da winzada777： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
da pinnacle： Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish has been speaking about the positions he can play, as reported by FourFourTwo.
What did he say?
Grealish’s last five appearances in a Villa shirt have all come from the left-wing, with the 24-year-old having played centrally in every other match before that this campaign.
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The move hasn’t disrupted his flow though, with the captain contributing two goals and two assists in that time, which offers an indication into how adaptable he can be.
The move has benefited Conor Hourihane, so it seems as though Grealish may be deployed on the wing for the foreseeable future.
While he made it clear he is willing to play wherever he is needed, Grealish admitted he prefers to play in the centre: “I don’t think the manager will like me saying this, but I prefer playing as a number eight, but I’ll play wherever the manager wants.”
Take note Gareth Southgate
This could be seen as a hint to Gareth Southgate, who has ignored the Villa talisman so far, much to the annoyance of the club’s fans.
It will be difficult for Grealish to break into the side on the left-wing, due to the fact that he will find himself in direct competition with the likes of Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling and Jadon Sancho for a spot out wide.
In addition, he does not fit the same physical profile as the aforementioned names, as it is not likely he would be able to keep up in a race with them.
With this in mind, he is perhaps more likely to be handed an opportunity on the international stage in the central areas, as his attributes could be seen as more suited to a place in Southgate’s midfield three.
In the Premier League this season, the 24-year-old has averaged 1.4 tackles, 2.8 key passes and 1.8 dribbles per game, while completing 85.5% of the passes that he has attempted.
It is statistics such as this that will be sending messages to Southgate, but Grealish may have just sent another one in a more subtle way, revealing that he is at his most comfortable as a number eight.
There’s seemingly no place for a number ten in Southgate’s system and the competition out wide is fierce, but perhaps the Villa star can sneak in to the Euro 2020 squad as a number eight after all.
In other news, a potential England teammate has sent an encouraging message to the Villa captain.