Jack Grealish and the wisdom of public socialising during an underwhelming season

In happier times, Jack Grealish’s tour of northern social clubs might be seen as a sign of a down-to-earth superstar shunning personal security in exclusive bars to mix with ordinary people.

In isolation, that is exactly what it is, and it has been seen that way in some quarters. Grealish had Sunday and Monday off following Manchester City’s FA Cup 3-1 victory against Plymouth Argyle and, by Sunday afternoon, pictures surfaced showing him out in Gorton, east Manchester, in the kind of place you might not expect to see many professional footballers.

By the end of the night, he had travelled up to the north east — first North Biddick Social Club in Washington, then The Dubliner in Newcastle — to see an old friend.

Reports from some of those present say he spent at least £2,000 ($2,600) on drinks for others, mostly strangers. He was hailed as a “top bloke” and then videoed “looking unsteady” at the end of the night. This is the Jack Grealish we know and love, the figurehead of City’s boozy treble celebrations in 2023.

But it is a universal, if unfortunate, truth that expeditions like these are harder to accept when things are not going well on the pitch, and Grealish is enduring a second difficult season in a row since that unparalleled success two years ago.

This season, like the last, has been hampered by injuries. As in the 2023-24 season, Grealish’s desire to come back early has ended up causing him to miss more games. After making one return to the starting line-up against Aston Villa before Christmas, he was in line for the Boxing Day game against Everton, only to pick up an injury on Christmas Eve. In the first part of this year, he had been struggling with an abductor problem, the same type of injury that has plagued Ruben Dias and meant surgery for Manuel Akanji.

Several City players have been playing with injuries for weeks or even months. This week, Nathan Ake had surgery on a fractured foot, an issue he initially struggled with in November. At least twice in the past four months, City have had to weigh up whether John Stones needs an operation to correct a foot problem he has been battling.

There are enough physical problems that affect a footballer’s performance that we will never hear about, let alone mental struggles. There is no suggestion that Grealish himself is suffering in that sense, but he did recently post on Instagram, “You never know what people are going through, and who is struggling.”

Only his closest circle will know who that relates to and that highlights the problem with drawing conclusions from the brief snapshots we get into a player’s life. Another problem for Grealish is that the snapshots we are getting have not been especially positive.

He was a victim of his reputation when pictured outside a London restaurant in February, given he was widely criticised despite not doing anything wrong. He did not appear to be drunk and while he was criticised for being in the capital the night after City’s Champions League defeat against Real Madrid, the reality was that he was asked to go to London on club duties.

But when it comes to last Sunday’s bar crawl, which did not break any rules at City, it is reasonable to wonder whether Grealish’s commitment to going out is detrimentally affecting his football.

While it is very difficult for us civilians to imagine what life is like as a professional football player, most of us know a few basics about the human body — one being that the older you get, the harder it is to shake off a hangover.

One of the things about Grealish’s approach to football over the years is that while he likes to party, he has always put in the effort to balance the scales. It is known that if he has a late night and arrives only moments before training starts, he will put in additional work until late in the afternoon. It is not a common approach at the top level these days, but it has always worked for Grealish.

And that is assuming that the effort levels are still enough. He missed the final games of last season after Guardiola was unsatisfied with his application in training. The two had a meeting around that time and the manager urged Grealish to come back stronger this season. But at the very start of January, Guardiola had this to say.

“Savinho is in better shape and everything than Jack, and that’s why I played Savinho (against West Ham),” he said after that 4-1 win.

“Do I want the Jack that won the treble? Yeah, I want it, but I try to be honest with myself.”

Guardiola and Grealish in training last month (Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)

He later added: “I fought a lot for him, fought a lot to be here. I know that he can do it because I saw him. I saw his level and I want that, every single training session and every single game.”

Since then, Guardiola has spoken more positively about Grealish. “Jack has the sense of the street, a player from the street,” he said after a match at Leyton Orient and before the Madrid game, which Grealish started before being substituted after half an hour with an injury. “He’s a fighter.”

Over the past two months, Guardiola has not made any more allusions to Grealish’s professionalism and, last Friday, the manager said this: “The reason Jack didn’t play much was that he was not able. He had niggles and problems.

“There is no question mark about his quality, I’ve never doubted the quality Jack has, but because of problems, he has not played three games in a row.”

Grealish has started two of 20 league matches since the start of October, with that period largely unsettled by injuries — although after playing well in central midfield against Nottingham Forest in December, he did not start the next game, which would not have done much for his rhythm either.

But at this point of his City career — his fourth season — it cannot be argued that things are working as planned. He had a slow start in his debut year, which happens fairly often under Guardiola at City, but then played a major role in them winning the treble. It was expected that he would kick on from there, but since then, he has started only 28 of the 85 Premier League and Champions League matches City have played.

Grealish in action against Orient (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)

He has made some important contributions when fit and was recalled to the England squad in the autumn after missing out on Euro 2024, but he has not been on the pitch anywhere near enough.

With two years left on his contract, it could be argued that this summer would be a good opportunity for City and Grealish to part ways.

It would be a shame if he were not to fulfil his potential at City in a way that looked like it would happen two years ago, especially because injuries have held him back and he has tried to return as quickly as possible at times to put things right.

Rightly or wrongly, though, it is hard to shake the idea that he could have done more.

(Top photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images)