Euro 2020: Jack Grealish must be England’s Gazza now: Neil Humphreys
Villa star's unpredictability is what Southgate needs to unlock defences in the knockout stages
In the coming days, an identity battle will play out between Gareth Southgate's England and Jack Grealish's England.
The winner may determine the Three Lions' progress at Euro 2020.
Southgate's England is already familiar to snoozing millions. The first two games against Croatia and Scotland and the second half against the Czech Republic were built in the manager's image.
Slow, methodical, conservative in possession and ultimately defensive, the overriding emphasis was on not conceding rather than scoring.
And that's not a bad approach in the omnipresent state of hysteria that follows the Three Lions' circus from one anti-climactic tournament to another. Southgate's men are into the knockout stages with minimal fuss.
His predecessors have crashed and burned in the group stages or imploded soon after, so a little caution goes a long way.
But the football is dull and it'll end in the round of 16. Southgate's England cannot prevail against any of the waiting giants from Group F.
Two Raheem Sterling goals across three games hardly keep Europe's heavyweights awake at night, much less England's derisory lack of goalscoring opportunities.
In Group D, England created just 17 chances, the lowest in the group, lower than Croatia (24), the Czech Republic (22) and, astonishingly, even Scotland (28).
Southgate's England might offer the obvious counter-argument that in all three games, two narrow leads and a decent draw discouraged reckless attacking.
But it won't be enough to beat any of the qualifiers from Group F. They will score at least once, forcing Southgate's England to score at least twice. Southgate's England are not set up that way.
But Grealish's England might be.
His Three Lions are giddy and unpredictable. In the first half against the Czech Republic, they danced and spun, flicked and chipped and came close to producing what might be called "smiling football".
The Three Lions don't do smiling football, not really. There was a game and a half at Euro 1996, involving Paul Gascoigne. There were bits and pieces at Italia 1990, also involving Gascoigne and you're probably joining the dots already.
IN COMMON
Gascoigne's England and Grealish's England already have something in common. Sterling's goal against the Czechs was a dizzying blend of quick passing, runs in behind and a lovely, dipping cross towards the forward's head.
And it was fun. England were actually fun.
Normally, watching England is a bloated, red-cheeked, bare-chested apoplectic mix of rage, frustration and boredom.
But Grealish's England offered a viable alternative. He set up the goal and floated where he pleased, encouraging the energetic Bukayo Saka to do likewise on the right side of a 4-2-3-1 that woke Harry Kane from his slumber.
The striker was reinvigorated around Grealish, who played Jeeves to Kane's Wooster, the sly butler eager to serve the stiff Englishman.
In the first half, Grealish was in his element, lifting his colleagues and triggering the self-flagellating questions that plague England every two years.
Why can't they play like this all the time? What can't they entertain, rather than exasperate? How can a maverick like Grealish not be accommodated in the first XI?
That's the identity battle that must play out in the coming days during training sessions. Make no mistake. The first XI that produced the Three Lions' most thrilling 45 minutes isn't Southgate's first XI.
Mason Mount's isolation and Phil Foden's bookings either forced his hand or allowed him to unleash a new attacking template, depending on how generous your interpretation might be.
But, in the last two years, Southgate's innate caution has been routine, as evidenced by his preference for a double pivot. Similarly in Group D, the three fixtures were controlled, rather than dominated.
Grealish doesn't play this way. He swaggers. He gambles. He checks his hair and plays to the crowd, antics that must be anathema to his cautious boss.
But Grealish's unpredictability makes him dangerous for his opponents' coach, too. At some point in the round of 16, England must go where they have only gone once before - in the first half against the Czechs - and shoot for the moon.
If they fall short, they'll still be among stars, the shiniest stars at Euro 2020, luminous footballers more than capable of scoring against Southgate's England.
The Three Lions need to bring something extra, something wild.
Gazza was greater than the sum of England's parts at Italia 1990 and Euro 1996.
This is the kind of history that is worth repeating with Grealish.
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