Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has challenged Jack Grealish to “rebel” more and show his street football ability during the final months of the season.
Grealish has endured a difficult campaign but helped City avoid an almighty FA Cup scare at Leyton Orient on Saturday with a role in both goals in a 2-1 win.
Savinho has been a mainstay in City’s line-up at the expense of England international Grealish, who has not started a Premier League fixture since December, but Guardiola was encouraged by the 29-year-old’s display in east London.
“I’m really pleased for Jack,” Guardiola reflected. “Jack has this sense of the street, a player of the street.
“Most of the players, for the manager they are so academic; you have to do this, you have to do that. Jack, in the stadiums when the people shout, he is there and is a fighter and I am really pleased.
“The last games he did not play, mainly because especially Savinho on the left side has made an incredible connection with Erling (Haaland), but the season is still open and I am happy for the performance he gave.”
This is not the first rallying call Guardiola has given to Grealish this season and fitness issues have plagued the £100million attacker.
However, Guardiola appeared to suggest a flicker of Grealish’s old self was displayed at Orient and will hope to see more during a key period of the campaign for City.
Real Madrid visit the Etihad Stadium in the Champions League on Tuesday, while the faltering Premier League champions face Newcastle, Liverpool and Tottenham before the end of February.
Guardiola added: “I want much more. This is the level I would like to see from Jack but it has not been like that, so I like it.
“Clubs bring new players in every season. I don’t have the same squad as when I arrived nine years ago or when we won the treble or quadruple or the 100 points. We have maybe three, four, five, six players, not more than that, and it’s normal. Players have to understand that.
“No new contract makes a player better, it is the competition in the locker room and on the pitch that makes the players better. They have to feel that.
“You have to fight with Savinho. The impact he has had this season is amazing. Jeremy Doku is incredible, a top player as well. Phil Foden can play on the left as well. That’s the point.
“He accepts and it’s never against a player from my point of view. It’s ‘OK, accept the challenge, prove you are the best’.
“I saw (against Orient) that glimpse that ‘I want to rebel, I want to show the manager how wrong he is,’ and that is the point. I love that and it had to be because at the end it’s about performance, and to deliver assists and to deliver goals.”
