Jack Grealish: England finally appreciating midfielder’s unique talents as much as the Republic of Ireland did

Southgate finally seems convinced by Grealish, who is establishing himself as one of the best in the country

Jack Grealish is one of the best players in the Premier League.  

That may have been a contentious statement this time last year, and the new season might only be eight games old, but Grealish is currently playing at a level that leaves little room for debate.

Only Harry Kane has more assists to his name and has created better quality chances for his team-mates. Only Mohamed Salah has taken more touches in the penalty area. Only Salah and Kevin De Bruyne have played more key passes. Only Adama Traoré and Alain Saint-Maximin have dribbled past more players but no player has carried the ball further upfield, and of course, as we have all come to expect by now, no player has drawn more fouls.

If you still need to be convinced, consider that Aston Villa have a game in hand over the vast majority of the top flight. If they had already played that game, Grealish could be leading in all of those categories.

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Will he sustain this level of performance between now and the European Championship? Whether he does or not, you will struggle to find a creative attacking player that has made a better start to the new season in any of Europe’s top five leagues.

This great leap forward has not gone unnoticed at St George’s Park, as you could tell from Gareth Southgate’s glowing appraisal of Grealish’s recent displays yesterday.

“He’s playing extremely well,” the England manager said. “I talked a lot to Jack about end product. Last 22 games of last season, he had one goal. He’s four goals in seven Premier League games, five in all competitions this year. His assists are high.  

“The numbers that he’s hitting now - the likes of Raheem [Sterling], Marcus [Rashford], 20 goals plus - Jack is hitting those figures this season and that’s a great step forward in terms of, we know his all-round game’s always been good. To hit those numbers when you’re an attacking player, really important.  

“He’s doing that well and his work without the ball is really improving as well,” Southgate added. “His pressing, his discipline in his defending. I couldn’t be happier with what he’s doing. It’s a really good moment for him. And for sure, he’s going to play a big part for us this week.”

This represented quite a shift in tone from the October internationals, when Southgate was picked apart for both his reluctance to play Grealish and his constructive criticism of the player in post-match interviews.  

This reaction to a manager gently suggesting where one of his players might improve was mildly hysterical. Southgate's comments were debatable but fair. Attempts to manufacture some sort of rivalry between Grealish and ‘teacher’s pet’ Mason Mount were ridiculous and laughed off by the Chelsea player this week.

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Grealish switched allegiance from the Republic of Ireland to England in 2015 (Bongarts/Getty)

Even so, that faint praise spoke to the underlying concerns Southgate hinted at yesterday - the lack of end product, the reluctance to do defensive work, the fierce competition for places in his position.

A month later, those concerns are subsiding on the back of Grealish’s club displays. Southgate and England, it seems, have finally made their mind up on a supremely talented player and ironically, Grealish’s international career may finally begin in earnest against a nation who - in another life - he would have won 50 caps for by now.

The Republic of Ireland did not need to make their mind up on Grealish. Far from it. In fact, what made his decision over his international allegiance so agonising was how much he enjoyed representing the nation of his three grandparents at youth level.

A young Grealish was always made to feel that his talent would be appreciated, whether that meant fast-tracking him up to Noel King’s Under-21s when he was still just 17-years-old, building their play around him in the youth set-up or even naming him their young player of the year while he was on a hiatus from international football and attempting to make up his mind.

Despite still very much being a lad from Solihull, that was ultimately why Grealish spent so long deliberating his international future. He was genuinely torn between the two nations for a time - one which was his home, one which had done everything to support his development.  

When he eventually made his decision, some on the outside accused Grealish of taking the most lucrative option, and while representing England carries greater commercial potential for any player, this was never at the forefront of his mind.  

As he told reporters after his man-of-the-match performance against Wales last month, in one of those rare post-match interviews where a player is so pleased with his performance that the guard comes down and he speaks openly and sincerely: “As I got older I realised I am English, my family is English and in the future that’s what I want to do.  

“I want to play for England and I’m just so grateful and thankful to the manager for making it happen. I want to be in the squad now for the next however long - five, six years - and I want to have a long England career and get many caps.”

All that is very much possible, even if it is a shame that the first of those caps are only coming at the age of 25. At least England finally appear ready to appreciate the talent they have available to them, with Grealish hopeful of a start at Wembley tonight. He will face a side who would have welcomed his unique gifts with open arms.

All statistics courtesy of FBRef with data from StatsBomb.

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