Tony Cascarino has raved about Aston Villa star Jack Grealish on TalkSport (10/10/20 at 8:25 am) and admitted that he no longer thinks he’s ‘lightweight’.
Grealish produced a Man of the Match display when he was handed his first start for England on Thursday, as they brushed aside a Wales team 3-0 in an international friendly.
It has been a remarkable start to the season for Grealish, who was recently involved in five of Aston Villa’s seven goals during their astonishing win against Liverpool last week.
Former Villa man Cascarino was full of praise for Grealish and believes he is now taking his game to another level.
“It’s a bit unfair because people say ‘Jack is nowhere near Gazza’,” Cascarino told TalkSport. “Well, he’s not, but you cannot help but think how he has progressed in the last year.
“I did think at times that Jack was a little bit lightweight and they had to be more from him. If he was going to go to a club [playing in Europe], look Villa are a big club. I played for them and I know how big the football club is and I am glad he stayed at Villa. It’s a direction for the football club that it’s exciting.
“He’s got this incredible knack that when he steps up to another level, he’s really comfortable. He’s now getting to the stage where he’s getting big moment goals. Like West Ham at the end of the season. Jack’s starting to do that.
“He’s one of them that you know that, during any moment of a game, you need someone to deliver something off the cuff with his vision, he’s got a wonderful weight of pass, which Gazza had.”
England take on the world’s number one side in Belgium on Sunday afternoon in what will be a crucial UEFA Nations League encounter.
It will be interesting to see if Gareth Southgate opts to start Grealish for the second game running because the boyhood Villa fan is on a high and bang in form.
But given that Southgate prefers the likes of Mason Mount ahead of him then it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him starting from the bench.
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