Pep Guardiola has demanded that Jack Grealish return to his previous level of performance because Manchester City “needs” him.
The 28-year-old was instrumental in helping Manchester City achieve a historic treble last season in all competitions.
However, his input in the current campaign has significantly declined. Grealish has only made seven starts in the Premier League this season as his form has declined. Players like Phil Foden have stepped up and with Jeremy Doku also in the mix, the former Aston Villa man has found gametime hard to come by.
Additionally, Grealish hasn’t played in their last three league games, and Guardiola is now eager for him to get back to his best.
Guardiola wants Grealish to hit top form again
Guardiola responded when asked what he hopes to see from the former Aston Villa player:
“Hopefully the impact he had last season, it depends on him.”
“I try to be fair in my decisions, he played a lot of minutes last season and this season maybe less in the beginning. It’s the same player, same manager, same way we want to play, the same, nothing changed.”
“Just how you perform, that’s the difference and we need him. I said from day one we need him having a special quality for our team. We need him, it depends on him. Hopefully he can do a good three last months.”
“I cannot give three or four games in a row to change the rhythm, they have to take a rhythm to play 20 minutes, 90 minutes in the high level, the people, the team.”
“The team don’t wait, it’s up and down, last season it was all the time up and this time up and down, there’s a reason. The same lovely person, lovely guy, same qualities, skills.”
“Even more years you improve more what we want, what we need. They don’t have to convince me, they have to convince themselves that they deserve to play.”
Pep Guardiola will most definitely need his £100 million pounds English player to get back to his absolute best as they look to compete on all fronts once more in the remainder of the season.
Still in the FA Cup fifth round where they face Luton Town on Tuesday night, Man City also sit one points behind newly crowned Carabao cup winner in the Premier League.
After their FA Cup fixture, City will travel to take on fierce rivals Manchester United for the second edition of the Manchester Derby this season and having scored against them in the past, Grealish will be hoping to make his mark again.
