UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifiers: 3 reasons why Jack Grealish deserves an England call-up

#2 He draws fouls like no other

Grealish's dribbling skills make him an expert at drawing fouls

England gained a reputation as set-piece specialists throughout their run to the 2018 World Cup semi-finals, and while their success from corners and free-kicks has dried up somewhat since then, one area they haven’t stopped scoring from has been the penalty spot. Three Lions captain Harry Kane is absolutely deadly from 12 yards, scoring 4 penalties in the current Euro 2020 qualifiers alone.

So why does this link to Jack Grealish? It’s pretty simple – the Aston Villa midfielder draws fouls like practically no other player in the English game right now. Grealish has been fouled a mind-boggling 41 times in Premier League action thus far in 2019/20 – more than any other player. And most interestingly, only Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha has drawn more fouls than him in the final third.

Grealish’s detractors would try to claim that he goes down a little too easily – it is true that he was controversially booked for a supposed simulation in Villa’s 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace back in August – but the truth is that with such a skilful dribbling style coupled with surprising upper body strength, it’s just very tricky to stop him with a clean tackle.

Grealish dribbling at an international defence is something that we haven’t seen yet, but if his Premier League form is anything to go by then the Villa man has the ability to give any defender problems – and he’s more likely to draw fouls in key areas than any other player available to Southgate. With as deadly a penalty taker as Kane to call upon, Grealish’s ability to draw fouls could be a serious weapon for the Three Lions to call upon.