England’s maverick Jack Grealish plays his part but cannot create liftoff | Barney Ronay

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Midfielder has his moments in stalemate with Italy but it is not enough to justify the public clamour for his inclusion

What did we learn? How did it feel? What were the bullet points, the red lines, the notes of glory in this goalless Nations League international in an empty stadium between two teams who spent long periods of this game struggling against some invisible plane of resistance, like flies buzzing down a window pane?

As competitive games go this one stretched the semantic limits of the word “competitive” into some interesting new spaces. At times it felt like a late July club tour practice game. As the ball was shuttled sullenly around the back of midfield you half expected to look at the team sheets and see “A Triallist” listed.

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from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2022/jun/11/englands-maverick-jack-grealish-plays-his-part-but-cannot-create-liftoff

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