The RJW63 Official Jack Grealish Appreciation Thread

[Pez1974]

3 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

No idea how this guy even got the england job. 

Allardyce **** up whilst drinking a pint of wine.

Gareth was in the right place, at the right time. And wouldn't embarrass the FA in a way they couldn't handle. Front page headlines are bad; back page headlines are short lived.

[Pez1974]

4 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

What does Gareth want him to do then?

Hug the touchline and whip in crosses?

He isn't a f***ing winger. Is Gareth really this thick?

Yes.

Yes he is.

[markc]

2 hours ago, Nigel said:

This was the performance fans had been waiting for, ever since Grealish declared for England five years ago. It was a reminder of what a special player he is, but if you have watched him at all for Aston Villa recently then you would know that already. But it was also a reminder of how, in an international game that is more often flatter, slower and less entertaining than the Premier League, a player like Grealish can make all the difference. It made you wonder how on earth England had thought they could do without him for so long.

This is something I think we have all been annoyed about, how as it taken 5 years for him to get in the england set up. Seems like a lot more are wondering that now

   https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/international/jack-grealish-england-vs-wales-aston-villa-highlights-mason-mount-southgate-b903420.html

 

It was a short, three-sentence long statement thumbed into the iOS Notes app, which was very much the style among professional footballers at the time. “I have decided to give my allegiance to England,” a 20-year-old Jack Grealish wrote. “It was not an easy decision as Ireland has a special place with me through my family. But I have decided to represent the country of my birth.”

That was five years ago. Five years, one week and five days ago, to be precise. The contemporary reports of Grealish’s decision described it as “a real lift to Roy Hodgson as he plans for Euro 2016”. He could, it was said, “be available to play in the qualifiers with Estonia and Lithuania if he is registered in time”. Reader, he did not play against Estonia and Lithuania, nor under Hodgson at Euro 2016.

Instead, he had to wait five years, one week and four days to start his first senior international match and he played as though eager to make up for lost time. Grealish was England’s stand-out performer in an otherwise low-key 3-0 international friendly win over Wales at Wembley - and by some distance.

It was not just his assist for England’s opening goal on the night, a cross exquisitely arced around the body of his marker Ethan Ampadu and then perfectly dropped into the centre of the six-yard box for debutant Dominic Calvert-Lewin to score. It was the way he loitered with intent out of possession and then cut through the opposition with it, raising his opponents’ blood pressure, drawing his usual fouls.

Whether by his own design or by instruction, Grealish flitted about the Wembley pitch, switching positions, turning up in pockets of space on either flank, adding an element of chaos to a predictably stale attack. That is what the one-time Republic of Ireland Under-21 international offers to England, what his “country of birth” - as this Solihull lad put it five years ago - has traditionally missed.

Why, then, did it take an injury to Marcus Rashford during the September camp for Grealish to finally be given a chance?

That might be because, even after this stand-out performance against Wales, Gareth Southgate was left wanting more. It’s not that the England manager wasn’t impressed by Grealish’s display or uncomplimentary in his post-match comments. Southgate was “very pleased” with what he had seen from a player who he has previously worked closely with while in charge of England’s Under-21s, winning the Toulon Tournament together in 2016.

Still, some of his praise for Grealish’s display came in the form of advice. “The area he got into for the goal he created is where he should aim to be more and more regularly,” Southgate said. “You want a player with his ability around that final third as much as you can. He’s good at receiving deep but I keep stressing to him that they’re the areas of the game where he can make a difference and he did that tonight.”

In the very same answer, Southgate went on to hail Mason Mount, introduced as a second-half substitute and a player who has kept Grealish out of the squad in the past. “Mount coming on in that position or similar position, I thought had an excellent impact on the game,” the England manager added. “He presses so well, he moves the ball so quickly. He had a real impact in setting up two or three chances, an immediate impact on the game.”

There has always been a sense that Southgate places more trust in other players that share Grealish’s position. A couple of months before Aston Villa’s return to the Premier League, Southgate suggested that Grealish would need to play well in the top flight before he could be considered for England. Mount was on loan at Derby County at the time and, though yet to make his international debut, had received his first call-up the previous October.

But Grealish is different. Special, you might say. There is an image from Wembley last night which shows him surrounded by four Wales players - Will Vaulks, Dylan Levitt, Neco Williams and Chris Gunter. Think of that famous image of Diego Maradona facing down a group of Belgian defenders at the 1982 World Cup, only with two fewer bodies around him. Wales’ kit - red with a gold trim - isn’t even too dissimilar from Belgium’s.

The truth about that photo of Maradona is that he was not being marked by six Belgian defenders. In fact, he had just received the ball from a short free-kick. The defenders were part of the wall, hence why they are all bunched up together. Maradona didn’t dribble through them all on the way to scoring a great individual goal, either. He attempted a pass and did not complete it.

The photograph of Grealish is similarly misleading. Seconds after that shot was captured, he hung onto the ball a little too long, ran down a blind alley, exchanged a gratuitous one-two with Bukayo Saka on the left wing and then passed the ball backwards into his own half. It was his final action of the night. A minute or so later, he was substituted. But what happened after the photograph was taken is not the point.

The point is that it is rare to find a player with that aura, that mystique, one who is such a captivating presence on the ball that if you see a still image of them crowded out by a gang of defenders, you simply assume that they must’ve beaten them. England have waited decades to have a talent like that in their ranks. Grealish has waited five years for the opportunity to prove he is that player. He is, finally, getting his chance.

 

 

 

Edited October 9, 2020 by markc

[rubberman]

From those interviews you can see that Southgate just doesn't understand what Jack does or how he plays.  He can't comprehend the skills and so goes back to talking about what he does understand which is Mount's running and pressing.  When asked about Jack his brow furrows and you can see him really trying to explain but failing and ending up with the 'has to get into those areas more' comment. Well Gareth, it's your job to set the team up to allow that, mate.

Just like LeTissier and Hoddle in the past - journeymen managers can't understand how they can play the way they do so can't work out how to use them properly.

[Follyfoot]

14 minutes ago, tomav84 said:

thing is if this was bellingham, i'd be genuinely pleased for the kid. it's nice to see brummie lads hitting the big time and setting the world stage alight. god knows there haven't exactly been many over the last few years. it puts the city on the map, and might get that extra 10% out of the kids in the academies, wanting to be the next Jack or Jude. so it's really bizarre that a fanbase that claims to be 'propa brummies' loathes someone that's come from the same neck of the woods as them so much.

Do not think for one minute they do not know how good he is,  he scares them to death as the more successful he becomes as one of our own the more the spotlight gets turned onto him and his first love, us as a team. They see the shadow that has been there for 100 odd years that they lurk in becoming longer and longer the more successful he becomes. Jack is their antichrist 

[Okonokos]

3 minutes ago, Follyfoot said:

Do not think for one minute they do not know how good he is,  he scares them to death as the more successful he becomes as one of our own the more the spotlight gets turned onto him and his first love, us as a team. They see the shadow that has been there for 100 odd years that they lurk in becoming longer and longer the more successful he becomes. Jack is their antichrist 

My dad is a blues fan and he consistently says that Grealish is one of the best players he's ever seen. They know.

[Delphinho123]

10 hours ago, KAZZAM said:

Thats how i want England to play but with Henderson and Rice sitting behind that four.

This is pretty much how everybody wants England to play. But will that muppet drop Mount or Sancho? And will he change the system? No chance.

Honestly, I know it's been said enough times already but France aside, we have enough talent to win the next Euro's but this manager hasn't got a clue. It's as bad now as it was under McLaren. Wrong system, wrong players, wrong tactics. 
Southgate is, and always will be, the biggest myth in Football. He's a shockingly bad manager who is dining out on getting to a World Cup Semi-Final where we beat Tunisia, Panama, Sweden and Colmobia (just) along the way. He came up against two decent teams in that tournament and lost all 3 games - Belgium (twice) and Croatia.

Southgate is a YES man. A steady pair of hands. A media darling. A nice, well spoken bloke. A good player back in the day. 

A football manager he is not. 

[Follyfoot]

4 minutes ago, Okonokos said:

My dad is a blues fan and he consistently says that Grealish is one of the best players he's ever seen. They know.

My deepest sympathies 

[mikeyp102]

1 hour ago, Rightdm00 said:

Multiple quotes and articles are out there from this past summer.  If ManU had come in with a bid in the £60-80 million range, Jack was off. They never did, because of their infatuation with Sancho.  Now Ole won't be at the wheel much longer. 

All credit to Jack. He didn't kick up a fuss, leak quotes through his agent, or try to undermine Villa in anyway. He let the market play out.  Once he saw that the "bigger" clubs didn't value him properly he got himself a fat pay raise from Villa and is now going to tear the Prem a new one. 

Those quotes firstly never came from the club and were just media talk. Secondly, most were out prior to us staying up. We’ve seen how ambitious the board are, they wouldn’t have sold our best player under value.

[Tommo_b]

Gareth is already planting the excuses as he doesn’t want to take Grealish to the euro’s, the euro squad is pretty much already been decided, but he is going to struggle to vindicate that decision next summer and that’s why he is starting to squirm. 
 

There will be a huge backlash if Grealish isn’t in that Euro squad and not just from us Villa fans anymore. 

[Okonokos]

1 minute ago, Follyfoot said:

My deepest sympathies 

Thanks. It can be hard at times.

[gwi1890]

6 minutes ago, Okonokos said:

My dad is a blues fan and he consistently says that Grealish is one of the best players he's ever seen. They know.

Well you really took the “my old man” song/chant  to heart didn’t you

[tomav84]

1 hour ago, Rightdm00 said:

Multiple quotes and articles are out there from this past summer.  If ManU had come in with a bid in the £60-80 million range, Jack was off. They never did, because of their infatuation with Sancho.  Now Ole won't be at the wheel much longer. 

All credit to Jack. He didn't kick up a fuss, leak quotes through his agent, or try to undermine Villa in anyway. He let the market play out.  Once he saw that the "bigger" clubs didn't value him properly he got himself a fat pay raise from Villa and is now going to tear the Prem a new one. 

if we end up in the champions league he'll be staying i reckon. i hope we move forward quick enough to match his ambitions. now with this italian media article, europe is taking note and it reminds me of when skiing in france back in 2011/2012 ish and all the talk from french barmen etc was about bale when he started to really show his qualities, after that performance vs inter. and we know how that story ended.

i can see him being the next bale/becks/owen and ending up at real for a silly fee if we don't continue to move forward. the likes of utd and spurs are no longer good enough for him. they've had their chance and they mugged him/us off.

if he doesn't, and he leads us to glories, we're in statue outside the ground territory i reckon

Edited October 9, 2020 by tomav84

[GENTLEMAN]

20 minutes ago, tomav84 said:

if we end up in the champions league he'll be staying i reckon. i hope we move forward quick enough to match his ambitions. now with this italian media article, europe is taking note and it reminds me of when skiing in france back in 2011/2012 ish and all the talk from french barmen etc was about bale when he started to really show his qualities, after that performance vs inter. and we know how that story ended.

i can see him being the next bale/becks/owen and ending up at real for a silly fee if we don't continue to move forward. the likes of utd and spurs are no longer good enough for him. they've had their chance and they mugged him/us off.

if he doesn't, and he leads us to glories, we're in statue outside the ground territory i reckon

I'm properly eulogising here but I think there is enough truth in it. 

Yes, I agree with you and I was saying this to a united mate the other day. Giving me the squad player bull. With one 'mediocre' (for Jack) performance for England and you are already seeing rival fan-bases starting to turn. Jack is close to that elite level club now. He is too good for United and Spurs right now, they are not challenging for anything anytime soon or will not stump up the necessary. When he shines at the international level, and if Villa were to get into Europe then Real, Barca, Jueve or Bayern would come looking. I got laughed at by a lot of my mates, for suggesting the closest I've seen to Jack as a player is George Best (never seen him live), now you're starting to see them lot turn. He's a special talent, like once in a generation national talent. I cannot see anyone in the English game that does what he does today. So frustrating, England should be building the team around him, facilitating him and England might actually win something.

Edited October 9, 2020 by GENTLEMAN

[zab6359]

1 hour ago, The_Steve said:

Good to see others pointing out this chud’s obsession with Mount 

 

 

What an effing tool this man is! 

[Loxstock92]

Reporter: what did you think of Gareth’s tactics in tonight’s game.

 

JG: well first I’d like to say what a brilliant manager Dean smith is.

 

saw on Twitter so can’t take credit.

Edited October 9, 2020 by Loxstock92
Inclusion of credit.

[Brumerican]

3 minutes ago, GENTLEMAN said:

With one 'mediocre' (for Jack) performance for England and you are already seeing rival fan-bases starting to turn. 

By Jack's standards I thought he was crap to be honest. He looked jittery and gave the ball away more in that game than he did in the entirety of the Championship years.

And he was still the best player on the pitch .

England will never do anything under Southgate.

Edited October 9, 2020 by Brumerican

[omariqy]

That was Grealish 6/10 last night. Still the best player. 

[MotoMkali]

12 hours ago, villa4europe said:

The comment about his work on the ball suggests that Southgate didn't like his work off it

For most of the game Southgate had the front 3 pressing 1 man at a time which grealish didn't seem interested in because he's not a complete **** idiot 

He was part of a system that did that last year and let in the most goals in the prem. 

[Brumerican]

This guy was never international standard but he got called up ?