Marcus Rashford and Harry Winks pulled out of England squad, which forced Gareth Southgate to call up Jack Grealish.
Despite giving his all in Aston Villa’s cause, Jack Grealish did not manage to impress England manager Gareth Southgate enough.
The midfielder was constantly ignored by the former Middlesborough manager. Grealish has finally made his way into the squad after Marcus Rashford and Harry Winks pulled out.
Steve McClaren was pleased with Grealish’s call up and believes the right decision was belatedly taken. He praised his performances at Villa Park and maturity as a player in Premier League.
“I think it’s about time,” McClaren told talkSPORT.
“The season in the Premier League, Aston Villa’s survival and Aston Villa getting into the Premier League in the first place was all instigated by Jack Grealish, unbelievably so.
“All of a sudden he matured and became the player on the field we know he can be, and he became a leader, probably not vocally but certainly in the way he played.”
McClaren said that England have good players but they lack creativity in midfield. In his opinion, the Three Lions will do good by changing their formation.
“The thing England need is creativity in midfield. Top teams always have a front-three, but top, top teams always have a front-four. If you’re going to win things you have a front-four, normally two wingers, a number nine and a number ten.”
“At the present moment England don’t have a true number ten, they don’t have creativity in that midfield.”
The change in formation alongside Grealish’s addition is what England need according to McClaren. However, he did caution the Aston Villa man to work on his discipline for a long career with the national team.
“Yes they have Winks and Henderson, ball carriers, but they don’t have the likes of Silva, De Bruyne, players like that. Mount and Foden, yes but they’re both developing. Jack Grealish is more mature.
“But the problem with Jack is discipline, not just on the ball but off the ball as well. He’s working harder for the team, and he showed that last season, but Jack wants the ball all the time.”
“He’s one of those players who’ll get it off the goalkeeper, dribble past ten players and score a goal, that’s Jack. He’s got to be disciplined into a position, that’s what has held him back before, I think.”
“He needs to have that discipline to play higher up the field and be creative to supply the front-three, because we have unbelievable talent in that front three area, but we need somebody to feed them regularly.”
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