"We didn’t buy him to score 45 goals" - Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola urges star to ignore stats
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has urged Jack Grealish to ignore the stats and play to the best of his abilities. Grealish has managed just two goals and two assists in 17 Premier League appearances for City this season.
The attacker has struggled to justify the British record £100 million that Manchester City paid to sign him from Aston Villa last year.
Pep Guardiola: "Jack [Grealish] is playing well, if he wasn’t I would tell him..." [via @Jack_Gaughan]
Grealish admitted that he thought he would have more goals and assists by now at Manchester City. His manager, however, believes the game is more than just the stats and urged him to play to the best of his ability and help the team win.
Guardiola said at a press conference:
“Statistics are just a bit of information that we have, but there are players that make the team play good and are not in the statistics. Players say, ‘How many goals (did) I score or how many assists’… this is the problem.”
The Spaniard added:
“These statistics never existed before. It’s how you play if you perform to your maximum, to your best, help your team-mates to make the process defensively and offensively better, that is enough. Thanks to that we are going to win.”
Guardiola concluded:
“He plays quite similar to Aston Villa in terms of ball contact. He had the chances against Crystal Palace in 20 minutes to score three goals. It didn’t happen, but it’s going to happen. We didn’t buy him to score 45 goals. He doesn’t have that quality but he has another one. He’s playing good, really. I wouldn’t tell you if he’s not playing good, but that’s not the case.”
Grealish will have a key role to play for Manchester City in the coming months
Manchester City have not had it easy in recent weeks as they have dropped points to allow Liverpool to close the gap at the top of the table. Although City have a six-point advantage, the Reds have a game in hand and will face the Sky Blues at the Etihad in April.
Guardiola will need his entire squad to step up in the coming months as City are still active in three competitions.
Pep Guardiola on Jack Grealish: "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..."
Grealish has had a culture shock at Manchester City as there are several talented players on the roster. After being central to the Aston Villa jigsaw and arguably their best player, Grealish is just one among a plethora of superstars at his new club.
Even though he hasn’t made a substantial impact yet, Guardiola will hope the England international plays a key role as the title showdown enters its final stage.