Speaking on a recent episode of The Guardian’s Football Weekly podcast, Elis James stated his worry that Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish could be ‘the new Glenn Hoddle’.
Following a season in which Grealish scored eight goals and provided six assists over his 36 Premier League appearances for Villa, averaging a highly impressive WhoScored match rating of 7.23, the £36 million-rated 25-year-old earned his first England cap back in Septemeber, playing 14 minutes in Gareth Southgate’s side’s 0-0 Nations League draw with Denmark.
The Villa captain featured once again for England in the side’s next fixture, a 3-0 win in a friendly against Wales, with the midfielder playing 84 minutes and providing one assist in the match.
However, in their most recent fixture against Belgium, Grealish was left on the bench by Southgate, something which led to James, speaking on a recent episode of The Guardian’s Football Weekly podcast, to state his worry for the 25-year-old’s international career.
He said: “With Grealish, I worry that he is the new Matt Le Tissier, or even the new Glenn Hoddle, and that he’s going to be a fans’ favourite, who England supporters are desperate to get on the pitch, and yet he doesn’t quite fit into this Gareth Southgate 3-4-3.
“I don’t know if his England career, or his international career, is going to be a slight damp squib, bearing in mind the undoubted talent he has at his disposal.
“If he was Welsh, he would be guaranteed of having 150 caps, and that is what I always think when I see those players. Also, Jack Grealish could have plausibly chosen [to represent] Ireland.”
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TIF Thoughts…
From James’ comments, it is clear that the journalist is of the belief that, should Grealish have chosen to represent the Republic of Ireland, for whom he featured until U21 level, before he switched to England, the Villa captain would have no problem getting playing time for his national side.
However, having picked England, there is no going back now, and we will simply have to wait and see whether or not Grealish can stamp down his place in the side over the course of the next few months, and potentially earn a place in Southgate’s squad for next summer’s European Championships.