What are we lacking?

[london blue 2]

Bit pissed off with how the signing of Jack has turned out.

We had/have the best left sided attacker in the league in that position in Phil, and we've spunked 100m to displace him for a player not as good. I know it probably wasn't intentional, but it seems a bit stupid in hindsight. So that means Phil has to move position to account for the 100m man. Bit like Southgate for England.

I understand that Phil will have eventually moved, but lets be honest, his form last season from the left was pretty special. Better than Jack by a distance.

100m else where would have made us much better imo. hindsight I know, but that's what they get the big bucks for.

[Mase]

Bit pissed off with how the signing of Jack has turned out.

We had/have the best left sided attacker in the league in that position in Phil, and we've spunked 100m to displace him for a player not as good. I know it probably wasn't intentional, but it seems a bit stupid in hindsight. So that means Phil has to move position to account for the 100m man. Bit like Southgate for England.

I understand that Phil will have eventually moved, but lets be honest, his form last season from the left was pretty special. Better than Jack by a distance.

100m else where would have made us much better imo. hindsight I know, but that's what they get the big bucks for.

Wasn’t Foden played on the right more last season - hence him cutting in off the right against Liverpool and pinging one in to the roof of the net? I’d say Jesus has kept Foden further back this season rather than Grealish.

Grealish on the left and Foden on the right - have we tried this yet?

[london blue 2]

Bit pissed off with how the signing of Jack has turned out.

We had/have the best left sided attacker in the league in that position in Phil, and we've spunked 100m to displace him for a player not as good. I know it probably wasn't intentional, but it seems a bit stupid in hindsight. So that means Phil has to move position to account for the 100m man. Bit like Southgate for England.

I understand that Phil will have eventually moved, but lets be honest, his form last season from the left was pretty special. Better than Jack by a distance.

100m else where would have made us much better imo. hindsight I know, but that's what they get the big bucks for.

Wasn’t Foden played on the right more last season - hence him cutting in off the right against Liverpool and pinging one in to the roof of the net? I’d say Jesus has kept Foden further back this season rather than Grealish.

Grealish on the left and Foden on the right - have we tried this yet?

I recall his best form was when he benched Sterling from the left and we had Mahrez on the right. I think he played in apposition versus PSG and Dortmund.

[PeterParker]

Bit pissed off with how the signing of Jack has turned out.

We had/have the best left sided attacker in the league in that position in Phil, and we've spunked 100m to displace him for a player not as good. I know it probably wasn't intentional, but it seems a bit stupid in hindsight. So that means Phil has to move position to account for the 100m man. Bit like Southgate for England.

I understand that Phil will have eventually moved, but lets be honest, his form last season from the left was pretty special. Better than Jack by a distance.

100m else where would have made us much better imo. hindsight I know, but that's what they get the big bucks for.

Wasn’t Foden played on the right more last season - hence him cutting in off the right against Liverpool and pinging one in to the roof of the net? I’d say Jesus has kept Foden further back this season rather than Grealish.

Grealish on the left and Foden on the right - have we tried this yet?

I recall his best form was when he benched Sterling from the left and we had Mahrez on the right. I think he played in apposition versus PSG and Dortmund.

I don't think Phil ca be as dangerous on the left, to be honest.
He is left footed and would be very difficult to be more dangerous on that side.

[stupot]

Bit pissed off with how the signing of Jack has turned out.

We had/have the best left sided attacker in the league in that position in Phil, and we've spunked 100m to displace him for a player not as good. I know it probably wasn't intentional, but it seems a bit stupid in hindsight. So that means Phil has to move position to account for the 100m man. Bit like Southgate for England.

I understand that Phil will have eventually moved, but lets be honest, his form last season from the left was pretty special. Better than Jack by a distance.

100m else where would have made us much better imo. hindsight I know, but that's what they get the big bucks for.

Wasn’t Foden played on the right more last season - hence him cutting in off the right against Liverpool and pinging one in to the roof of the net? I’d say Jesus has kept Foden further back this season rather than Grealish.

Grealish on the left and Foden on the right - have we tried this yet?

I recall his best form was when he benched Sterling from the left and we had Mahrez on the right. I think he played in apposition versus PSG and Dortmund.

Shouldn't be an either/or though - they're both unbelievable talents.
I think Jack has settled in far quicker than most of the big signings. Took Mahrez and Bernardo until the 2nd year to really show what they could do.

[Mase]

Bit pissed off with how the signing of Jack has turned out.

We had/have the best left sided attacker in the league in that position in Phil, and we've spunked 100m to displace him for a player not as good. I know it probably wasn't intentional, but it seems a bit stupid in hindsight. So that means Phil has to move position to account for the 100m man. Bit like Southgate for England.

I understand that Phil will have eventually moved, but lets be honest, his form last season from the left was pretty special. Better than Jack by a distance.

100m else where would have made us much better imo. hindsight I know, but that's what they get the big bucks for.

Wasn’t Foden played on the right more last season - hence him cutting in off the right against Liverpool and pinging one in to the roof of the net? I’d say Jesus has kept Foden further back this season rather than Grealish.

Grealish on the left and Foden on the right - have we tried this yet?

I recall his best form was when he benched Sterling from the left and we had Mahrez on the right. I think he played in apposition versus PSG and Dortmund.

Yep, you’re correct. I think Foden can play either left or right to be honest. I’d like to see him on the right with Grealish on the left.

Like Stu has said, Grealish has come in and been asked to change his game and I think he’s done well to settle in quickly with that in mind. He’s shown some great linkup play with Foden, Kev and Bern.

I think he, and whoever plays on the left, is slightly let down by having a non-LB behind them. Cancelo just wants to whack balls in to the box for some reason at the moment.

[Sideshow Bob]

don't want to turn this into a grealish-bashing thread, because i do think he will come good for us, but i agree he's been disappointing lately. he seems lost and well short of ideas atm. needs a break/rest to refresh mentally.

[Outcast]

don't want to turn this into a grealish-bashing thread, because i do think he will come good for us, but i agree he's been disappointing lately. he seems lost and well short of ideas atm. needs a break/rest to refresh mentally.

I think KDB has been more of a let down, we can't expect Grealish to do it all by himself, KDB needs to step up and take the burden. Mahrez has been a let down too, the less said about Sterling the better. I think we're missing Torres up front, never thought I'll say that, he gives us different attacking impetus

[london blue 2]

I like Grealish, but atm it like watching Mahrez from a couple of seasons back. So predictable and slow. I'd like him to take a few more risks with a view to trying to shoot around the box. I've seen him run past players but it feels like rather than finish, he's waiting for a foul so he can go down. Like a say, a bit boring to watch.

Phil on the other hand thrives on his end product, whether that is a pass, shot or cross inevitably he manages to get it off.

[Mase]

Some info/stats on Grealish so far, which looking at it makes him one of our best performers -

The stats behind his performances this season show that the England star is creating plenty of chances for his teammates, and is in fact City's best creator. If some of the chances he creates are not converted, that's on the finisher rather than him.

Expected assists (xA) is a metric that predicts how many assists Grealish should reasonably expect to have, based on the quality of the chances he has created.

It does not track with actual assists to the extent xG does with goals due to the greater number of variables at play, but it does give a good indication of the quality of chances being cumulatively created by a player.

In the City squad, Grealish's xA of 3.7 in all competitions is by far and away the highest. Kevin De Bruyne (2.2) and Gabriel Jesus (2.0) are the next best.

The number of shot-creating actions are another good indicator of creativity, although again it is worth remembering a lay-of for a 30-yard Rodri strike is worth as much as an incisive ball that puts someone through on goal.

Regardless, Grealish still leads the way. No one in the City squad gets close to his 64 shot-creating actions this season - Bernardo Silva is the closest challenger with 36.

Looking at it from a broader perspective, Grealish is currently one of the best creative players in the Premier League. His is bettered only by Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Bruno Fernandes in terms of xA, a sure sign that there is nothing wrong with the way he is creating chances for Guardiola's side.

The bottom line is that Grealish is creating plenty of opportunities for City - the fact that his teammates are not taking them is not his fault.