Goal spree has been coming for a long time – Grealish
CAPTAIN Jack Grealish admits Aston Villa “have been unreal” this season, beaming: “We are so far away from struggling.”
Grealish scored his first Premier League goal in four years after caressing home Villa’s third against Norwich at Carrow Road on Saturday.
The 5-1 rout, according the skipper, “has been coming for a long time”, and he revealed how head coach Dean Smith had challenged him to grab a goal before the game.
“The manager told me he wanted me to get a tap-in, more than anything,” Grealish explained, with a wry smile.
“I told him after it wasn’t a tap-in! It was actually a hard finish at the time.
“I’m so happy to get the goal but the only thing I wanted was the win. It has been coming for a long time.
“I sat down with (chief executive) Christian (Purslow) on Friday night and we had a chat. I was saying how sometimes you see things on social media and people talk about us, saying we are struggling. I think we are so far away from struggling. We have been unreal if anything.
“If you look at our games the only one we have struggled with is Spurs, where we should have lost. The rest of the games we have only lost by one goal. To get the win just tops it off.”
Grealish was one of Villa’s many star performers in Norfolk, putting on a dazzling display. The 24-year-old played on the left-hand side again and was given licence to drift in to join up with Wesley.
Prior to the Burnley draw the previous week, the Solihull playmaker lined up alongside John McGinn in the middle but, over the past two games, Smith has drafted in Conor Hourihane in order to allow Grealish to cause devastation at the front end of the pitch.
Grealish said: “I said the other week I hate playing on the left! But this isn’t really on the left. When the manager first pulled me and asked how I felt about playing there, I said, ‘Listen, I will play wherever’.
“I have my certain positions but I am just happy to be on the pitch. I am captain and I want to lead by example and anywhere I play will be fine.
“I liked this position because I am not really playing as a left-winger. (Anwar) El Ghazi is a bit different, he is more of a winger.
“I am in off the
left, kind of
like a No.10. The manager has done that to get me further up the pitch. Without giving too much away, that is what we are trying to do.”
Grealish, meanwhile, has once again been left out of Gareth Southgate’s England squad for this weekend’s internationals – and he fully expected it.
“I know for a fact if I play to the best of my ability then I can get in there,” he added. “This time, truthfully, I did not expect to get in. If I keep on performing to the way I know I can, hopefully this will give me a big lift and hopefully (I will get in) soon.”
Tom Heaton’s withdrawal from the England squad for two European Championship qualifiers was precautionary, Villa have confirmed. He is expected to be fit for Villa’s next game on October 19 at home to Brighton.