Steve McClaren has said ‘it’s about time’ Jack Grealish was named in the England squad, insisting he can be the missing link in Gareth Southgate’s team.
But the former Three Lions boss has warned the Aston Villa captain his positional discipline needs to spot on to enjoy a successful career in international football.
Grealish finally received his first call-up to the England senior team this week on the back of his brilliant campaign for the Villa.
Fans and pundits alike were outraged when he was left out of Southgate’s initial 25-man squad for upcoming Nations League games against Iceland and Denmark, but earned a spot in the team when Marcus Rashford and Harry Winks pulled out.
And McClaren praised the midfielder, insisting he deserves his place having proven his quality and maturity in captaining Villa to Premier League survival.
A dream come true to receive my first senior call up for @England #ThreeLions
— Jack Grealish (@JackGrealish) August 31, 2020
“I think it’s about time,” McClaren told the talkSPORT Breakfast show.
“The season in the Premier League, Aston Villa’s survival and Aston Villa getting into the Premier League in the first place was all instigated by Jack Grealish, unbelievably so.
“All of a sudden he matured and became the player on the field we know he can be, and he became a leader, probably not vocally but certainly in the way he played.
“He tried to do a lot of jobs for the team, he was too deep at times, he came of age last season and the season before, I thought.
“The thing England need is creativity in midfield. Top teams always have a front-three, but top, top teams always have a front-four. If you’re going to win things you have a front-four, normally two wingers, a number nine and a number ten.
“At the present moment England don’t have a true number ten, they don’t have creativity in that midfield.
“Yes they have Winks and Henderson, ball carriers, but they don’t have the likes of Silva, De Bruyne, players like that. Mount and Foden, yes but they’re both developing. Jack Grealish is more mature.
“But the problem with Jack is discipline, not just on the ball but off the ball as well. He’s working harder for the team, and he showed that last season, but Jack wants the ball all the time.
“He’s one of those players who’ll get it off the goalkeeper, dribble past ten players and score a goal, that’s Jack. He’s got to be disciplined into a position, that’s what has held him back before, I think.
“He needs to have that discipline to play higher up the field and be creative to supply the front-three, because we have unbelievable talent in that front three area, but we need somebody to feed them regularly.”
No comments:
Post a Comment