Jack Grealish left Thierry Henry 'screaming' with actions in Man Utd defeat

Arsenal icon Thierry Henry has delivered a scathing critique of Jack Grealish’s involvement in Manchester United’s first goal during the recent Manchester derby. With City ahead and minutes ticking away, Matheus Nunes made a poor backpass towards Ederson which was intercepted by Amad, leading to Nunes fouling the United player and conceding a penalty.

Bruno Fernandes scored from the spot to equalise. However, Henry highlighted an earlier incident where Grealish, instead of challenging United’s captain Fernandes, opted for a backward pass that eventually reached Nunes.

Speaking on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, Henry expressed his frustration: “That was at home and I screamed. I did scream because that’s not the Jack Grealish I saw at Villa, that’s not the Jack Grealish I saw arriving at Man City,” and added, “Regardless of the time, regardless of what it is, regardless of where you are, when the ball comes to you here, and I see Bruno Fernandes coming and maybe Gundogan making a run, all I’m trying to do at that moment, is you take the ball and you square in.

“You square in and see what’s going to happen. I don’t know if I’m going to dribble past him. You don’t just go the other way. You want to stay here, here want to possess the ball. It’s minute 86 or 87, why do you want to invite them to your half?

“You want to stay here. Especially you and what you used to do. I’ll be honest, sometimes the coaches do the thinking for the players, maybe too much. But I don’t care at that moment you are on the ball, you have to decide.

“You need to feel the game. You can’t always turn and say ‘my coach told me’. They go back, why? They go back, why? Again and again and obviously Man United will push. Why are you inviting them to come when you were in the one v one situation?”

Following a string of poor performances, City’s manager Pep Guardiola confessed to being at a loss: “Not much to say. No defence, they were incredibly persistent. We have not lost eight games in two seasons. We can’t defend that. It’s not about this or that player. We gave away goals, our fault. We don’t play with composure.

“The results are not good, the game was not exceptional. I know the situation, I understand but the reality is this. I am not good enough. I am the boss, the manager, I have to find solutions and so far I haven’t. That’s the reality.”