Ex-Aston Villa boss Tim Sherwood has had a pop at Graeme Souness over his scathing critique of Jack Grealish, telling him: “I assure you, you wouldn’t want to play against him.” Souness had said earlier that he was not convinced by Grealish and he felt that if a player was getting fouled so much that meant that he was certainly holding on to the ball far too much. But Sherwood did not take criticism of a player that he coached during his eight-month tenure as the manager of Aston Villa.
Tim Sherwood said “Two or three players have to stop Jack Grealish and that relieves the players who are then free on his own side. That’s what he does. It’s part of his make-up. I heard Graeme. Listen, it’s all good coming from me, Graeme was one of the best midfield players there’s ever been around but it’s a completely different style of play to Jack Grealish. He dribbles it, takes it to the heart of you. I heard Graeme say he’d liked to have played against him. I assure you Graeme, you wouldn’t want to play against him. You would have to kick him! Jack wouldn’t fancy playing against Graeme, by the way! He’s a great player. He’s having to do a lot. There’s a lot of responsibility on his shoulders. He’s pulled them up for so long. They can’t score goals. If he goes to a top team then you’ll see he won’t hold onto it just for self indulgence, he does it for a reason. He does it because he believes that’s the best for the side. He knows what’s around him and he does see a pass early, as early as anyone. This kid is a Mensa footballer, I’m telling you. He’s a great boy. Intelligence-wise, footballing-wise, he’s got a superb brain.”
