On Sunday, Gareth Southgate made some comments that will perhaps have Manchester City star Jack Grealish sweating.
It is only a couple of weeks now until Euro 2024 starts, and some countries have already named their final squads.
England currently have a 33-man training squad, which will be cut down to 26 players after the games with Bosnia and Iceland.
Hoping to make the final cut is Jack Grealish, but it may be that he has some work to do in these upcoming friendlies. When asked on Sunday if his place was in danger, Southgate ominously said (via Guardian): “I don’t think we’re defining that just yet. I think we know where we’re likely to be.”
So Grealish’s place may not be assured – but here’s why he undoubtedly has to get a seat on that plane…
Man City star Grealish is unique and provides control
No one associated with Manchester City really is claiming that Grealish has had an amazing season and deserves to definitely be in England’s final squad.
There is an acceptance that 2023/24 was a tough season for Grealish, who was limited to just 36 appearances across all competitions due to injuries.
But Southgate surely cannot be leaving out a man who is simply a master at providing control in wide areas.
While there is criticism of Grealish in terms of his goals and assists output, that hasn’t really been his game for a while now. These days, Grealish offers great protection of the ball, and he retains it better than most players in the Premier League. And of course, he is excellent at earning fouls for his team.
Ultimately, him getting fouled so much leads to set-pieces, which are very important and represent good opportunities to score. And England obviously have good aerial threats in the likes of Harry Kane, Harry Maguire, John Stones, Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham to take advantage of these set-pieces.
Also, if England are defending a lead in the tournament, having Grealish come on as a substitute in some instances could be very handy, as he can keep the ball in the right territory.
It hasn’t been the best of seasons for Grealish, but everyone saw how good he was during City’s Treble-winning 2022/23 season, when he made 40 appearances across all competitions with Pep Guardiola – who has hailed him as ‘unique’ – playing him in all the big games.
The squad love him
And then of course there is Jack Grealish the person to consider.
Southgate admitted himself on Sunday that £300,000-a-week star Grealish is ‘a player we enjoy working with and a character we enjoy having within the group’. It is common knowledge he is extremely popular with other players, both at City and on international duty.
This actually does count for a lot. If you are going to have success at a major tournament, everything has to be right, even the side of things away from the pitch. The dynamics have to be spot on behind the scenes.
Grealish is great for the dressing room, and he’s also clearly in a determined mood right now having cut short his holiday to join up with the England squad, despite being given time off after the FA Cup final along with the other City players.