Jack Grealish has continued his spat with Graeme Souness by claiming footballers who respond to pundits' views are unfairly accused of being unable to stand the criticism.
The England and Manchester City star was described as a 'good, not great' player by the former Scotland international turned Sky Sports and talkSPORT pundit - and Daily Mail columnist - last month.
And now Grealish has continued their ongoing argument in an interview with
Jack Grealish has continued his argument with Graeme Souness by suggesting that pundits don't like it when footballers respond to criticism of their game
Liverpool legend Souness suggested last month Grealish was a 'good, not great' footballer
'I often feel like I just do exactly the same things as the other players, but people talk about them because it is me doing them,' he said.
'That's exactly what I said in relation to Souness - he always has something to say about me. And he responded by saying I can't take criticism.
'Today, we, the footballers, if we allow ourselves to respond to something said about us, we are portrayed as if we are people who cannot stand criticism.
'Sometimes I want to say to them [pundits in England], "Leave me alone a bit and focus on someone else" so that I can focus on my game. Because there is always this noise around me.'
Speaking on talkSPORT in September, Souness suggested Grealish, who had at that point scored just five times and contributed three assists since his £100million move from Aston Villa, hadn't improved at City.
England international Grealish has scored just one goal for Man City so far this season
'He is a good footballer. He is not a great player,' Souness said. 'He is a good player who got a big move and is yet to do it at Man City.
'I understand why people think he is better than he actually is - because he runs with the ball and gets you on the edge of your seat.
'But he doesn't deliver enough. He doesn't see the right picture and he doesn't deliver it quickly enough.
'If he was a star every week, we would not be having this type of conversation about him.'
Grealish, 27, then hit back at Souness by saying: 'I don't know what his problem is with me. I try not to read it, obviously it's difficult when he's on talkSPORT or Sky Sports and it's everywhere around the training ground at times.
'He was obviously a great player. I don't know what it is with what he says about me or what problem he's got.