Jack Grealish’s cameo against Bosnia and Herzegovina was a welcome reminder of what he can bring to this England team. His substitute appearance was brief but he was still able to fashion perhaps the clearest three openings of the match. "He creates free men when he has the ball," Pep Guardiola once said.
His vision found Trent Alexander-Arnold for the second goal and his clever pass opened up the defence for the third. A square ball to James Maddison might have earned another assist. The noises have not been good for Grealish of late.
Guardiola admitted that he has struggled to find his best form this past season, with the player himself acknowledging that he fears for his place. Gareth Southgate is blessed with wide options in his squad. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player But for all the justifiable excitement about the emergence of Eberechi Eze, Anthony Gordon and others, for all the talk of their superior statistical output, to overlook Grealish for the trip to Germany would be a mistake.
He has qualities that others do not. Some of the statistics do not do him any favours. The last time that he played 90 minutes for Manchester City in the Premier League was in a 4-2 win at Crystal Palace in April.
Grealish did not register a goal or an assist but he was involved in all four that City scored. "It is just a shame that everyone in the world now just loves stats," he said afterwards. Guardiola has argued much the same, although his decision to ove.
