In a world where so many football interviews could be scripted before they start, Jack Grealish is a refreshing change from the norm.
His honest and entertaining post-match interviews give fans so much more than the usual short answers, and show the world that the supposed prima donna, £100m footballer is probably just a normal bloke who happens to have cost Manchester City £100m. Now, he's starting to justify the price tag, too.
After Grealish's most important moment yet in a City shirt, he took to the microphone once more and gave another engaging insight into the 90 minutes that had just unfolded, and what it meant to him personally. And then he was told that City had only managed 36 per cent possession.
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At that point, Grealish's face dropped, and he seemed to lose his train of thought in an instant. He questioned if the number was right, before replying: "God knows then, I don’t want to say much about that," quick to move the interview along. In fact, it was the lowest possession City have ever recorded in a Premier League match under Pep Guardiola, in 251 games.
Maybe his piqued interest in possession is perhaps because Grealish's role in the team focusses so much on keeping the ball. He's tasked with finding a Blue shirt, creating overloads, and then most likely giving it to teammates in space to be more creative. That has led to plenty of external criticism of Grealish and his lack of goals or assists - although his decisive strike at Arsenal means he will be exempt from such criticism for a while.
Is it a coincidence that City recorded a record-low possession while Grealish had one of his more influential games? Maybe not, although there are plenty of other factors at play, too. The fact that City have found a system to play each of Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, and Kevin De Bruyne in midfield - as well as Grealish, Riyad Mahrez, and Erling Haaland in attack - also frees the no.10 up to play his more natural game. He's not relied on as heavily to keep the ball, and instead is needed to take more risks in the final third.
"It’s difficult, as I’ve said a lot of times," he said on Wednesday. "When I was at Aston Villa, the manager said go and do what you want to find the ball. Here we have so many top players honestly, the manager wants us to make the pitch big."
The Villa comparison has been made to death, and Grealish himself often refers back to the different expectations of him. This season, though, he's slowly but surely becoming more effective in City's play, even if the headline stats don't always reflect that. According to Opta, City have an 82 per cent win rate when Grealish plays this season, losing just two of 17 games, compared to a 33 per cent success rate when he doesn't (W2D2L2).
Such records don't go unnoticed at City, and it's a credit to Grealish that he's started the last six league games in a row, scoring big goals at the Emirates and Old Trafford, as well as creating the winners at Stamford Bridge and Elland Road. In those big moments, when the game is tight, Grealish is becoming the player his manager and teammates rely on to keep things calm. He's saving his biggest impacts for the most difficult situations.
"He is doing very very well, not just the goals and assists, the way he keeps the ball and helps us breathe," said Bernardo Silva. "These games, for example, we could not keep the ball, but the way he manages to give us that breath and I am really happy for him because he is a great guy."
Kevin De Bruyne added: "It’s never easy to come to our team but he’s been playing great this year for me. People look at the stats all the time but he does very important things for us. We’re winning a lot of games and he’s a big part of that - he plays almost every game.
"I’m very happy for him because if you boost your game with some stats people look at you differently but I don’t think we will look differently at what he does for us. We know he’s doing a really good job for us."
It's probably fair to say Grealish might not have always have had the full trust of his teammates, but he undoubtedly does now. Even if the goals and assists aren't the be-all and end-all to his place in City's system, the fact that they are starting to flow helps.
Grealish said he 'just knew' that Ilkay Gundogan would find him to score at Arsenal. Even the way Guardiola has trusted him to remain on the left even when there are left-back experiments going on behind him, suggests Grealish is now fully in tune with City's system and is starting to adapt to changes within it.
Maybe the most revealing aspect of Grealish's huge step forward at Arsenal, though, was his shock, and possible worry, upon hearing that possession statistic. It was like he knew that simply wasn't good enough, and won't be sustainable if City are to be successful this season. It was another sign he is starting to see the bigger picture.
After his entertaining interview on Amazon, where he admitted City were probably not the best side on the night, he again placed the win firmly in context.
"We're not getting too ahead of ourselves but wins like that you have to celebrate, and we certainly did," he said. "It’s obviously a massive win but no one wins the title in February especially the way this season is panning out.
"Obviously, we’re top of the league, but they still have a game in hand and they’re a brilliant side. I don’t think the result matters too much in the title race – we just have to concentrate on ourselves and try to keep winning games. People know in the last few years City always go on some sort of run... now we need to try and go on one and I feel like it’s coming."
With another leap forward in sky Blue this week, Grealish looks set for a key role in any run City embark on. And when the next big game comes around, he will be one of the first names on the teamsheet.
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