English winger says his return to form is down to the freedom he has been given under David Moyes
Jack Grealish has admitted his lifestyle played a part in the poor run of form that led to his Manchester City exit.
The 30-year-old joined Everton on loan in the summer after a number of poor seasons under Pep Guardiola.
He has since looked again like the player he was at Aston Villa before he departed in 2021, and he confessed some of the choices he made at City were not the greatest and affected his play, even if they were not solely responsible.
“People go, ‘He likes to go out, he likes to party,’ and I do. I want to be able to live my life and enjoy myself but obviously there’s a time and a place to do that,” said Grealish.
“Sometimes, I’ll be honest with you, I probably haven’t picked the right times.
“At City, I didn’t help myself at times, I’ll openly say that. But then I don’t think it was all down to that.”
Everton boss David Moyes convinced the English winger to come work with him in a new project on Merseyside, and Grealish has been highly influential for the Toffees, registering four assists in his first five league games.
“You know, I’m quite vulnerable off the pitch and I wanted to go somewhere to just feel the love again and just wake up with a smile on my face and want to play again,” said Grealish.
“I don’t mean this in an arrogant way but I do like it when managers say, ‘you’re the footballer, go and do what you want to do.’
“Obviously you have your jobs. You have your roles to do without the ball and set pieces but he [Moyes] says to me, ‘When you get the ball just go and do what you want to do.’”
