Aston Villa will be preparing for the visit of Millwall in the Championship on Monday afternoon.
Liam Rosenior has lauded the qualities of Jack Grealish and the attacking change in his game after he helped Aston Villa beat Bolton 2-0 on Friday.
The Sky Sports pundit pointed out that the Villa playmaker is now playing higher up the pitch which means his attacking numbers are increasing as he admitted that he used to ‘frustrate’ him because of how deep he used to play.
On Friday, he opened the scoring for his side in the second half with a headed goal and set-up Tammy Abraham for the second.
Speaking to EFL Championship Goals on Sky Sports Football (20/04/2019 at 8:30 pm), Rosenior spoke about Grealish playing further forward in Dean Smith’s system.
“It’s no coincidence why Jack Grealish’s numbers are so high because for all of his qualities,” Rosenior told EFL Championship Goals. “He used to frustrate me because he used to play in [deeper] areas. He’d play out wide.
“Now what he’s starting to do is he’s starting to show the other side. Since he’s been working with Dean Smith, he’s starting to get himself into positions where he can score goals.
“It’s a wonderful ball [by Abraham for Grealish’s goal], but I’ve not seen this side of Grealish’s game[runs into the box] and it has come on massively this season. It’s another weapon to his game. He’s playing so much higher up the pitch. He’s an added threat with Abraham now. He’s starting to run in behind.”
There is no doubt that Grealish is now beginning to get his name on the scoresheet a lot more and it isn’t a coincidence that it is coming under the stewardship of a more attack-minded manager.
Under Steve Bruce, Grealish was still an attacking threat and Villa’s best player, but he wasn’t making those attacking runs into the penalty area.
Now, he has added that to his game and he has guided his boyhood club to nine wins on the bounce as Villa edge closer to a top-six finish.
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