Jack Grealish has never been an easy player to measure.
A master in his younger years of the nebulous pre-assist, Grealish was underestimated because his goal contributions came in the form of the pass before the pass.
To understand his importance, one had to watch him week in and week out. The swagger of Paul Gascoigne wasn’t quantifiable. Glenn Hoddle’s creativity couldn’t be plotted on a graph.
Jack Grealish should be Everton’s creative pulse and assists don’t tell the full story
As the captain of Aston Villa, Grealish had a magic that couldn’t be counted. That’s not to say a player’s direct impact matters less; Grealish himself ended up as an England international, Premier League champion and Champions League winner precisely because he added trackable outputs to his arsenal.
But as his early burst of assists on loan at Everton starts to go cold, it’s worth remembering that Grealish’s worth has never been adequately represented on paper.
Grealish arrived at the Hill Dickinson Stadium with the air of a mercurial talent freed from the stifling tactical structure of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
He quickly set up four goals and scored one by accident but those direct contributions have stopped flowing as Everton find themselves with one win in eight matches in all competitions.
In his whole career, Grealish has only briefly scored what he’d consider to be enough goals. The thing about being more of a creator is that every assist needs a scorer and Everton can be found wanting in that particular department.
All four of Grealish’s assists came in August but his shot-creating actions, progressive carries and expected assisted goals (xGA) haven’t appreciably declined since then.
He’s still making key passes and still connecting with passes into the penalty area. Along with Iliman Ndiaye and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Grealish forms what should be a threatening creative unit in which he is the intangible extra something.
David Moyes and Everton aren’t quite harnessing that potential. Allowing that freedom Grealish needed doesn’t always come naturally to his new manager even if the idea of a sturdy base and a genius wildcard is a seductive one.
Everton’s targets in their first season at Bramley-Moore Dock are more ambitious than in their last at Goodison Park.
They have their promising creative trident, a solid midfield two and a defensive unit with reasonable Premier League pedigree backstopped by England’s best goalkeeper.
They also brought in striker Thierno Barry, whose individual performances thus far haven’t done Grealish, Moyes and Everton any favours.
The Toffees drew at Sunderland on Monday night and could so easily have been 2-0 up with a Grealish assist for a Barry goal. The cross was perfect. The finish was not.
However the season turns out for Everton, Grealish’s influence will play a big part in defining it in the opinion of FourFourTwo.
If Moyes can keep his most naturally gifted creative player ticking, Everton will keep getting chances. Grealish will be statistically credited for some of them and less directly responsible for others.
However those chances come about, Everton need to find a way to start putting them away.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
