Tim Sherwood has now defended Manchester City No.10 Jack Grealish following criticism from Graeme Souness.
The 54-year-old spoke on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast.
So, what did Tim Sherwood say about Jack Grealish? Let’s take a look…
What Tim Sherwood said about Jack Grealish
Well, Souness said on talkSPORT after Manchester City’s 3-3 draw against Tottenham that no club would want the England international if he was on the market.
The 70-year-old said: “I don’t see him going to the byline enough and going past someone. He threatens to go down the line and comes inside. You don’t want to become predictable, right now, he’s predictable. You put Jack on the market tomorrow, who’s buying him?”
Now, that felt quite harsh – especially as Grealish actually scored in the clash with Spurs.
In response, Sherwood – who the £100m man made 20 appearances under at Aston Villa – has leapt to his defence.
The man from Borehamwood said: “Well, I think they are wrong. Graeme (Souness) has done this for a number of years now. I would argue that when you try and link the play from back to front, he holds the ball up, Jack. He protects it, and he takes you up the field by getting fouls as well, because he gets his big old calves in between him and the opposition.
“He creates a melee. What I mean by that is there are three or four players around him all the time, and he finds a pass, to Kevin De Bruyne or Gundogan last year. He releases it and it creates space elsewhere on the pitch. He’s not a Doku, he’s not a bottle of pop who will run past people and get you off your seat, but he’s clever. He is a top, top player.”
Grealish is vital to Manchester City
At this point, if people cannot see what the 28-year-old offers to Pep Guardiola, then it’s hardly worth explaining it to them.
The Birmingham-born maestro started all of the biggest games as Manchester City won the treble last season, which was no accident.
Yes, Grealish may have a poor individual record in terms of goal involvements at Manchester City, scoring just 13 goals while providing 17 assists in 106 appearances.
However, it is obvious that he sacrifices personal statistics for the team, which should see him praised rather than criticised.
