Journalist Daniel Storey has recently been discussing an ‘interesting’ development regarding Jack Grealish.
Storey came on as a guest on the latest episode of the Totally Football Show podcast and the panel gave their opinion about multiple issues involving the Premier League. They also talked about the injury to Jack Grealish and the fact that he was missing in Aston Villa’s loss to Leicester City. Storey talked about the fact that Villa players had taken Grealish out of their Fantasy Premier League teams, leading to leaks about the fact that the England international is injured and Dean Smith is right to be angry about this.
Smith’s men fell to a 2-1 defeat in Grealish’s absence, as Leicester made it 2-0 in the first half because of goals from James Maddison and Harvey Barnes. Bertrand Traore did pull one back for Villa early in the second half but it proved to be only a consolation. It has been reported that Grealish will miss Villa’s upcoming game against Leeds too.
Was Dean Smith right to be angry about the FPL leaks?
Yes
No
Storey talked about the fact that multiple Villa players had transferred out Grealish from their FPL sides and the fact that Smith was ‘furious’ about this.
He said (23:00): “You know, you mentioned Jack Grealish earlier. I thought there’s something really interesting about that, in that Dean Smith was furious that news of the injury had been leaked and Leicester got wind of it. And apparently the rumors suggest that it’s because a number of Aston Villa players and coaching staff took Grealish out of their fantasy teams. And that was spotted.
“And therefore Leicester realised that if they’re all doing that on mass, it’s probably because he’s out which is really interesting. I mean, I can see why Dean Smith’s angry because obviously it’s a nothing thing. And I think there’s two of the first team players who took him out of the team which I just thought was really funny.”
TIF Thoughts on Grealish’s injury…
Grealish has been a regular for Villa this season, playing 22 Premier League games. He has scored six goals, picking up ten assists as well. He has grabbed a very impressive rating of 7.73 so far in the Premier League (as per Whoscored).
Multiple players and staff at Villa had transferred Grealish out of their teams before the Leicester game. Smith had stated that it will found out as to how the leak took place and where it came from.
Considering how everyone got to know about Grealish’s injury through FPL, it is understandable how this issue has been discussed at higher levels. As for Grealish, his absence will come as a blow for Villa, considering his contributions this season.