Peter Crouch has praised Manchester City star Jack Grealish for his on-field temperament and a quality reminiscent of Paul Gascoigne.
After coming under fire for a mixed first year at City following his £100m transfer for Aston Villa, Grealish has proved the doubters wrong this season.
The 27-year-old attacker has played a key role in City’s campaign and has Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup winner’s medals to show for his efforts.
Though Grealish didn’t rack up the number of goals and assists he would have hoped for – he scored five goals and provided 11 assists in 50 appearances – he contributed in other ways.
Grealish became Pep Guardiola’s go-to option on the left wing thanks to his ability to slow the game down and keep hold of the ball, reducing the risk of City getting hit on the counter-attack.
Grealish’s ability to draw fouls was particularly useful during the latter stages of matches, as was his calm temperament.
Despite being one of the most fouled players in the Premier League, Grealish rarely lost his temper or got himself into trouble.
Former England striker Crouch praised Grealish’s composure on the Peter Crouch Podcast.
“I think players are definitely better at conducting themselves now,” Crouch said.
“I see players now like Grealish for instance. I keep going back to Carvajal [in City’s match] against Real Madrid, he was obviously just trying to wind him [Grealish] up, but he wasn’t allowing him to get into his head.
“I’ve got a lot of admiration for players [who can do that] as a lot of the time I didn’t have that restraint.”
Co-host Chris Stark added: “I think Grealish is amazing, he’s famously good at drawing in a foul. He goes down at the right time, he’s able to get back up again.
“We don’t want him to get injured but he does seem to be able to put himself in positions where players still nibble at him.”
Crouch wrapped up his thoughts by making an unexpected comparison to legendary England midfielder Paul Gascoigne.
“I think it’s just the way he [Grealish] carries the ball. Quite often he carries the ball across players and invites tackles.
“Paul Gascoigne was similar, you hold onto the ball maybe a bit too long but, because he’s good at it and players want to nibble, he draws the fouls.”
