I played with Jack Grealish at Aston Villa and he's like a mannequin at Man City
Shay Given, a former Aston Villa team-mate of Jack Grealish, has launched a stinging rebuke to Pep Guardiola for wasting the attributes of a player he believes is a ‘generational talent’.
Grealish has barely featured for Manchester City this season and with the reigning champions going on an unprecedented winless run, pundits and commentators alike have started looking for reasons.
Speaking on BBC5Live’s Monday Night Club, Given threw the Grealish factor into the wider discussion and having played ten games with him at Villa when the attacker was just breaking through, he expressed his sadness at the lack of opportunities the 29-year-old is getting.
Grealish has made just four Premier League starts this season and was given just 11 minutes in Sunday’s defeat at Liverpool. He has only been in the starting XI in City’s Champions League campaign on two occasions this term.
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That came after an underwhelming 2023/24 season which culminated in him missing England’s run to the finals of Euro 2024, putting his outstanding treble-winning season firmly in the rear-view mirror.
“I think Grealish, for example, I know I'm slightly biased because I played with Jack at Aston Villa. I know Jack's won all these trophies and Champions League and Premier Leagues and stuff,” Given said.
“But I think he's playing out of position, have done since the day he joined Man City. I think he's a waste on the left wing. I think he's like a mannequin at times and I feel sorry for him out there.
“I know he didn't start at the weekend but I was in Dublin, whatever, six weeks or two months ago, whatever it was – and he was playing for England, he was playing central and he was just monumental.
“I think he's a generational talent going to waste at Man City and that sounds a bit harsh perhaps on maybe Pep or whatever but I just think he's such a talented player playing out of position.”
