England snub ultimate insult toVilla’s Grealish

ABSOLUTELY astounded, stunned and in a complete daze at Jack Grealish’s latest – and laughable – England snub by Gareth Southgate.

The Three Lions’ chief has omitted Villa’s – and one of the Premier League’s – leading performers yet again. But why, Gareth? It feels totally personal, too.

The Villa skipper topped the shop with his stats and numbers, out-performed almost everyone and rubbed shoulders with one of the best players in world football, Kevin De Bruyne, for chances created last season – and that was with struggling Villa, don’t forget.

This latest setback must be a real kick in the teeth for the 24-year-old, who performed wonders in what was his first full campaign in the top flight.

Okay, Grealish’s form might have waned a little throughout the Restart but he was still right up there and proved just how much of a big-game player he is by saving Villa’s skin on the final day of the season.

I’m going to take aim at Southgate here, who said last November: “Jack’s a very good player, I worked with him in the under-21s so I know all about him. He’s very close, he’s just got to keep playing the way he is.”

This also from the man who, in March 2019, said Grealish wouldn’t be picked because he was playing Championship football.

“I’m not going to say we won’t pick a player from the Championship, because that could happen, but it’s far more difficult to assess his level,” said Southgate, prior to an unplayable Grealish helping Villa surge to promotion.

“You see certain parts of the game but not others. Not the physicality at times, nor the tactical discipline. That’s another level in the Premier League: the speed, the pace.

“So, he’s a player we know all about, he’s a player we track. But that last bit of evidence that could give you confidence to pick him at the moment, we won’t see.”

You’ve just picked Kalvin Phillips, Gareth, a player who hasn’t played a single minute of Premier League football who plays in exactly the same vein as Declan Rice and Harry Winks!

Heck, you’ve named James WardProwse and Eric Dier, too, so why have you gone with Phillips – a player who’s yet to prove himself in the big league, which is a credential you keep harping on about?

Phil Foden, an unbelievable player, has started 12 times in Premier League and Champions League, yet Grealish’s stats (three more PL goals and four more assists) overshadow the Manchester City ace’s. But Foden earns the right for his first cap over Grealish? Do me a favour!

Former Villa striker Darren Bent reacted by asking: “(I am) not sure what else Jack Grealish has to do to at least get a call-up? Does it come down to trust?”

And England legend Ian Wright added Grealish should “at the very least” be included in the squad.

Grealish has carried the brutallyheavy weight of expectations on his boyhood club amid excruciating pressures for the past two seasons. You’ve had Dier looking slow and turning like a bus for Tottenham, Phillips bossing it at Barnsley and Foden getting scant opportunity to mix it with the best players in the world while being pampered by Pep Guardiola and City’s megastars.

I just don’t know where Southgate’s head is at and am at a total loss to explain his decision.

Like Grealish, Kyle Walker flouted lockdown rules, so it surely can’t be an attitude thing?

Grealish ‘liked’ an ironic tweet put out surrounding Phillips’ inclusion, which clearly suggests the coldshoulder treatment has hurt him. Perhaps he should have stayed with the Republic of Ireland? He has been badly mistreated by England.

Will this latest snub convince him to force a move to a so-called big club? I think it will do the opposite – Grealish loves a challenge and loves to prove people wrong. He’ll do so again and will force his way into the England squad while starring for Aston Villa.

As for Southgate, lose or look bad against Iceland and Denmark and the Grealish uproar will come back even stronger. What a joke!