It was a refreshing sight, watching Jack Grealish’s unbridled joy at winning his first major trophy in his first season at Manchester City.
There Grealish was during the Manchester City title-winning celebration parade, always hovering somewhere nearby in his gold-rimmed shades, a bottle of beer in hand, never far from the microphone, ready with a quick joke or a cheeky aside.
There was, perhaps, a sense of one hundred million pounds of weight lifting from the shoulders of the most expensive signing in English football who had actually been 15 minutes away from being part of a rare silverware-free season for manager Pep Guardiola.
Not 24 hours later, Grealish was arm-in-arm with Wayne Lineker at the O Beach Ibiza resort to continue celebrations on the party island. And why not? He had a Premier League winners’ medal around his neck, a new multi-million pound deal with Gucci, legions of fans and followers.
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“I had seven days off, so I enjoyed it, that’s what I like to do,” Grealish said, after coming off the bench for England against Germany on Tuesday evening to play the decisive ball that led to England’s equalising penalty. “It was the right time, and the right place to enjoy it.”
Grealish was widely praised for being, well, Jack Grealish. And rightly so. He was the picture of a 26-year-old lad having a good time. Yet without wishing to be too much of a killjoy here, to knock a famous footballer displaying genuine authenticity that is ever rarer in modern-day sport, it might not have been the optimal timing that Grealish presumed. Although that largely depends on ambitions.
There is a World Cup around the corner and places up for grabs. England manager Gareth Southgate has told his players he wants to see more goals beyond Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling, on who England so often rely.
The pair scored 100 per cent of England’s goals up to the Euro 2020 quarter-finals, and seven of England’s total of 11. It was captain Kane again on Tuesday night who rescued a point from defeat against Germany with two minutes remaining.
Grealish has adopted cult-like status amongst England supporters since his elevation into the squad and it is the point of most friction between Southgate and the England fanbase. Grealish embodies everything they want to see on the pitch: the low socks oozing nonchalance, the freed spirit, the pure attacking football ideal. During Euro 2020, with most England games played at Wembley, the crowd lit up every time the camera feeding the big screens found Grealish sat on the substitutes bench, when he would duly oblige with a cheeky smile.
But Southgate is more concerned more with winning football matches, with reaching the latter stages of — and possibly even winning — major tournaments. In Southgate’s mind, Grealish doesn’t offer enough protection for the full-backs. He is, essentially, a luxury. A secret weapon to unleash in the final 20 minutes when a game needs chasing.
If Grealish aspires to be more than that, it’s his job to convince Southgate otherwise. Mason Mount has only four England goals in 29 games. Bukayo Saka has four, although in only 16 appearances. Phil Foden has only two. Grealish only one.
Southgate is desperate for another regular goal-scorer and there’s a short six-month window during which a spark in form for club and country could force Southgate’s thinking in Grealish’s favour.
Spending a week partying ahead of four Nations League fixtures — two-thirds of the remaining games before Southgate will finalise his starting XI for the Qatar World Cup — is perhaps, on balance, not the best use of time for a player so close to that first team.
Would, for example, Cristiano Ronaldo have looked at that week and thought it was the perfect time to let loose? To fill the body with things that are going to make it slower, less supple, the muscles tighter, that are going to restrict the healing and recovery process.
Maybe that bar is too high — Ronaldo is a prime specimen, a freak of nature, the ultimate example. But would Jordan Henderson or James Milner, two footballers excelling into their 30s who largely avoid alcohol? Would Declan Rice, a 23-year-old squeezing every millilitre out of his career? Ahead of Euro 2020, Rice said footballers “have never got time” to drink. “If you want to live that life I think you may as well do something else,” he said. “You have to be on it 24/7.”
Football is a sport full of elite athletes now, not just talented footballers. And maybe Grealish simply doesn’t want to be that footballer. Which, if that’s the case, is fair enough. Good on him, for wanting to enjoy these moments while he can. To win things on the pitch, then go out celebrating them afterwards.
But then there should be no complaints if his name isn’t in the starting line-up when England kick off the 2022 World Cup against Iran on November 21.
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