It is just before midnight in Manchester, about the time when Jack Grealish would normally be winding up for the night if you were to believe the thousands of memes spawned by his legendary post-Treble drinking session.
But deep in the bowels of Old Trafford, a couple of hours after a suitably sprightly second-half cameo for England, it’s a very different Grealish who presents for his final interview of a marathon season that started in the sunshine of July last year.
A week on from open topped buses and tops off in the rain, he’s had time to reflect on the enormity of a life-changing season and what he calls several times “the best weekend of my life”. And when you listen to him talk it’s clear: there’s much more to England’s most expensive footballer than the caricature.
He’s happy to admit he cried on the pitch in Istanbul and was in floods of tears when he hugged his dad Kevin, sister Kiera and mum Karen in the stands at full-time. What was going through his mind? The sacrifices they’d all made to get him to this point, he says, the emotion, time and resources invested in their oldest boy.
“Behind closed doors I’m quite an emotional person,” he admits, halfway through this huddle with journalists.
And you get the feeling this has been a bit of a strange week for Grealish, who admits he joined up for England hungover after 48 sleepless hours that saw him and his Manchester City teammates cross the Continent celebrating their Champions League win.
“My emotions have been so high,” he says.
“When I was sitting in the [England] camp on Thursday… it was the biggest high I’d ever been on in my life the weekend. You come into camp and you sit there on your own in your room and you think about everything and think ‘Will I ever feel that high again?'”
You sense he’s still coming to terms with the transformation from a year ago when he was something of a bit-part player at the Etihad, still to convince Pep Guardiola he could deliver. Now he’s the main man, trusted by the best manager of his generation on the biggest stage.
“Last year I was sitting there and thinking, well not ‘Have I made the right decision’ but I hadn’t had much game time, was I ever going to be a starter?
“And then I came back from the World Cup, I got into the team and suddenly I’m one of the main players [for Man City] and we go and win the treble.
“It was so emotional. But it was good emotion, if that makes sense.”
The long weekend went from high spirits to pure spirits as a well-lubricated Grealish celebrated his success lustily.
In some circles there’s been tutting about his refreshment habits and more sober judges have warned him about the dangers of being seen to go too far. At one point last Monday Kalvin Phillips was pouring neat vodka down his throat on stage as Grealish, clad in a hi-viz jacket, proclaimed “the turkey is thirsty”. It created plenty of column inches.
Grealish is unapologetic, pointing out others were doing the same or worse away from the cameras. He pointedly notes there are some players who proclaim themselves tee-total in public when the reality is different.
“That’s just the way I am. I’m like that when I party usually,” he says.
“Well I’m not quite like that usually. Look, we’ve won the Treble and it’s something that will never happen again so I went and enjoyed myself.
“I’m not the only one, I think a lot of the time you’ll see everyone recording me. I could show you other stuff from other people….
“Listen, we all enjoyed ourselves. Some people enjoyed themselves where cameras were, that was just me enjoying myself. I’d had the most successful season of my life.
“I don’t think it is a party boy thing. I would never sit here and lie to you and say ‘Yeah, I don’t drink and I don’t party’ because I do. But then there’s so many people that will come here and say to you ‘I don’t do this, I don’t do that’ when they do.
“It’s 19 June now, I came in for pre-season training on 3 July. Years ago you’d have a season for nine months, I’ve just had a 12-month season, I’ve been to a World Cup, I’ve won three trophies and I’ll be back training in four weeks. So why not enjoy myself?”
Judging by the cheers that greeted his entrance at Old Trafford on Monday it has certainly done little to dampen enthusiasm for this modern day maverick. His relatability is part of his charm, fans feel he’s one of us but with extraordinary talent.
In truth he’s not yet transferred that rich promise into a string of performances in an England shirt. For a long time there was a suspicion that Gareth Southgate wasn’t sold on him and while some of that scepticism has melted, it was Marcus Rashford who got the nod on Monday.
Did Grealish take offence to Southgate’s observation, delivered with a wry smile, that “there is a line” when it comes to toasting your achievements.
“I don’t know what you guys think or write but I have a great relationship with him. A brilliant relationship,” Grealish says. He is such an open book you don’t doubt him.
“I kind of knew in the back of my head I wouldn’t play on Friday but even so I came into camp on Tuesday night. I was obviously a bit hungover but I wasn’t drunk or anything. I trained on Thursday.
“I knew I wasn’t going to play on the Friday and then on Saturday I trained well.
“I knew it was going to be a toss-up who played, it could have been any of us, me, Phil [Foden] or Rashy. Obviously it was Rashy and you can’t complain, he’s one of the most in-form players in the world and I thought on Monday he was absolutely unbelievable. He was so good.
“Saks obviously scored the three goals but Rashy in the first half was just frightening. I came on and I’m just happy, I’ve had a brilliant season, the most succesful season of my life and I think there’s a time now where I can just sit and relax and probably take it all in.”
Then he’s back in a month, new frontiers to conquer with club and country. For now at least, let the good times roll.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/vknGUpW
Post a Comment