IT’S LOOKING DYCEY
Big Sam admits Baggies is toughest rescue act he’s ever had
the last three games have probably been the most difficult.
“I feel, especially in the West Ham and Brighton games and a little bit in the Arsenal game, that the opposition teams were set up to stop me. They have doubled up on me massively and followed every movement I do. But that is what happens to good players all over the world and it is up to good players to do something different.
“In the West Ham game, Vladimir Coufal was following me everywhere and Ryan Fredericks was helping him. I moved on to the other side of the pitch and got an assist. Against Arsenal and Brighton I didn’t do that but it is something I will look to do if it happens in the future. I’ve a good enough football brain to be able to adapt to that.”
Grealish’s form last term made him a close-season transfer target for Manchester United after he inspired Villa to last-day survival. But he signed a five-year £130,000-aweek deal with his boyhood team after United refused to meet Villa’s £80million asking price.
United remain keen, along with neighbours Manchester City, with both clubs potential bidders this summer. Grealish (below) said: “I knew if I played to the best of my ability I could perform at this level.
“It is not arrogance at all. It is just the self-belief that I have always had. I know if I work hard and do everything right on and off the pitch that this is the sort of season I can have.”
Grealish has not been the only player to star for Villa – keeper Emiliano Martinez, midfielder Douglas Luiz, defender Ezri Konsa and striker Ollie Watkins have all excelled too. Now Dean Smith’s men, who are eighth, are determined to finish the campaign on a high. “It’s been a better season than we expected,” conceded Grealish. “In our heads, we’re all looking at finishing as high as possible.
“We have games in hand so we’re definitely looking up the table. We have to do that.
“But we have a few sticky games coming up now which will obviously be tough.”
BURNLEY WEST BROM SAM ALLARDYCE admits West Brom’s plight makes it his toughest survival mission yet.
The Baggies boss has won just one of his 11 league games in charge and the odds are lengthening on him repeating his successful rescue acts at Blackburn, Sunderland, Crystal Palace and Everton.
Allardyce admits he has “failed” to stop alarming defensive shortcomings, but 19th-placed Albion were unlucky not to beat Manchester United last time out.
And Allardyce insists that display, with impressive outings from new loan arrivals Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Mbaye Diagne and Okay Yokuslu, has given his men real hope ahead of today’s trip to Burnley.
Asked if he had ever faced a challenge of his magnitude, Allardyce said: “Not really. We have failed miserably in terms of not letting goals in.
”I’ve failed in that way, people can point the finger at me. It’s harder now because we’ve thrown too many points away.”
But Allardyce is not giving up, and added: “As difficult as it looks, I’m still optimistic we can give it a go. Hopefully I’ll be smiling at the end of the season.
“It is still my hope and desire to be sat here and say, ‘Wow, how did we do that?’.”
Senegal striker Diagne had several good chances to add to his early opener against United.
Allardyce said: “I still haven’t got over it. We should have beaten them.”
But Albion have no more time to feel sorry for themselves ahead of crunch games against fellow strugglers Burnley, Brighton, Newcastle and Palace. “My challenge to the players is that the performance against Manchester United has to happen again at Burnley, or even better at times. “The games left is getting smaller and smaller and we’re nearly getting to must win, which is a sad place to be at this stage. “That’s something we have to take up on Saturday because Burnley are in the bottom eight. We need to be ruthless enough to take the three points.” Allardyce previously built other survival acts from a solid defensive basis. Yet Albion have conceded 55 goals in 24 games – the worst in the division.
“It’s all about the goals we’ve let in,” he added. “Those sloppy goals have to stop.
“Until we start making an impact on that we will find it very difficult to survive or have a chance going into the last few games.”