It may have taken the withdrawal of Marcus Rashford and Harry Winks from the England squad, but the Brummy star is finally in Gareth Southgate’s squad.
Odd
Three Lions’ manager Gareth Southgate had to deal with the Harry Maguire affair and the intense criticism that he received due to his decision to leave out the Aston Villa star, who was the most fouled player in the Premier League last season.
The hard work starts now, though, if Jack Grealish doesn’t want to be absorbed into the anonymous mass of forwards that tends to buzz around the fringes of the England side.
Southgate has said he sees the Villa skipper as an attacker, rather than a midfielder, so he does run the risk of going down as one of those elite players who didn’t pick up the international recognition they should have.
Ideal
Ideally Grealish would be played as a midfielder. Players like him don’t come around regularly, and to leave the most creative English player out of the national squad speaks of a massive under-appreciation of what this man does.
There’s still a risk that he won’t be picked for the games against Iceland and Denmark, that he won’t get to show Southgate what he can do on the field and that he’ll disappear back to Aston Villa to wait on the next injury to open up a chance for him.
Chance
England haven’t exactly blown away their opponents and watching them can often be more of a slog than a joy. Grealish is someone who can spark joy, who can bring some fight and tenacity and yes, creativity, to the midfield.
He’s asked for a chance to show what he’s made of, but if the manager and the player don’t see eye to eye then that one chance may not be enough.