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The RJW63 Official Jack Grealish Appreciation Thread


kevangrealish

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1 hour ago, Hobbit Feet said:

Just heard Southgate say as well ‘I watched him against Brighton, he played well but they only had 10 men’ Jesus now your clutching at excuses, what is Jack suppose to do? Ask one of our players to walk off so it’s a level playing field? I’m pretty sure he was playing out of his skin when they had 11. I’m really annoyed.

Southgate really came across as clueless when saying that. And when he hinted Grealish can only play as a winger.

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What a joke, he gets in that England squad and he shines as one of the best. Just shows Southgate wouldn’t know what to do with someone like Jack and his attributes.

Barkely has been playing well for England so I can see why he has got in, but surely there must be space for Jack. 

I genuinely think Southgate has a chip on his shoulder about Villa, I said it before but during the World Cup, he mentioned his time here it was just Palace and Boro. Yes he called up Mings , but he’s the only left footed centre back playing at that level. Heaton was in the squad before joining us. 

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PL player of the month. In the whoscored World XI for the month. Had one of the best performances of any player against Brighton, right in front of Southgate's nose. 3rd in the league in chances created per game. The criteria before was "he should be doing this in the PL". At the time, I read this as a push to get him to leave Villa and join a top 6 club and this is starting to look like it's the case now. If he played for Spurs, there's absolutely no doubt he'd be in the squad right now.

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The thing about Southgate is that he's quite open and honest, so whatever he's saying to the press is probably the truth.

What he's ignoring:

  • Grealish can play as an ACM, but Villa prefer to use McGinn there. I'd rate Grealish as England's second best ACM, just behind Maddison, and well ahead of Mount. And his "wide" role at Villa isn't really a conventional wide role, anyway.
  • Versatility is really important in international tournament squads, where you have limits on how many players you can take to the tournament. Surely a player like Grealish who offers coverage across the midfield is a major asset?
  • Grealish has been showing this kind of form for 3 seasons now. This is no flash in the pan. He will be 25 at the Euros, hitting his peak years.
  • Southgate always says he wants leaders on the pitch. Grealish is club captain. He has a good disciplinary record. He's dealt well with being punched by a pitch invader, with his players having a fight on the pitch, with unfair bookings, injuries, etc. He shows so much mental strength. The young players being picked ahead of him haven't proved any of this yet.
  • Grealish is playing at a team who enjoy less possession and have less attacking threat than Mount, Hudson-Odoi, Barkley, Rashford, Maddison, etc. and still offering a decent return on goals / assists.
  • He keeps asking Grealish to perform consistently, and yet he's picking Mount and Hudson-Odoi on the basis of very limited evidence (Grealish was miles ahead of Mount last season).

I don't think Grealish is missing out because of any personality issues, although I suspect Southgate does prefer players who are more "good little schoolboy" in their attitude. But Grealish is a decent lad and always puts in a massive shift every week. Hardly a manager's nightmare.

It seems more like Southgate doesn't think flexibly enough to work out why Grealish would be a useful addition to the squad. His thinking is too rigid, and Grealish has fallen between the gaps.

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Bottom line is; he should be ahead of Mount, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Hudson-Odoi comfortably. How is he not!?!?

I actually rate Barkley but he should probably be just ahead of him as well.

Edited by Tom13
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9 minutes ago, mikeyp102 said:

What a joke, he gets in that England squad and he shines as one of the best. Just shows Southgate wouldn’t know what to do with someone like Jack and his attributes.

Barkely has been playing well for England so I can see why he has got in, but surely there must be space for Jack. 

I genuinely think Southgate has a chip on his shoulder about Villa, I said it before but during the World Cup, he mentioned his time here it was just Palace and Boro. Yes he called up Mings , but he’s the only left footed centre back playing at that level. Heaton was in the squad before joining us. 

In fairness to him, he has watched several Villa games live, so he's obviously taken an interest in our players. Palace were his youth club, and Boro the first club he managed, so although he played more games for us, he probably sees the other two clubs as a bigger part of his life.

It's not a conspiracy, he's just not a very good manager. His main quality is he manages the press well, and since they routinely destroy England teams around international tournaments, it's actually quite a good quality to have. But tactically he always strikes me as one of those managers who copies the top managers, but isn't 100% sure why he's doing it.

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2 hours ago, sharkyvilla said:

He's played his best football for us in the Prem since moving to the left of a front 3 so I can see why Southgate would compare him to them.  I don't agree with it and it's harsh on Jack but I can only see it as a good thing as he has had a recent injury and is also motivated to put in even more great performances.  Still plenty of time to get in there before the euros. 

He's playing his best football there because we now have a competent attacking right back and it allows us to have conor in the team with him who is probably our biggest threat for goals and assists aside from el ghazi who is more inconsistent. 

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10 minutes ago, KentVillan said:

In fairness to him, he has watched several Villa games live, so he's obviously taken an interest in our players. Palace were his youth club, and Boro the first club he managed, so although he played more games for us, he probably sees the other two clubs as a bigger part of his life.

 

I get that palace were his youth team, but, he was a bang average midfielder there. He came to us and was instantly moved to centre back which got him into the England team. 

But hey, we all know it’s a mistake not having Jack in, irrelevant of the reasons 

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1 hour ago, praisedmambo said:

I mean. I said the same thing. He has a point. It of course made things a lot easier for us as a team—the game proves that. Brighton were much better than us until they got a red.

I still think Southgate's mad for not including him though.

I mean this has absolutely no substance. Stirling gets an easier game every week because he plays with better players than Jack week in week out. Is he starting a handicap system? Or is he just handicapped?

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As long as Grealish's form for Villa doesn't suffer because he's gotten demoralized from being overlooked, I'm not all that bothered.  No chance of getting re-injured trying to impress while on international duty.   He'll get his chance in time if he keeps performing, either because Southgate will have no choice but to include him or because will get the sack because the substitutes from the big 6 that he seems to favor don't get the job done.

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Gareth Southgate is obviously entitled to his opinion....its his job, he has to protect.

It is certainly not the first time in International football that a player plays in one position for his country and another for his club.

I think the reason he gives, is disingenous to Dean Smith and is tantamount to blaming Dean for Jacks Omission....whether he meant that or not.

since the shift by Dean, Jack IMO has been playing even better, so I find the rationale for the omission bizarre.

England right now have a good squad no doubt about that and getting in ,is probably more difficult than ever and to cite the players who are keeping him out, is strange, they are all out and out wingers.....Jack is not a winger, just doing a job for us out wide or arguably Inside forward on the left.

Southgate is quoted as saying he had him in the Under 21's, so he knows him....that for me makes the decision even more strange.....surely he can then see in his recent visits, the versatillity of the player, having banked in his brain his other qualities.

Its unlikely anyway that Jack would play in the team, so a player like him not making the squad to familiarise himself is even more bizarre.

Is Southgate after Deans Job?......seems like a kick in Deans teeth to me.

 

Edited by TRO
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Just now, Tom13 said:

What has Hudson-Odoi done in his career though? He's only ever played 17 league games for Chelsea ffs.

But... but... but.... they were all of Chelsea...

 

and Grealish had the temerity to turn down a move to Spurs and stay at Villa... How bloody dare he!

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Isnt this the same Southgate who wanted to leave Villa to consistently challenge for trophies yet went to Boro. Once a rocket polisher always a rocket polisher

I assume something happened at Under 21 level when Southgate was manager as cant think of anything else

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