Everton are badly missing Jack Grealish | OneFootball

There’s a lot to be frustrated about with Everton at the moment.

The fact that European qualification is a tantalising prospect, and still — annoyingly — within reach, but time is running out to string together the run of results needed to separate from the pack.

The fact that Everton have not won a home game since December 6.

The fact that the team simply do not create anywhere near enough chances, and that David Moyes keeps making some baffling line-up selections.

There’s lots to be frustrated about, and that makes taking things into perspective all the more difficult.

But one of the huge frustrations, in this writer’s view, is one that really cannot be helped by anyone.

Jack Grealish last played on January 18th, when Everton beat his former club Aston Villa 1-0.

He will not play again this season. In the wake of that win at Villa Park, Grealish sustained a serious foot injury, and that will be that for his 2025-26 campaign.

And boy, are Everton missing him.

Bafflingly, there were genuinely some Evertonians who seemed to think Grealish was the issue. “He slows it down too much”. “He doesn’t provide chances for the strikers”.

Neither of those criticisms were valid, of course. But there is a tendency at this club of seemingly pinning the blame on the better players, and then protecting those who consistently underperform.

Grealish’s absence has been felt, badly.

Everton did not create enough chances even with Grealish in the team, but without him, they are even poorer in that department.

Grealish still leads the way for Everton when it comes to chances created (38), just ahead of James Garner (36). However, 19 of the opportunities Garner has created have come from set-pieces. Grealish created 36 chances from open play.

Worryingly, only once in the last 18 league matches have Everton recorded an open-play xG of over 1.0. That shows just how poor the Toffees are when it comes to creating opportunities, but then take out the best player at doing just that, and it’s a double whammy.

But as big of a blow as losing Grealish’s creative influence has been, his absence has perhaps been felt most when it comes to helping Everton keep their shape, and keep things ticking.

Grealish regularly picks the right pass. The right weight. The right moment to release the ball. It can at times be frustrating if it stalls a breakaway, but that was really very rarely the case. Grealish is not perfect, but the crispness and precision of his passing cannot be overlooked. On Monday, as Everton went down to Manchester United, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Tim Iroegbunam, Idrissa Gueye and Iliman Ndiaye were all guilty of sloppy passes in key moments.

Grealish’s ability to hold the width, keep his position and retain possession is top tier, and no player in Everton’s squad comes close to being able to replicate all of those attributes.

A quick look at the ball-carrying stats shows how important Grealish has been, too. Only Garner (344) has made more carries than Grealish (326), while the 30-year-old tops Everton’s squad for carry distance, with 3,927.6 metres, and progressive carries (178).

Ten of Grealish’s carries resulted in a shot, 14 with a chance created, and three in an assist — all of those are team-highs, too.

Moyes has turned largely to Harrison Armstrong in the last few weeks, crowbarring the youngster in on one of the flanks. It seems to be that Moyes is valuing Armstrong’s ability to keep the ball (he is regularly clocking up 80%+ pass accuracy) and hold the shape, but that is making Everton disjointed in attack.

Tyrique George has featured in all three games he has been available for, with two of those substitute appearances, and he brings a direct approach and plenty of pace, but then Moyes — especially against the traditionally bigger sides — is always going to revert to a safety-first approach.

Moyes is certainly struggling to cope with the loss of his best player, which most bosses in the league would, but the lack of invention in trying to come up with a solution isn’t helping either.

Could Ndiaye not switch over to the left every now and then, and Tyler Dibling — who does keep the ball well — given a chance in certain moments? How about being bolder with the use of George?

Carlos Alcaraz, it seems, was actually set to be given a go off the left against United, but a late injury meant he missed out. It is not his natural position but he is another option there. Dewsbury-Hall has even played there in the past, and provides a natural left-footer; if Moyes really is insisting on having Armstrong in the team, then he shouldn’t be crowbarred out on the wing.

But again, taking everything into context, the injury to Grealish really has derailed things. Maybe not in terms of results, but it has certainly left Moyes and his staff rather muddled, and the lack of quality in the final third is painful at times.

Grealish’s eight goal involvements top Everton for the season, and while his absence is not the only issue, it is a cruel blow that cannot be ignored.

All stats via Opta Analyst

Reader Comments (5)

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Christy Ring 1 Posted 25/02/2026 at 13:34:05

Grealish had been a massive loss.

He was so good at keeping possession, and seldom lost the ball. Also, opposition players targeted him, which left room for the likes of Dewsbury-Hall to excel.

But it's hard to understand why bring in George, a fast young winger, when Moyes decides to move Armstrong, who was starting to establish himself in midfield, and put him totally out of position on the left?

Patric, indeed you are correct that we are missing Jack but I think more than just because of his quality but because Moyes trusts him and favours him.

In real terms, we shouldn't be missing him as much as we are for a number of reasons.

For example, Dwight McNeil had 7 goal involvements by the first couple of months last season, so we know he is capable under different regimes. Tyrique George provides a greater goal threat than Jack while Tyler Dibling at his best has a similar skill set.

We can't replace Jack's class and experience but we should still have a threat.

Also, it must be said, since his early heroics, his only worthwhile contribution came against Bournemouth. He did get 2 assists in the Brentford debacle which proved fruitless. It is clear that, even with Jack in the team, in only 1 of his last 15 games did he make a game deciding contribution.

Therefore, it is too simplistic to say we are struggling without Jack as often we weren't getting the best out of him when he was in the side. Our lack of goal threat is systematic in nature.

Indeed, we have scored 5 goals in 5 games which is similar to our rate for the rest of the campaign.

Patric Ridge 3 Posted 25/02/2026 at 14:46:53

Conor #2

Fully agree on the trust element. The way Grealish kept possession and kept the shape was so vital for Moyes.

It should be noted Moyes was going to play Alcaraz left-wing on Monday until the injury on Sunday, but there is definitely a 'safety first' approach Moyes has and he values a player who has the discipline on the ball and off it.

Grealish provides that, but then with that real touch of class in the final 3rd too.

We all knew we'd miss him even though some found an argument yo suggest otherwise.

What he gives you is an ability to hold possession, an intelligent football player that also drew so many fouls from opponents also.

As much as I like Ndiaye, he's far too loose in possession at times and his ball retention and hold up play isn't as good as Jack's.

Such a shame really that we get a stellar signing and he last half a season, you could say typical Everton.

Patric O/P Did Grealish sustain a serious foot injury v Villa? He claimed he had been feeling pain there for a few games previous to the Villa game but never mentioned it to the club officials— seems a bit strange to me.

These 38 chances are put forward without any real,information about who they were against and what sort of chances they were, he is attributed with 6 assists ( 5 in my estimation);and two goals over 22 games, nothing to gloat about when he is getting £300,000 a week.

These professional fouls fans claim are part of his class act— they will call opponents who gain these fouls cheating bastards which they are let’s be honest.

Seems to me we are not getting value for money when he is being paid for 35 games but only playing for 22, I think City should be paying us a big rebate for the loss of 13 games by Jack.

I also hope Everton swerve signing him again next season loan or otherwise going on his efforts this season.