Jack Grealish has suggested that there is one aspect of modern football that he is not a fan of.
Previously, the two-time Premier League winner answered a similar question about what he dislikes about the game in general and he pinpointed how he dislikes long throw-ins being launched into the box.
Grealish is known to be one of few players in today’s day and age who says it how it is.
The Manchester City attacker’s candid nature is perhaps one of the many reasons why fans from all clubs take to him.
Instead of giving stereotypical answers to questions like the average footballer, Jack Grealish tends to have his own spin on things.
Such has been Grealish’s personality since his spell at Aston Villa.
As a result, a character like him is similar to the players from decades ago.
Often, fans and pundits alike discuss how such personalities are missing in modern football.
Well, the £100 million man is certainly one of them.
Jack Grealish hints he dislikes one thing about modern football
Considering the Englishman turns 29 later this year, he has grown up on characters and players who play with a smile on their face like him.
As a result, the treble-winner told BBC Sport that he “thrives” off being compared to Paul Gascoigne, who he admired due to the freedom with which he played the beautiful game.
Nowadays, not many players play the game like Gascoigne.
Even though another City player, Phil Foden has been compared to the English legend by Anton Ferdinand.
For a player and a person like Grealish who seems like an old soul in comparison to his peers, it is natural that certain aspects about modern football do not sit with him too well.
One of them seems to be how statistics are the be all and end all of how many view the sport, as per Jack Grealish.
“In myself, I feel like I’m coming back now, I feel fit and strong. I didn’t score or assist against Palace but I played well, I was involved in most of the goals but everyone loves stats, assists and goals”, he said [via Manchester Evening News].
“I feel I bring so much more to the team than just goals and assists. If you watch the game back, you’ll see I played well, it’s just a shame that everyone in the world now just loves stats.”
Jack Grealish certainly makes a fair point as while he did not get a goal or an assist in Manchester City’s 4-2 win against Crystal Palace, he was involved in every goal.
Grealish must dislike this aspect of modern football in particular
Grealish’ passes for De Bruyne’s opener and Lewis’ goal struck a Palace player and as a result, he was not rewarded with the assists for the goals.
For Kevin De Bruyne’s second goal, he grabbed the pre-assist as Rodri set up the strike.
The same goes for Erling Haaland’s tap-in, as while the Belgian made the final pass, he was found by the 28-year-old.
However, those that missed the game might assume Grealish did not play well against Palace.
However, Jack Grealish was tremendous but fans and pundits who simply analyse the game by assessing goal and assist numbers might disagree.
For a player like the decorated technician, that is far from ideal for his reputation as he is expected to register goal involvements consistently when he has never really done so and instead, he just contributes massively to games such as against Crystal Palace.
One can understand from Grealish’s viewpoint why that might perturb him.