Everton star Jack Grealish has had a superb revival at the Hill Dickinson Stadium in his loan spell for the Toffees, but a World Cup spot remains in the balance for the winger.
Everton managed to land a real coup when Jack Grealish joined them on loan from Manchester City at the start of August, having once been England’s most expensive footballer after a £100million move from Aston Villa.
Two goals and four assists for the wide man has seen him become one of the leading wingers in the Premier League in most departments, and it has naturally raised a question of whether England should use David Moyes’ experienced star in the summer after he won the Premier League Player of the Month for August.
And former Premier League player and manager Tim Sherwood believes that he could be used to great effect at the World Cup due to his ability to keep the ball in the scorching heat.
Everton winger Jack Grealish.
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Tim Sherwood says Jack Grealish could help England in the unbearable summer heat in America
Speaking via the ‘No Tippy Tappy Football’ podcast, Sherwood stated that the heat in America will tire teams out.
And with England needing to keep the ball, Grealish would be the perfect player for that situation, according to the one-time Premier League winner.
Sherwood said: “The difference is that it’s 100 degrees over there. You know, 3 o’clock kickoff time.
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An overview of how many times Jack Grealish has been fouled this season.
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“There’s not many people talking about that.” Allardyce claimed.
And Sherwood added: “They need to keep the ball. His biggest attribute, what he has, is not goals, not assists, but he does do that. He keeps the ball for you.
“So you need to keep possession. and in that heat, I think you’ll find that if you keep turning over possession, they’ll keep coming back at you.
“We’ve got some nations there who are used to playing in the heat, and they’re used to keeping the ball better than the England players. So I would take him, for sure.”
Everton have benefitted from Jack Grealish keeping the ball this season but England could also use him to full effect – with Paul Merson alluding to Grealish’s ball retention earlier in the season.
Jack Grealish’s dribbling statistics speak for themselves in helping England to keep control
Of every Premier League player to have garnered minutes this season, only Manchester City’s livewire star Jeremy Doku has recorded more progressive carries than Everton star Jack Grealish.
72 carries ranks him above the likes of other elite dribblers such as Yankuba Minteh, Pedro Neto and Antoine Semenyo to name but a few, and keeping the ball could be massively beneficial for Thomas Tuchel.
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Grealish has also attempted 66 take-ons so far this season, ranking only behind Doku, Minteh, Mohammed Kudus and Everton teammate Iliman Ndiaye, with 66 – more than the next-best English player in Jarrod Bowen.
And, in terms of being fouled, Grealish is the leading figure in the Premier League for that statistic with 42, ranking ahead of Elliot Anderson, who is England’s next best in that metric.
It does seem like a no-brainer for Tuchel to include Grealish in his squad, alongside a more direct winger such as Marcus Rashford or former Everton star Anthony Gordon.
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