Aston Villa playmaker Jack Grealish revealed that Dean Smith tells him to play like Liverpool’s front three when playing as a left-winger.
The Villa star impressed in his side’s 2-0 win over Newcastle United on Monday and after the game was quizzed about his role in the team by Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville.
Grealish seemed to be deployed on the left-wing against the Magpies, rather than through the middle like he usually is, and he stated that whenever he plays on the flank, Smith tells him to play like Liverpool’s attacking trio, which means he should play more like a striker than a standard left-sided midfielder.
“When the manager puts me there (on the left-wing) he said to me he wants me to play like…I’m not on their level, like the Liverpool front three,” said Grealish on Sky Sports’ Monday Night (22:07, Monday, November 25th).
“More like three strikers rather than play as a left-sided midfielder.”
OPINION
Grealish quickly pointed out that he wasn’t on the same level as Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane when revealing he tries to replicate Liverpool’s front three’s playing style, and that’s high praise indeed. After all, it’s not like the Aston Villa star isn’t a top-class player. In fact, the English playmaker more than proved he was a show-stealing Premier League performer with his display against Steve Bruce’s side on Monday. The 24-year-old racked up one assist against the Magpies, made a very impressive six key passes and even created enough space to have five attempts on goal (Source: WhoScored). Also, it’s very telling that Grealish was fouled five times during his latest display as that shows Newcastle couldn’t stop the playmaker weaving his magic fairly. So with that in mind for the 24-year-old to quickly say he isn’t on Salah, Firmino and Mane’s level, it shows how amazingly good the Reds trio are viewed as being.
