England manager Gareth Southgate has urged Manchester City ace Jack Grealish to improve his tactical knowledge and all-round game if he is to become a regular starter for his country.
Southgate made the admission after the former Aston Villa man stepped off the bench to help England earn a point against Germany in Munich in their latest Nations League outing on Tuesday evening. Trailing to Jonas Hofmann's strike just five minutes into the second half, the Three Lions netted a late equaliser through a Harry Kane penalty to earn a 1-1 draw.
England, although they were far from their best, with fatigue seemingly troubling them, looked brighter once Grealish stepped into the fray with just under 20 minutes left on the clock. He replaced Mason Mount and took up residency on the left-wing, allowing City team-mate Raheem Sterling to move inside and offer more support to Kane.
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Grealish has impressed in flashes on the international stage over the past 12 months, but regular starts under Southgate have been hard to come by. And for the England boss, the 26-year-old has got to continue working on specific areas of his game if he is to start earning regular starting berths.
"He can do both," Southgate said, as quoted by Sky Sports, when asked if he sees Grealish as a starter or impact substitute. "If we didn't trust him we wouldn't put him on the pitch with 20 minutes to go in the belief he can make a difference.
"At the start of the game the challenge for the wide players was to attack, defend and to try and score goals - high tactical level and you've got to be spot on - and that's an area Jack can get better at. What he did do was carry the ball as the game opened up with a little bit more space and opportunity.
"The impact both he and Jarrod Bowen had was really important in those attacking areas. There is a good challenge there among those players but we've got to keep pushing them."
Grealish will be hoping that his cameo showing in Germany was enough to force his way into Southgate's starting XI for Saturday's clash with Italy at Molineux. After facing the reigning European Champions, the Three Lions will conclude this current period of international fixtures with a clash against Hungary next Tuesday evening, also at Molineux.
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