Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Jack can play like Gazza.. he must be capped
JACK GREALISH simply has to play for England now, according to the man who gave him his first Premier League start.
With the Euros on the horizon, the clamour for Gareth Southgate to finally pick Grealish is growing after Aston Villa’s captain inspired his side to reach the EFL Cup final.
And Tim Sherwood – who started Grealish for the first time in April 2015 – claims the Three Lions boss cannot afford to ignore a mercurial midfielder in the mould of England legend Paul Gascoigne.
“He is a ridiculously special player,” said ex-villans boss Sherwood. “Villa would pretty much be bottom of the league without Jack Grealish. Gazza was a dribbler and had audacity, which Jack has.
Jack isn’t scared and believes in his ability. He needs to be in the England squad now.
“The problem he has is there is a load of players already in the system, like Dele Alli, Mason Mount and James Maddison.
“But no one in the last minute of the game can pick up the ball, take the opposition apart, and create a goal for your team. Jack can do that.”
Grealish outshone Maddison to tee-up Matt Targett to open the scoring in the semi-final second leg against Leicester with a sublime pass, before substitute Trezeguet’s injury-time winner clinched a 3-2 aggregate win.
“The ball is his friend and his awareness of players around him is second to none,” said Sherwood. “He has a Mensa football brain.
“His football IQ is huge and as big as I have ever seen. It took me 10 minutes to realise he was special.
“The bigger games make him even better too. Jack is different to anyone else and is a game changer. The nearest thing to him would be Riyad Mahrez, who beats people coming in off the right side. Jack comes in off the left, but also goes down the middle.
“He has the b ***** ks to pick the ball up anywhere, and strength and awareness to create a melee, and then release it into the space.
“But he is not just a maverick, his workload is increasing and he is running around and getting back. His fitness is second to none – look at the goals he has contributed late on when he takes it to the heart of defences.” A sign of his talent is that Grealish (above) is the most fouled player in the Premier League to go with his seven goals and five assists.
Sherwood, who bossed Villa for eight months in 2015, believes the 24-yearold has matured since being given the captain’s armband last year. “He has grown up,” he added. “Giving him the armband is massive.”