A New Chance at Life

As Everton prepares for life in a new stadium, Jack Grealish also prepares for a fresh start. After spending seasons maligned in Manchester, the player has a new chance at life.

Entering the final years of his prime, the English international’s fall from grace requires some careful analysis.

PHOTO: Everton Football Club

Grealish’s career remains a strange case. Almost oscillating between extreme peaks and deep valleys, there has never been anything normal about it.

Exploding on the scene in the mid-2010s, Grealish played a fun style that was very much in vogue. However, as Villa found themselves relegated, Grealish became an afterthought. Upon their return, the forgotten mercurial talent revived his career.

A move to Manchester City promised to be the launching pad for the rest of his career, but that too fell apart. Due to a myriad of issues, Grealish saw his hopes of reaching the ceiling placed upon him disappear. Interestingly, the career paths between him and Bernardo Silva mirror each other in reverse.

Everton promises him a chance to get back in touch with his roots. The club wants to bring excitement to their new home, while the former Villa star sees a chance at a revival.

By the end of his tenure with City, Grealish became a passing joke.

The player who partied too much while barely caring for his career.

People forget the hype that carried the English international through his time with Villa. Both in the mid-2010s and the early 2020s, he dazzled fans in ways few players did. It may seem like an insult now, but Grealish resembled Coutinho in his prime.

Even as the playmaker left the public consciousness with Villa, many still saw him as one to watch in the Championship. In the second division, Grealish found form, and it turned out to be the perfect developmental environment. By the time Villa returned to the Prem in 2019, he had smoothed out the kinks in his game to be a more polished product.

Villa’s return to the Prem offered the new regime a chance to launch this club in the future. Grealish, as he had been in the Championship, would be the club’s centerpiece. 

Two excellent seasons, which saw Villa climb the Prem, elevated Grealish’s stock to heights that most had given up on. With plenty of clubs fighting for his signature, City eventually emerged as the favorite. His move to Pep’s squad confused many, given the logjam of players who played the same role.

Grealish’s time with the Citizens saw him win every trophy, while never playing at the same level again. Both the manager and player tried to make the marriage work, but neither side fully gave in. Grealish became a bit player, as Pep slowly saw his system grind to a halt.

Many expected the player to become a star in the Premier League after his real debut in 2014.

To be fair, there was a stretch of time where he became a star, but the rest of his career didn’t follow suit.

While Bernardo Silva reached greater heights prior to joining City, his career under Pep serves as a great foil. Pep offered Grealish a chance to be a Citizen, but it would have come at the cost of being the player he was.

In Silva’s 2016-17, his final with Monaco, the club almost made it to the Champions League final. With eight goals and nine assists, Silva became a threat as a dribbler who could attack from the right. A limited passer, he leaned more towards relentlessly attacking backlines to get into the box and eventually create or score.

During his final season with Villa, in 2020-21, Grealish posted very similar numbers with six goals and 10 assists. Neither player passed exceedingly well, but it was their ability to just get in the box to create chaos that made them special. Perhaps the one context that favored Grealish is that he was doing this with a relatively weaker side compared to that special Monaco team.

Rather than continuing to be that tricky winger who could threaten with his elite dribbling skills, Silva became the ultimate Pep player. One who, in his prime, kept the City machine ticking.

Under the Spaniard, Silva played just about any position from center mid to striker. Perhaps the most interesting thing to note is that while he became less of a goal threat, his playmaking reached elite status. The Portuguese understood that to succeed under Pep, one needed to become the ultimate cog in the machine rather than the machine itself.

Being pigeonholed as essentially the fourth creative option zapped Grealish of what made him special. Even in his best season in Manchester, the 22-’23 one, the English international struggled to impact the game as a dribbler and creator. Yes, he still bagged a handful of goals, but they came at a very inefficient rate.

Both players are excellent and special in their own way, but Silva connected with Pep on a deeper level.

While Grealish, understandably, wanted to be himself.

Under Moyes, Grealish, at the time of writing, has already bagged four assists. Looking more and more like his old self, the former wonderkid seems to have found his second home.

Grealish proves that sometimes it’s better to be yourself rather than a piece of a larger puzzle.