Speaking on the Gary Neville Podcast, the Sky Sports pundit has issued his verdict on Aston Villa’s performance against Tottenham this weekend.
The Villans were beaten 2-0 by the London club on Sunday, but Neville was seemingly rather impressed by what he saw from Dean Smith’s side, praising the centre-half pairing of Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa, while also claiming that it could have been a different game if Jack Grealish was fit.
“I think he’ll (Dean Smith) be really happy. That centre-back pairing are a very good centre-back pairing, but they just lacked that little bit of quality in that game to go and finish it off,” Neville said.
“If Grealish is playing and at his best, then Villa do cause Tottenham a lot of problems, particularly in that first half-hour, where it felt like Tottenham were waiting to get started and they didn’t look happy in the game, but then that goal gave them the comfort to rise.”
Neville might be right here.
Villa are a lot more than just a one man team, but it’s fair to say that Grealish is their best player, and if he was on the pitch for this one, he could have added that missing element to their attacks.
The midfielder can make a huge impact in any game he plays, and in the early knockings of the game against Tottenham, it seemed as though Villa were crying out for a player like Grealish.
Luckily, the England international is set to be back in action against Fulham after the international break, and Villa will be hoping to get back to winning ways once their captain returns.
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