The clash between Brighton and Aston Villa last weekend was a smashing spectacle. Two teams with contrasting styles and with two managers with a point to prove as they settle into life within new territory. Nine games in, neither of Graham Potter and Dean Smith are disappointing so far
Certainly, the scoreboard showed Villa’s 2-1 triumph, but it was a far cry from the truth. Dean Smith’s Aston Villa side were played off the park in the first half as Brighton’s mesmerising, intricate and scintilating football completely bamboozled the Villa Park faithful. It was Brighton who took the lead and deservedly so through a well-worked free-kick, like something straight out of the training ground as Brighton defender Adam Webster nodded in Pascal Gros’ well-worked delivery
Aston Villa might easily have been counting the cost of their shortcomings had Brighton kept a full complement of players on the pitch. Had it not been for Aaron Mooy’s stupidity – a full-fledged tackle on Jack Grealish – the outcome of the game could have been much different and Villa could have been staring at another defeat.
However, Mooy’s incompetence led to the brilliance and inspiration of one man. A player who is truly deserving of all the plaudits coming his way, and a player looking right at home in the Premier League.
Villa’s awfully talented captain Jack Grealish.
With the onlooking England coach Gareth Southgate, it was the attacking midfielder who stood head and shoulders above everyone else on the pitch, which really is no feat considering the player is only 5ft 7in. The Brighton game was the perfect platform for Grealish to showcase his outstanding form. Every piece of Villa’s attacking play had Grealish at the centre of it, like an orchestrator at a fine and elegant soap opera. Every attack had Grealish dictating its direction truly reflected in Villa’s dramatic stoppage time winner. It was something out of the extraordinary as he picked up the ball outside the box, and almost seamlessly beat two of his markers with some intricate and swift piece of footwork which simultaneously led to a perfectly waited pass into the path of Matt Target to smash home the winner.
If Southgate doesn’t admire the talents of Grealish on this blockbuster display then we truly don’t know what will. Grealish’s performance against Brighton isn’t the first of his highlight reels so far this season. Nine games in, and it is simply one of many. Gregg Evans, an Aston Villa writer at the well-renowned Sports website The Athletic reports that Jack Grealish takes spontaneous naps at Villa’s training complex. So focused is he on becoming one of the most elite attacking midfield players in the Premier League that he holds extra individual training sessions and ‘sleeps on site after lunch to prepare his body.’ It is firmly believed that the 24-year-old is in Southgate’s thoughts for the next England squad which will be drafted in November.
As well as his naps, it is reported that the midfielder has also changed the way he eats and has recently hired a personal chef to aid him in maximising his performance. The chef, also an expert in sports nutrition, provides Grealish with daily meals and endurance-enhancing snacks to help his training regime. It’s no wonder you’ll find Grealish still full of energy in the closing minutes of matches. For too long, Grealish had been rotting away in the Championship – not to say he wasn’t performing brilliantly over there – but its in the Premier League where his gifts truly need to be celebrated.
It’s amazing how far Grealish has come seamlessly fitting into this new calibre of territory even promising Dean Smith, his manager, that there is more to come from him:
“He keeps telling me that I haven’t seen the best of him yet and he’s still growing as a player.”
A frightening thought even for the Aston Villa faithful. If Grealish really can take his game to another level against the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool in the coming weeks ahead, then it won’t only be Southgate who will be standing up and taking notice. Probably potential future suitors.
Much of the credit must be given to Dean Smith. Since his arrival from the reigns of the dugout in Brentford in 2018, Grealish has been provided with a new lease of life. Before then, we knew the talents Grealish harboured but it was that youthful arrogance and petulance at times that seemed to have flawed him. However, Smith’s arrival and his decision in placing Grealish leader in the dressing room has humbled him and the constant hard-work and graft has awarded the player with the recognition he deserves.
Deployed on the left of a front three in a 4-3-3 setup, Grealish has been given the freedom by Dean Smith to roam from his position and naturally take up telling spaces in between the lines allowing him to fully exploit the gaps in between the opponents back-line and midfield. It is through that area that Grealish ever so effortlessly weaves his magic. Jinking through opposition challenges, linking up play with the big front-man Wesley, carving out openings and chances for himself as well as his team-mates is what makes Grealish the beating heart of the teams attacking play. He is at the centre of everything. If he carries on at this sort of level, then Southgate will really have some serious selection headaches. It’s not only Grealish that is impressing, but Mason Mount and James Maddison are also staking their claim so far this season. It really is exciting that England now have such a talented and exuberant pool of young, bright and excellent attacking midfielders.
Jack Grealish is certainly amongst the top of that pool right now.
Two goals and three assists in nine Premier League games is no easy feet, especially when you’ve just come up from the second division. What is for certain though, is that Grealish is raising a fair amount of eyebrows. At the end of the Brighton game, Grealish was truly heralded by the Villa faithful, leaving the pitch to some rapturous applause. Sooner rather than later, he may just be doing the same for England.
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