defenders, and even Mahrez, who feeds on his dribbling skills, came to the
Manchester City football club
It also took a long time to get used to it. Other than that, whether it's pulling the ball out of space for a teammate (Foden, Torres), using his feet to break up the play and cross underneath (Mahrez, Sterling), or scrambling for the end of a tapin (Stelring, Torres), it seems like there's a lot more that Grealish can do.
Manchester City football club
The generation of legend David Silva, he took the hand to maintain possession of the ball as a condition of the ball into the penalty area, in the narrow space of the penalty area, searching for teammates after the perfect pass to assist, as a left midfielder and the left winger deployment of harmony, overlap, underlap, transposition of the attack, the play of his experience as a left winger when he was young to give the team more unpredictable attack.
Breaking into the box with the ball, finding teammates in the box for passes and assists, and playing as a left winger are all descriptions that seem to apply to Grealish. And yes, I think that Grealish's experience in
Manchester City football club
David Silva (Grealish) on the left and KDB on the right, two No. 8s/10s given the freedom to attack, are the template for the former
Manchester City football club
The vital centerpiece of a fearsome offensive line. Paired with a defensive counterattacking approach that had gradually found stability the previous year, with Walker at right back in the center back (and Cancelo coming in at the back), and Zinchenko or Cancelo at left back in the back, attacking in a 3-2-5 or 2-3-5 formation, Grealish was more comfortable with holding the ball up and damaging it in comparison to Gundogan, and he might be able to make head coach He may be able to give head coach Guardiola the balance of attack and defense that he has been experimenting with for years, and Grealish, along with a top striker (i.e. Harry Kane), may be the answer.
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The final piece of the puzzle for the ascension from power to hegemony.
