1) Grealish both feared and admired
Jack Grealish has stopped falling over. But it’s not just that. Grealish was fouled just twice against Fulham, neither of these the contact-seeking lunges that had for a while become a part of his game. Grealish isn’t necessarily cheating or diving when he does this. The take-the-foul routine is also a way of having your legs battered into a pulp over several years. Grealish carries the ball too well not to be tripped a lot. Contact will happen. Why not manage how that collision works, take the lightest of touches, fall well? But Grealish has started to stay up as well, to use his strength instead to terrorise and bully defenders. He was very good against Fulham, helping to make the opening goal, and just about surviving an ongoing battle with Kenny Tete, who was defending aggressively. Another thing here: the Fulham crowd barracked Grealish and he wagged his finger back at them. But the feeling was less outrage, more pantomime jeers, a kind of semi-buried respect. The other story of Grealish’s season is that he is now surely the most marketable English player in the league; and, grudgingly perhaps for some, one of the most likeable. Barney Ronay
