‘I play with a lot more freedom’ - Jack Grealish makes honest admission on role for club and country

Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com 
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Visit Shots! now

This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a small commission on items purchased through this article, but that does not affect our editorial judgement.

The Man City midfielder has made an honest admission over the differences he feels playing for club and country

Former Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish has said that he feels like he ‘plays with more freedom’ for England than at Manchester City.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Grealish was brought on as a late substitute during England’s 1-1 draw with Germany on Tuesday evening (7 June) and he made a big difference in levelling things up on the night for his country.

Despite going on to win the Premier League in his first year with Pep Guardiola’s side, Grealish’s debut season at the Etihad has been a mixed one, as he found himself in and out of the starting line-up for much of the season.

Jack Grealish Jack Grealish
Jack Grealish | Getty Images

When asked by BBC Sport if he believes he plays with more freedom for country than club, Grealish said: “I do think that, yeah. I feel at times I’ve played a bit safe at City - but when I come here, I feel like even in training, I train really well, score goals, get assists and whatnot.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“When I come on the pitch… it’s hard to explain. I do feel like I play with a lot more freedom here and hopefully I can transfer that into my club football and keep on improving.

“That’s what the manager [Gareth Southgate] asked me to do - go on and be myself and try to create and that’s what I did.”

The Birmingham-born playmaker helped to change the game for England on Tuesday night, with Southgate’s side looking much more dangerous when Grealish came on with 20 minutes remaining.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The City forward caused the German defence a number of problems late on, and produced a brilliant cross for Harry Kane, whose resulting effort was well saved by Manuel Neuer.

The Man City forward will now be hoping to start England’s Nations League fixture against Italy at Molineux on Saturday (11 June).

A message from the editor:

Thank you for reading. BirminghamWorld is Birmingham’s latest news website, championing everything that is great about our city - reporting on news, lifestyle and sport. We want to start a community among our readers, so please follow us on Facebook,Twitter and Instagram, and keep the conversation going.

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.