‘This is the biggest mistake they can do’ Pep Guardiola slams Jack Grealish critics ahead of Peterborough clash
It is safe to say that, on the face of it, Jack Grealish has not had a brilliant start to his Manchester City career.
2 goals and 2 assists in 17 Premier League games do not suggest that his move from Aston Villa in the summer has been a successful one, but Pep Guardiola was keen to back his superstar ahead of a potential return from injury against Peterborough in the FA Cup fifth round.
Speaking ahead of the clash, the Spaniard claimed:
‘His stats are quite similar to Villa in terms of ball contact close to goal. He’s had chances. At Crystal Palace, in 20 minutes, he could’ve scored three, but didn’t. We didn’t sign him to score 45 goals. That’s not his quality, he has another…’
Indeed, Guardiola went on to slam those who simply judge his players on their statistical output, saying ‘Players today play for the statistics, but this is the biggest mistake they can do.’
‘Statistics are just a pattern of information that we have. There are players who make the team play good without statistics. If you perform to your maximum, if you perform to your best and you helped your teammates and make the process better, it is enough…’.
🗣 “There are players that make the team play good when they are not in the statistics.”
Pep Guardiola says the problem with football is the obsession with people defining a player based just on statistics pic.twitter.com/UNINuvLz0s
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) March 1, 2022
And, finally, Guardiola was quick to shut down fears of underperformance by his £100 million man, concluding ‘Jack is playing well, if he wasn’t I would tell him’.
In and out of both the Manchester City and England side, Grealish needs a run of games to truly get himself back into the spotlight.
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Premier League table
| # | Team | MP | D | P |
| 1 | Manchester City | 27 | 47 | 66 |
| 2 | Liverpool FC | 26 | 50 | 60 |
| 3 | Chelsea FC | 25 | 31 | 50 |
| 4 | Manchester United | 27 | 10 | 47 |
| 5 | West Ham United | 27 | 12 | 45 |
| 6 | Arsenal FC | 24 | 11 | 45 |
| 7 | Tottenham Hotspur | 25 | 3 | 42 |
| 8 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 26 | 3 | 40 |
| 9 | Southampton FC | 26 | -3 | 35 |
| 10 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 26 | -5 | 33 |
| 11 | Crystal Palace | 27 | -1 | 30 |
| 12 | Aston Villa | 25 | -4 | 30 |
| 13 | Leicester City | 23 | -6 | 27 |
| 14 | Newcastle United | 25 | -17 | 25 |
| 15 | Brentford FC | 27 | -17 | 24 |
| 16 | Leeds United | 26 | -31 | 23 |
| 17 | Everton FC | 24 | -13 | 22 |
| 18 | Burnley FC | 24 | -8 | 21 |
| 19 | Watford FC | 26 | -22 | 19 |
| 20 | Norwich City | 26 | -40 | 17 |
| Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 19 |
| Jota, Diogo | Liverpool FC | 12 |
| Mane, Sadio | Liverpool FC | 11 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur | 10 |
| Sterling, Raheem | Manchester City | 10 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United | 9 |
| Dennis, Emmanuel | Watford FC | 9 |
| Ronaldo, Cristiano | Manchester United | 9 |
| Smith-Rowe, Emile | Arsenal FC | 9 |
| Raphinha | Leeds United | 9 |
| Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City | 9 |
| Bowen, Jarrod | West Ham United | 8 |
| Antonio, Michail | West Ham United | 8 |
| Mahrez, Riyad | Manchester City | 8 |
| Gallagher, Conor | Crystal Palace | 8 |
| Kane, Harry | Tottenham Hotspur | 8 |
| Maupay, Neal | Brighton & Hove Albion | 8 |
| Zaha, Wilfried | Crystal Palace | 8 |
| Mount, Mason | Chelsea FC | 7 |
| Saka, Bukayo | Arsenal FC | 7 |
| Player | Team | Red Cards | Yellow Cards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neves, Ruben | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 0 | 9 |
| Salisu, Mohammed | Southampton FC | 0 | 8 |
| Dennis, Emmanuel | Watford FC | 0 | 7 |
| Cash, Matty | Aston Villa | 0 | 8 |
| Brownhill, Josh | Burnley FC | 0 | 8 |
| Mctominay, Scott | Manchester United | 0 | 8 |
| Firpo, Junior | Leeds United | 0 | 8 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United | 0 | 7 |
| Rice, Declan | West Ham United | 0 | 7 |
| Moreno, Rodrigo | Leeds United | 0 | 7 |
| Tarkowski, James | Burnley FC | 0 | 7 |
| Shaw, Luke | Manchester United | 0 | 7 |
| Mings, Tyrone | Aston Villa | 0 | 7 |
| Maguire, Harry | Manchester United | 0 | 6 |
| Bissouma, Yves | Brighton & Hove Albion | 0 | 7 |
| Williams, Brandon | Norwich City | 0 | 7 |
| Antonio, Michail | West Ham United | 0 | 5 |
| Gallagher, Conor | Crystal Palace | 0 | 6 |
| Pogba, Paul | Manchester United | 1 | 5 |
| Jimenez, Raul | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 0 | 5 |
| Player | Team | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 10 |
| Alexander-Arnold, Trent | Liverpool FC | 10 |
| Robertson, Andy | Liverpool FC | 9 |
| Bowen, Jarrod | West Ham United | 8 |
| Pogba, Paul | Manchester United | 8 |
| Jesus, Gabriel | Manchester City | 7 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United | 6 |
| Antonio, Michail | West Ham United | 6 |
| Mount, Mason | Chelsea FC | 6 |
| Cancelo, Joao | Manchester City | 6 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur | 5 |
| Dennis, Emmanuel | Watford FC | 5 |
| Lacazette, Alexandre | Arsenal FC | 5 |
| James, Reece | Chelsea FC | 5 |
| Henderson, Jordan | Liverpool FC | 5 |
| Kovacic, Mateo | Chelsea FC | 5 |
| Barnes, Harvey | Leicester City | 5 |
| Olise, Michael | Crystal Palace | 5 |
| Redmond, Nathan | Southampton FC | 5 |
| Mahrez, Riyad | Manchester City | 4 |
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