Jack Grealish Pays Price for Season of Stasis with England Omission

The manager’s exclusion of the wide man makes Grealish the biggest casualty for form reasons as England head for Germany next week. (Photo by Reuters)
The manager’s exclusion of the wide man makes Grealish the biggest casualty for form reasons as England head for Germany next week. (Photo by Reuters)
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Jack Grealish Pays Price for Season of Stasis with England Omission

The manager’s exclusion of the wide man makes Grealish the biggest casualty for form reasons as England head for Germany next week. (Photo by Reuters)
The manager’s exclusion of the wide man makes Grealish the biggest casualty for form reasons as England head for Germany next week. (Photo by Reuters)

Jack Grealish: from vital and colourful member of Manchester City’s treble winners to being dropped a year later for England’s tilt at Euro 2024 glory is a sobering trajectory for a footballer whose bubbly personality and talent for making mugs of defenders give him an X-factor Gareth Southgate may regret leaving behind.

The manager’s exclusion of the wide man makes Grealish the biggest casualty for form reasons as England head for Germany next week. Harry Maguire has been a mainstay of the Southgate era but the Manchester United defender misses out owing to a persistent calf injury.

Grealish, though, can and should feel unlucky because the manager’s cull of him from the initial 33-man party can, too, be traced back to reasons of physical infirmity during a campaign with City that was ruptured by a serious dead leg then a groin problem. This limited Grealish to 10 Premier League starts and 10 substitute appearances, with three goals and one assist.

In a disappointing end to his season he featured as an unused substitute in City’s last three matches, including the 3-1 win over West Ham on the final day of the league campaign that sealed the historic fourth consecutive championship, and the 2-1 FA Cup final defeat by United. This pushed Pep Guardiola into a defence of Grealish after the Wembley disappointment in which his manager stated: “He’s struggled this season. Jack will be back at the level of last season – I’m pretty sure.”

On Monday against Bosnia and Herzegovina he seemed to be, a near half-hour cameo from the bench showing an ability to turn it on when required, in an audition for a place in Southgate’s final squad graced by the precisely flighted ball that dropped sweetly on to Trent Alexander-Arnold’s toes for England’s volleyed second in the 3-0 victory at St James’ Park.

At 28, too, Grealish is streetwise, at his peak, has four years’ experience of working under Southgate, and during the last Euros the Birmingham-born player proved he can be a game-changer when really required. After entering in the 69th-minute of England’s last-16 game against Germany with the score goalless, Grealish launched two of his familiar lissome-legged runs down the left. They came on 75 and 86 minutes and were each followed by a cross that enabled first Raheem Sterling then Harry Kane to score, as Germany were dispatched.

Covid meant the tournament was played in summer 2021 and though Grealish was an unused substitute in the penalty shootout defeat by Italy in the final in July, a month later he became English domestic football’s most expensive player when he transferred from Aston Villa to City for £100m.

Now came the evolution from the unfettered maverick who had been his boyhood team’s captain and totem to hard-edged footballer whose first term at the champions was a fight to learn the spatial demands and differing attacking and defensive rhythms of Guardiola’s City, as 22 Premier League starts were made and three goals and three assists contributed.

In the following season the Catalan’s side became immortal by claiming the title, Champions League and FA Cup, and Grealish was a key member of the XI. Here Southgate benefited too, as Guardiola completed his remodelling of Grealish, who blended menacing wing-play with discipline and adhered to the rigid positional play demanded by the master-coach while having the licence, still, to launch driving runs from his left-sided berth.

There was only one more league start, plus two more goals and four more assists, but Guardiola now trusted Grealish in the games that mattered. He started both legs of the 5-1 aggregate Champions League semi-final win over Real Madrid, the 2-1 Cup final victory over United, and the 1-0 Champions League final win over Internazionale that sealed the treble.

After the eight-inch hematoma that caused his dead leg in September, Grealish was chosen by Guardiola in the XI that beat Urawa Red Diamonds 3-0 in the Fifa Club World Cup semi-final and defeated Fluminense 4-0 in the final. But, still, his difficult season continued and it finishes, now, in the searing disappointment of Southgate’s rejection.

With his curtains-style hairdo, warm Brummie brogue and liking for a beer, as his post-treble celebrations illustrated, Grealish is a throwback to a more off-the-cuff era when football was populated by many more Jack-the-lads who made it to the very top thanks to sublime talent. Now, though, when England kick off their Euro 2024 challenge on 16 June against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen, he is forced to watch from a sofa or sun lounger.

But, after the injuries and a season of stasis, the chance to recharge properly may prove a blessing in the long term.

The Guardian Sport



Chelsea Beat Everton 1-0 to Reignite Champions League Hopes

(L) Nicolas Jackson of Chelsea celebrates scoring his side's first goal of the match with teammate Noni Madueke during the English Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Everton FC, in London, Britain, 26 April 2025. (EPA)
(L) Nicolas Jackson of Chelsea celebrates scoring his side's first goal of the match with teammate Noni Madueke during the English Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Everton FC, in London, Britain, 26 April 2025. (EPA)
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Chelsea Beat Everton 1-0 to Reignite Champions League Hopes

(L) Nicolas Jackson of Chelsea celebrates scoring his side's first goal of the match with teammate Noni Madueke during the English Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Everton FC, in London, Britain, 26 April 2025. (EPA)
(L) Nicolas Jackson of Chelsea celebrates scoring his side's first goal of the match with teammate Noni Madueke during the English Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Everton FC, in London, Britain, 26 April 2025. (EPA)

Chelsea climbed back into contention for next season's Champions League with a 1-0 home win over Everton in the Premier League on Saturday thanks to a fine first-half strike by Nicolas Jackson.

The Senegal striker, fed by Enzo Fernandez, drove low into the bottom corner past a diving Jordan Pickford in the 27th minute for his first goal in four months.

The result lifted Enzo Maresca's Chelsea to fourth in the table on 60 points, one point behind Manchester City who are in FA Cup action this weekend. Everton are 13th.

"At this stage of the season, the result is the main thing," Maresca said.

"We are going to be better and better because the players will understand better and better how to play different games."

The home side should have scored more but were thwarted by a stubborn defense and Pickford, who kept out a series of shots, notably from Noni Madueke.

Cole Palmer buzzed round the Everton box, but his three-month goal drought continued as once again Chelsea failed to capitalise on a good start.

They suffered a tense final 15 minutes with Everton, sensing their nerves, forging forward.

Maresca, serving a one-match ban, watched anxiously from the press box, occasionally shouting towards the pitch and dugout as the clock ticked down.

He described his seat as "a disaster" despite having a runner next to him to take messages to the dugout.

"I prefer to be on the bench. You want to say something, but nobody can hear."

Chelsea keeper Robert Sanchez, who had turned aside a good chance from Beto in the 63rd minute, held on to a shot from Idrissa Gueye minutes later.

And he pulled off a fingertip save in the 88th minute to deny Dwight McNeil and keep his side in front.

The Spanish keeper's form has been in doubt recently after a series of mistakes, but Maresca backed him.

"Robert has already had many good moments this season ... As a human being, you always remember the bad things and not the good things. He has had some very good moments with us," the Italian coach said.

"You can see the teammates how they celebrate with him, also at the end of the game. They know for Robert it has not been a good moment, so they support and helped him."

Pickford also praised his opposite number.

"In the second half we dominated as Chelsea sat in and took the 1-0," he told TNT Sports. "Robert Sanchez made a few good saves so credit to him.

"We weren't far off it but that's the Premier League, you get punished."

The League's top five qualify for the Champions League.