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Jack Grealish: Aston Villa's maverick let himself and the country down - NEIL SQUIRES
Daily Express chief sports writer Neil Squires has his say on Jack Grealish, who was caught up in an incident over the weekend.
Everyone loves a maverick in their team – a special kind of talent who plays by their own set of rules. During the season just frozen, Jack Grealish was that guy for Aston Villa – a creative spark who, with his vision and skills, represented their single best chance of staying up.
Here's the thing though with mavericks – they can do the eye-catching stuff but they also have a tendency to let you down.
Exactly what Grealish was doing wearing a black slipper and a white slider next to a crashed Range Rover in Dickens Heath early yesterday morning only he will know but the strands of evidence do not look good for him.
In the situation the country finds itself in we are only as strong as our weakest links.
We are playing a highly dangerous opponent who are about to put us under the most severe pressure.
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In such a situation we need self-discipline, self-sacrifice and selflessness to hold the line.
For sportsmen – however indestructible they may feel personally – the language of teamwork should be one which they can instinctively understand.
Grealish, stupidly as he admitted in his mournful apology, decided the rules did not apply to him.
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At a time when so many top footballers are setting an outstanding example it is doubly disappointing.
Yesterday Marcus Rashford was explaining the work he has done with a Manchester charity in providing food for children missing out on free school meals.
Toby Alderweireld was talking about the contribution he has made in supplying tablets for nursing homes and hospitals so the ill can maintain contact with their loved ones.
Rashford and Alderweireld were playing for the team; Grealish, it seems, was playing for himself.