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Jack Grealish has missed out on another England National Team call-up, whilst Leeds’ Kalvin Phillips has been given his first call-up.
Words: Regan Foy | @findfoy
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Jack Grealish has once again been overlooked for a call-up to the England National team.
Many predicted Jack to be called up in late 2019 and then again in early 2020 for friendlies ahead of UEFA Euro 2020, but injury recovery and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic stopped the Aston Villa captain from receiving call-ups both times.
In the past, Southgate has said that Grealish needed to nail down a position for Aston Villa, as he had been playing wide on the left and in central positions, and with Grealish producing numbers in both positions, he still has not received attention from the England manager.
The Aston Villa captain has scored the most goals and picked up the most assists, as well as creating the most chances, dribbling the furthest and winning the most free-kicks, putting him ahead of any other midfielder called up to the squad – yet he is still being ignored.
During his spellbinding Championship spell two seasons back, Southgate had said that Jack needed to be playing regular Premier League football to be in with a call-up, however Leeds midfielder Kalvin Phillips, who was linked with a move to Aston Villa last summer, has received a call-up this time around.
Many presumed that if Jack didn’t receive his call-up to this squad, it would be because of his lockdown antics that saw him gain national press attention, however the likes of Raheem Sterling – who partied with Usain Bolt recently after the sprinter had been confirmed to have COVID, and Harry Maguire, who was recently arrested and has an ongoing court case in Greece, have both been called-up.
It seems Mr. Southgate has somewhat of an agenda against Jack, with the England manager having experience of managing him at youth level for the Three Lions.
Aston Villa centreback Tyrone Mings, however, has received another call-up to the squad, whilst Phil Foden and Mason Greenwood have also been handed their first ever introductions into the national side.
What a joke.
Southgate clearly has his favourites at this point in his managerial career. But it’s to England’s loss not having a versatile, effective attacking player like Grealish available for selection.
That said, at least our squad isn’t being too badly disrupted from our pre-season preparations by these ridiculously timed and pointless international matches. Let’s face it, it’s club football that’s the really important thing.
Jack could score 30 goals & 25 assists and Southgate would still not pick him, he will have to wait for Southgate to get sacked or play for Ireland if he wants international football, if he played for Ireland he would have the same standing as Gareth Bale with Wales