LOSS LEAVES JACK FLAT ON HIS BACK
...and now Grealish has big call to make about his Villa future
JACK GREALISH rolled back on to the Wembley turf and there he remained. John Stones came over to console him, and one by one his aston Villa team-mates tried to pick him up, but their captain stayed down.
Grealish had ended the carabao cup final with cramp in his calf, barely able to get up off the floor for a few seconds before Lee Mason blew the final whistle and he was down again.
He was spent. Physically, he had given everything even if this wasn’t his finest hour. Emotionally, it was dawning on him that an opportunity to lift a major trophy for his boyhood club had just gone up in smoke.
What a difference from last May when he guzzled champagne here after leading Villa to victory in the championship play- off final against Derby county.
Only when manager Dean Smith helped him up did Grealish join a team huddle before peeling away looking utterly crestfallen.
Moments like this don’t come along very often — not for clubs like Villa anyway — and Grealish knows it. In the 24 years since they last lifted the League cup, Villa have been too Wembley twice in this competition petition and have lost to Manand
Manchester United and now Manchester er city.
It has been a similar story in the Fa cup since they last won it in 1957. Two trips to Wembley, two defeats — to o chelsea and arsenal.
So history tells us it could be a while before we see this grandand old club back on thehe big stage competing for a major domestic trophy again.
Football, like any sport, only gives you so many big opportunities. Unless, of course, you’re city in which case Wembley trips seem to be a permanent fixture in the calendar these days. For the rest though, there are only so many chances in a relatively short playing career to make an indelible mark; only so many trophies and so many finals like this one. and only Grealish could tell us if that thought is occupying his mind this morning after Villa’s valiant but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to break city’s hold on the carabao cup. He is Villa’s captain, talisman and best player. He is fiercely loyal to the club.club But he is also 24, appapproaching the peak years of his carcareer and on ththe cusp of the EnEngland squad. at some stage oover the next few months, he is likely to have to make a big decision about hhis future if MaManchester United and several other top cclubs follow up their ininterest in him. Even moremo so if Villa lose ththeiri bbattlettl tot stay in the Premier League. as Smith acknowledged in the build-up to this game, that will have a bigger bearing on Grealish’s situation than a one-off cup final. Still, we shouldn’t underestimate just how much this occasion meant to him. ‘If I could get my hands on that trophy it would be a dream come true,’ he said beforehand. ‘I know what I want to do in my career: play for aston Villa, play for England and win trophies.’ Villa failed to take their big opportunity at Wembley and now Grealish must decide whether to take his if it comes along this summer.
He certainly has the ability and charisma to make the step up. You only have to look at the difference Bruno Fernandes has made to United over the past month, and Grealish has a similar potential.
Unfortunately for Villa, it wasn’t enough to upset city here. He certainly isn’t the first star player to be eclipsed by Pep Guardiola’s side. Socks around his shins in trademark fashion, Grealish stood over every set-piece and roamed around the pitch trying to lift his team after their bright start faded and city swept into a two-goal lead.
He was involved in the second goal when his lunging tackle on Ilkay Gundogan should have
resulted in a Villa goal- kick. Instead, City won a corner and Rodri headed home. At that stage, you feared Villa could be heading for the 6-0 hammering meted out to Watford by City in last season’s FA Cup final. Full credit to them for fighting back and replying before half-time. Grealish started the move that led to Stones falling on his backside and Mbwana Samatta heading past Claudio Bravo. But for Bravo’s reflexes and the width of a post, Bjorn Engels’ late header would have taken it to extra-time.
So Villa return to the sobering reality of a relegation battle.
Other results this weekend have left them second from bottom of the Premier League table with 11 games to save themselves from dropping straight back into the Championship.
Grealish will fight tooth and nail to keep them up. Then he faces a conflict of a different kind.