Boss believes Jack is Greal deal ...and he doesn’t need to say thanks
PEP GUARDIOLA said he trusts Jack Grealish “unconditionally” – and insisted the £100million man had no need to thank him in public.
The Manchester City boss spoke out after the England international fired home his first goal of the season as the reigning champions cruised to a 3-0 win at Wolves.
Grealish stabbed home Kevin De Bruyne’s cross from close range inside the opening minute.
Erling Haaland added a second just after the quarter-hour before Wolves defender Nathan Collins was dismissed for a crude waist-high lunge on Grealish.
The former Aston Villa man battled on after being poleaxed.
He spoke afterwards of his admiration for his manager, who he said had stood by him following a below-par show in their 2-1 midweek victory over Borussia Dortmund.
But Guardiola was having none of it.
The Spaniard said: “I trust them all unconditionally. I know them. And I trust him unconditionally. Jack is no exception to that.
“He scored a goal, he had a good performance. Every time he has the ball, he’s always taking on the fullback when it’s one on one. All the time, all the time.
“Maybe we don’t have more runners in the final third that gives him more space but he doesn’t have to say, ‘Thank you’ to me.
“I have confidence in him. I have confidence in all of them. They have to bring the best of themselves every single game. That’s what I’m looking for.
“Of course, I’m happy for him and the victory.
“He has an incredible personality to play the way he does.
“Maybe I understand the focus on him because of the transfer. We have to admit it, yes, maybe.
“But he has to be who he is. That’s all. Everyone has good moments. He just has to play like Jack Grealish, that’s all.”
Wolves boss Bruno Lage (below) admitted his side were floored by Grealish’s goal after just 53 seconds.
He said: “There are two things they don’t like. They don’t like to spend too much time without the ball and they don’t like to run. “So our plan was simple – keep the ball.
“We need to try and make them run to recover the ball. They were playing today after a game on Wednesday.
“But when you start a game like that, you suffer.”
Haaland already has 11 Premier League goals to his name. Wolves, by contrast, have bagged just three in seven outings so far this season.
Raul Jimenez was injured during pre-season, £15m capture Sasa Kalajdzic was injured after 45 minutes against Southampton and new signing Diego Costa is short of match fitness.
Lage said: “It’s a worry when you don’t score. Even a manager like Pep understands he needs a reference in the box.”
■ Manchester City are currently unbeaten in 22 away games in the Premier League (W16, D6), a run started just over one year ago against Leicester. ■ Wolves have won just one of their last 14 Premier League matches (D5, L8), scoring just two goals across their last six games under Bruno Lage. ■ City’s Kevin De Bruyne has reached a combined 150 goals and assists in the top flight in his 217th game in the competition (58 goals, 92 assists). ■ Ten of the 22 starters were Portuguese (Wolves seven, City three), setting a new record for the most from a non-English nation in the competition.