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Jack Grealish positional THREAD:
Why Dean Smith prefers Jack Grealish as a Wide midfielder/Winger rather than a Central midfielder #AVFC
Why Dean Smith prefers Jack Grealish as a Wide midfielder/Winger rather than a Central midfielder #AVFC
This thread isnāt taking anything away from how good he is/can be as a Central midfielder in the right system. However at this current moment in time, Grealish has been preferred in a wider role under Dean Smith in the 19/20 season & the statistics support his decision #AVFC
GOALS/ASSISTS 2019/20
Grealish didnāt score a goal in 11 Premier League appearances starting as a central midfielder in the 19/20 season, in comparison to scoring 8 goals in a wider role in Dean Smiths System #AVFC
Grealish didnāt score a goal in 11 Premier League appearances starting as a central midfielder in the 19/20 season, in comparison to scoring 8 goals in a wider role in Dean Smiths System #AVFC
However when it came to assists he provided almost as many from Central Midfield as he did from the wider role, where he made 13 more appearances #AVFC
Obviously in both positions he created a lot more chances for himself & others in comparison to his goal& assist tallies. If we had more quality at times in the final third this season then these statistics could have been a lot higher, given some of the chances he created #AVFC
I took these match ratings from Sky Sports & this is how they averaged out. He was rated a lot higher, on average, when playing out wide than he was playing in a Central role. This shows he had more of an impact in matches from the wider position, in Dean Smiths system #AVFC
However IMO El Ghazi & Trezeguet are back up players, at best, if we want to breakthrough to that next level in the Premier League. Maybe having these 2 was a blessing in disguise, as it gave Smith the chance to play Grealish in that wide role, where he has flourished #AVFC
The last statistic I have is that when Grealish was playing in a Central role, our win percentage was 18%. When he played out wide our win percentage was 33% #AVFC
Also playing him in a wider role has allowed us to have the likes of Hourihane in the team as well as Grealish. These 2 suit each other so well, especially given the amount of set pieces Grealish wins for the side & Hourihaneās ability over the set pieces #AVFC
Itās not just set pieces for Hourihane either. Itās the space Grealish can create centrally, from playing in a wide position. He puts fear into the opposition every time he steps on to the pitch, so playing wider means he drags midfielders out of position to deal with him #AVFC
Which then leads to the likes of Hourihane, Mcginn & Douglas Luiz having a lot more space in/around the penalty area. Prime examples of that are Hourihaneās goals against Norwich at home & West Brom at home in the play offs. Look at the space Hourihane has for each goal #AVFC
Like I said at the start, this thread wasnāt to say that he canāt play in a Central role for us because heās a special player who definitely could. But Iāve seen people screaming for us to play him in that role rather than out wide #AVFC
Dean Smith knows what heās doing & heās got the best out of Grealish by playing him out wide, which has resulted in him making his senior debut for England. Heās an unbelievable player & his versatility is an asset. However I agree with Smith, Grealish is better out wide #AVFC
