Everton might have lost again to Liverpool and will see themselves slip from their lofty sixth place in the Premier League table by the time this weekend is over, but of one thing there is no doubt – Jack Grealish has rekindled his love for the game and he credits manager David Moyes for it.
While the former Aston Villa and Manchester City has been held without a goal contribution in his last two games, his importance to the side remains very clear with most attacks going through him even as he spends
most of the time on the pitch being double-teamed and hacked to death by opponents.
The forward turned 30 a couple of weeks ago and celebrated by being named the Premier League Player of the Month for August after picking up a brace of assists in consecutive starts against Brighton and Wolves.
Speaking after the defeat today, Grealish reiterated how important Moyes’ call to him while he languished at City has been for resurrecting his career.
“100%. The manager has come out a few times and said it’s not down to me, it’s down to Jack. I have come here and he has been so so good, I love playing for him. As soon as I spoke to him I just knew I wanted to come and play for him. I thank him for giving me my love back and waking up on a matchday with a smile and wanting to play again. I want to come here and make a difference in games like today.”
As derbies go, they are rarely without controversy and games at Anfield tend to be even more so. Referee Darren England’s decision to book Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall for taking a freekick too quickly came in for particular umbrage, as was his adding just three minutes in time added on in the second half despite multiple stoppages in play.
“I have never in my life seen a player get booked for taking a quick free-kick. I don’t know where that rule has come from. Even stoppage time, three minutes – come on! I have never seen that in the Premier League in the last few years.
“I get sometimes you want to let the game go but you can’t not give something for us and then one of their players gets touched in the back and goes down. I get it. You come to these stadiums and the crowd are on you. I think they feel they have to give it. Kiernan gets a yellow for taking a free-kick, we are losing, I have never heard of that in my life.”
Grealish was booked for his protestations at the referee after the final whistle, though he didn’t even realize he had been booked.
“It was because he gave Kiernan [Dewsbury-Hall] a yellow card for taking a quick free-kick. I was like ‘what are you doing?’ We are losing, we want to get the ball back in play and he gives him a yellow card. It baffles me. So unheard of. I think he is on four yellow cards now and if he gets one more he gets banned.
“And where do you get three minutes [of stoppage time] from and one minute in the first half? I have never heard of that either. Come on. It is usually four or five minutes. It is what it is and we move on. I didn’t even know he gave me a yellow, that is news to me.”
