Sky Sports pundit claims Tottenham were ‘petrified’ of 9-goal man who ‘could have’ played for Spurs

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Jack Grealish produced a strong performance for Aston Villa over the weekend despite his side suffering a defeat against Tottenham Hotspur.

Stephen Warnock has claimed that Jack Grealish ‘petrified’ Tottenham on Sunday despite his Aston Villa side suffering a 3-2 defeat.

Speaking to Football Centre on Sky Sports News (17/02/2020 at 11:25 am), ex-Villa man, Warnock, explained why Grealish, who ‘could have’ been a Spurs player, caused Jose Mourinho’s side so many problems. 

“Jack Grealish is the type of player, linked with Tottenham and could have actually been playing there,” Warnock told Sky Sports. “Now, he’s playing in this position, higher up and running at players. 

“What he does is, he causes so many problems. He likes to hug the touchline. He [against Spurs] was trying to cause Eric Dier all kinds of problems – I know Grealish can go either side [when he has you faced up one-on-one]. He can drive at me and he can cause all kinds of problems. 

“You see the [Spurs] defenders they are petrified of him because he has the ability to go outside and inside. The clips that we are seeing, every single time he dips inside, but what he does [later on] is he shows another side to his game and he goes on the outside – this is so difficult to manage.” 

Grealish has been a standout performer for a very bleak Villa side during this campaign, and their chances of survival and potentially winning the League Cup, do rest on his shoulders. 

On Sunday, he was a constant problem for a Spurs team that struggled from a defensive standpoint, but also made their own noises in the opposition third. 

It was well-documented that two seasons ago, it could have been a lot different for Grealish, Spurs and Villa when the 24-year-old was seemingly tipped to make a move to North London when the Midlands side were still a Championship club.

A move didn’t materialise, Grealish stayed at Villa and guided his boyhood club back to the promised land via the play-offs in May. 

Now, he has taken his game to another level and is being lauded by many outside of Villa for his performances this term. Grealish has played 28 games this season in all competitions, scored nine goals and supplied eight assists for his teammates [transfermarkt].