MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 4: Jeremy Doku of Manchester City (L) celebrates with Jack Grealish of Manchester City (C) and Ruben Dias of Manchester City (R)after scoring their 3rd goal during the Premier League match between Manchester City FC and Nottingham Forest FC at Etihad Stadium on December 4, 2024 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 4: Jeremy Doku of Manchester City (L) celebrates with Jack Grealish of Manchester City (C) and Ruben Dias of Manchester City (R)after scoring their 3rd goal during the Premier League match between Manchester City FC and Nottingham Forest FC at Etihad Stadium on December 4, 2024 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
Kevin De Bruyne is back and making up for lost time. A goal and assist in the first half brought back shades of Newcastle away last season, and Manchester City will hope that he shows the form he did after that heroic return last season.
It can't come a moment too soon - City immediately looked more fluent and confident in attack with their talisman pulling the strings. Talk of a rift this week between De Bruyne and Pep Guardiola were ridiculed by the manager and the Belgian's selection from the start further dismantled the unfounded speculation of Carragher, Neville, Lineker and co.
Guardiola and City waited patiently for De Bruyne to return, even when they desperately needed him. That policy looks wise as De Bruyne was running the show against Nottingham Forest.
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It was telling, too, that some out-of-form teammates upped their game alongside him. Guardiola tweaked his side by recalling Jeremy Doku on the left, putting Bernardo Silva more advanced on the right and deploying Jack Grealish on the inside which he has been reluctant to do since the £100m signing in 2021.
In fact, he has only ever started one Premier League game for City in a central attacking midfield role - his first for the club on the first day of the 21/22 season. Since then he has been almost-exclusively a winger, save for a few outings as a false nine.
Those who don't watch City every week question why Guardiola would sacrifice the creative side of Grealish that he showed at Aston Villa in a free central role, but Guardiola has stuck to his guns. He's not in the team to score goals, and his effectiveness on the left won them the treble in 2023.
It's been a struggle since then, though, mainly due to injury and a lack of consistency over the last season and a bit. On Wednesday, Grealish was back in his natural position and looked like a player transformed.
There were one-twos with De Bruyne and Bernardo, overlaps, underlaps, tricks and - wait for it - some shots. He was unlucky not to find the back of the net, but this was a glimpse of the Grealish some thought they were signing three years ago but have been denied access to.
'Super Jack Grealish' was on repeat in the South Stand, and most importantly the number ten had a smile on his face throughout. He played like a number ten as well.
It may not be a permanent solution, although it looked good and the midfield linked far better with the wingers and Erling Haaland. Even if it took a catastrophic losing run to achieve it, could Grealish finally get a run in his favourite position, 138 games after his last start in midfield?
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