Jack Grealish was a late substitute in England’s 2-1 defeat to France but wasn’t given enough time on the pitch to make a positive impact. Vital Man City have already spoken about how the 27-year-old will be sad with his role for England at the World Cup, but his late cameo against France will be particularly disappointing.
Gareth Southgate has used Grealish exclusively from the bench at the World Cup and once again opted against starting him for the quarter-final clash. He called upon the 27-year-old with barely two minutes of added time remaining, but Manchester City’s £100m playmaker couldn’t turn England’s fortunes around.
Grealish has made 29 appearances for England, scoring two goals with six assists. He’s scored in goal in five games during the World Cup, amassing just 81 minutes of playing time (16 mins per game on average), so he’s becoming more surplus as time goes on (25 mins per game on average at Euro 2020).
That’s not to say it was a bad overall campaign, as the 27-year-old scored against Iran, put in a good performance versus the USA and did well against Wales, but his stock appears to be diminishing.
Against France, Grealish was overlooked while Mason Mount, Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford were introduced from the bench. Something similar has happened with Pep Guardiola at club level (unused substitute in two of City’s last five PL games), so he’ll be desperate to prove himself a worthy starter for club and country.
In other news, stats show Man City defender endured a disappointing World Cup
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