Jack Grealish: Does the Aston Villa man hold the key for Southgate’s England?
England’s 0–1 win away to Iceland left many supporters questioning the side’s ability to penetrate a defensive-focused opposition, and with good reason.
Iceland’s heroic result in Nice four years ago was again the blueprint for the men in blue, however the reality of their performance was more similar to a defence vs attack exercise. Offensively blunt, ex-Aston Villa man Bikir Bjarnason’s tired penalty miss was their only shot taken from within the box, with no shots attempted from open-play. The Icelandic focus was to not concede; a solid 4–4–2 with a low block was the aim, and was executed in a fashion that indeed frustrated Southgate’s England.
England managed just four shots on target, and with a front three of Sterling-Kane-Sancho, England fans will be demanding much more. England looked most dangerous on the left-hand side, with Raheem Sterling (Number 7) and Phil Foden (Number 11) attempting to penetrate Iceland’s right flank. Sterling attempted 15 dribbles in the 90 minutes, over half of Englands total of 28. Foden’s debut outlined Southgate’s intention to include a progressive ball carrier from central midfield, and so paired him with a deep-lying playmaker; James Ward-Prowse (Number 8). Whilst the pair are gaining their footing in international football, in this particular match, they perhaps lacked the cutting edge. Ward-Prowse lost possession for the visitors more than any other player on the pitch, with his most important involvement being his role in scuffing up the penalty spot prior to Bjarnason’s crucial miss.
In the 68th minute, with the score still tied at 0–0, Southgate felt he had to change something. Despite “Get Grealish (on)” trending on twitter, Southgate opted for the more direct threat of 22 Premier League Goal Danny Ings, however just two minutes later, Kyle Walker was given an early bath, and England were down to 10 men.
So what would Villa’s captain Jack Grealish offer to this England side?
Birmingham-born Grealish has led his Aston Villa side to Premier League survival in the season just gone. Leading both the goals and assists metrics for his side, he has proven his attacking output this season. The 2019/20 season evidenced Grealish’s greatest attributes, his ability to carry and distribute the ball.
Jack was the Premier League’s most fouled player by some distance, being fouled 4.6 times per game (Zaha was second at 3.2 times/game). Whilst this statistic has notably attracted criticism by Roy Keane amongst others, his ability to draw fouls provides potential to fuel England’s strongest offensive asset; set-pieces.
Looking back to England’s greatest achievement of the last 30 years; the run to the 2018 World Cup Semi-Finals, set-pieces were the key. Of the 12 goals scored by The Three Lions at the tournament, 75% of these (9) were scored from set-pieces, breaking Portugal’s record held since 1966. In comparison to the rest of the squad, Grealish’s 4.6 fouls won per game is over three times greater than the next member; Harry Kane at 1.5 fouls won per game.
Now we move to his ability to distribute the ball. In terms of key passes, two names in the Premier League stand out from the season just gone; Kevin De Bruyne and Trent Alexander-Arnold, and for good reason. The two leaders for assists in the league, these two players have given many fans a reason to celebrate the assist just as much as the goal. The metrics outline this further, with De Bruyne averaging 3.9 key passes per game, and Trent with 2.3 key passes per game. In comparison, Grealish holds his own. With 2.5 key passes per game, he provides an option for Southgate’s side who can create through both ball carries and key passes. Some fans also wonder whether Grealish’s assist tally of 6 would be much closer to Trent’s 13 if he were to make the heavily-rumoured move to a top-six club.
Whilst Southgate has been outspoken in regard to his positional perspective of Grealish; many critics have pointed out the lack of fluidity to the former Middlesbrough boss’ approach, which has been evidenced by his team’s performances on the pitch. Southgate’s insistence upon any potential appearance of the Villa captain coming from the left-wing currently leaves Grealish with a Raheem-Sterling-shaped mountain to climb.
These two key aspects of Grealish’s game provide clear evidence for his case of starting in the centre of midfield when facing a supposed lesser side. With the license to roam from this central role, and the safety blanket of Declan Rice behind him, Southgate would have to make a strong case if he were to leave Grealish out, the next time England need to break down a stubborn defence.
Joe Wills
