Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Jack shines as diamond in the pack
HE is not the saviour of English football because English football hardly needed saving. He is not the Messiah but no longer is he a naughty boy.
Ahead of the November trilogy, Jack Grealish was still pretty much on international trial. His imperious club form meant the bandwagon was barrelling along but Gareth Southgate was not fully on board.
Three exhibition performances later and the manager is not just on board, he is at the wheel.
In the space of a week, Southgate has seen the Grealish light and it is hard to envisage the latest convert sending out a team for a competitive game that does not include Aston Villa’s talisman.
Watching Grealish against the Republic of Ireland, Belgium and Iceland, one mystifying thought recurs. With respect to the great institution Grealish loves and with our old pal Captain Hindsight for company, why did one of football’s club superpowers not make a serious attempt to prise him away from Villa Park?
The question some asked when he was linked with Manchester United is where would he play? The answer now would be anywhere he wants.
After declaring himself for England, it took Grealish five years to make the senior squad. After five minutes, he is the best player in it.
Grealish breezed through this contest but breezed through it with a purpose.
His swagger is not for effect, what might look like showboating always has an end product. Without the likes of Marcus Rashford and Rah Raheem Sterling, there was a shortage of pace b but Grealish is no slouch. A ball at his feet fe does not shorten his stride. When he does smuggle himself into threa threatening positions, he invaria invariably picks the right pass, as he di did when presenting Bukayo Sak Saka with an opportunity.
And, of course, no one draws a foul quite like Grealish. Don’t bother asking who won the freekick from which Phil Foden crossed for Declan Rice to open the scoring.
Rice, fellow scorer M Mason Mount, Foden and G Grealish looked a quartet th that can help guarantee a spa sparking England future. Bu But Jack is the real diamond. As Sou Southgate has finally found out.