Paul Merson: Jack Grealish doesn't have 'trust' in Aston Villa teammates

Grealish has been in dazzling form this season for Dean Smith's side, after captaining the club to promotion last year.

Quickly standing out in the top flight, Grealish has scored nine goals and registered eight assists so far this campaign - now suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak.

His performances have linked the 24-year-old with a move away from B6, something which seems a certainty should the club suffer relegation.

Merson believes he's a special player who could feature for any side in the top flight.

"He's a special player. He's the best three or four yard passer I've seen in the game for a long, long time." Merson said, speaking on Sky Sports' Football Show.

"People will go 'three or four yard passes?' You watch football when it comes back and you see people roll the ball back to a full back and they have to take a touch or someone goes on the overlap and they kick it out of touch.

"It's always a pitch perfect ball, that three or four yard ball. For me, he's a special player, very comfortable on the ball, very gifted.

"I do think he's trying to take it on too much. I don't think he has trust in the players [at Villa] that they're good enough around him.

"I look at players like Michael Ballack, who was a great player. When he was in Germany, he would probably touch the ball 100 times in a game. In them 100 times he'd probably at least ten times he'd find a world class ball. You're always going to have a good game because you're going to find that pass.

"I think when he went to Chelsea, and Chelsea had a lot of star players, Frank Lampards and people like that, from 100 touches a game to 60, 70 or even 50 - it's a lot harder.

"I think he doesn't trust the players, he's trying to be the school captain at the moment and trying to do everything. He's keeping the ball too long, but I think with better players, they will demand the ball off him.

"I think at Aston Villa, they just let him do what he wants, like a school captain, here's the ball, go and beat everybody and we'll win the game."

Grealish was on the verge of a call-up to Gareth Southgate's England squad ahead of the suspension of tip flight football earlier this year.

However, one question regularly posed of the Villa talisman is his position on the pitch, with Dean Smith opting to play him in midfield, but also off the wing.

The Villa skipper often pops up across the pitch over the course of 90 minutes, sometimes collecting the ball deep or drifting into a central role.

That leads Merson to question whether potential buyers would trust him to play in a set position, should he move on from Villa Park.

"I think people look at him at the moment and big clubs are probably thinking 'can I trust Jack Grealish? Has he got a position?'" Merson said.

"He keeps on going everywhere for the ball. But I just think that's because he's playing at Aston Villa. If he went to a bigger club and a better club with better players who were on his wavelength I think he would play a position.

"At the moment I think people are a little bit worried, can they trust him, he's going all over the pitch to get the ball.

"I don't want to say a bigger and better club, because Aston Villa are a great club, but with better players I think he'd be able to hold his position and would be a massive asset for any club in the Premier League.

"The way teams play now, I do think he's [best] just behind the centre-forward.

"Then when he plays there I'd want two holding midfield players. I'd want two people that could win the ball back because I do think he's one of them players that when they haven't got the ball he isn't going to bring too much to the party.

"You've got to have him where you've got two holding midfield players, a player like a [Bruno] Fernandes, who can find people in those little spaces. Because it's alright saying you have a free role, but you play behind the centre forward and you're only as good as the people who give you the ball.

"I thought Gareth Barry was one of the best in the business for a long time, just simple balls, feeding [David] Silva and people like that. I think that's important.

"I think with Jack playing on the left hand side, I used to play on the left a bit and come inside. But in this day and age now, these full-backs are like wingers - you have to chase back.

"You have to have a bit of a track back. Before a right back would literally stay where they were, they'd be more worried about you.

"For me, Jack Grealish, I would always get him into a team and work it out from there."

Former Liverpool midfielder Jamie Redknapp echoed Merson's sentiments, hailing Villa's skipper as a 'box office' player capable of exciting fans over the course of the game.

He feels that Grealish could play at the highest level in the Premier League:

"He's a maverick, isn't he? I think fans love that. I think that's why we all enjoy when Jack Grealish is playing well. He's box office, he's well worth watching.

"You haven't got to overthink it. He can play in a two just behind the striker, you could play him off the left hand side a little bit like Merson, at times. You could have him come off the line and cut in and have a dribble and in terms of getting fouled a lot, I think that's a skill set.

"I love players like that, that want to have a dribble, there's enough players that play simple in this game. Sometimes when I go to football I want to see someone who's going to do something different, get up the pitch, take people on, get people off their seats.

"I think he's got tremendous ability, he's part of a side that's at the bottom, some games he hardly touches the ball. Imagine if he played in a side that was in the top six and he had the ball all the time, or he was sharing it - then he could go do his magic.

"I think he could play at the top level, no doubt."

Meanwhile, Greame Souness highlighted a potential flaw in the Villa skipper's game - stating that Grealish could risk potential injury due to his playing style.

Villa's skipper is the most fouled player in the top flight, having been on the end of 127 fouls so far this season.

Souness believes he could end up suffering a similar injury record to former Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere, should he continue to hold onto the ball for so long during games.

"For me he needs to move the ball quicker, the reason I say that is he has too many touches, he's the most tackled player in the Premier League." He said.

"Is that necessary? I think he needs to see the big picture quicker and move it quicker.

"I think that's something he needs to address [the number of times he's fouled]. He might go down the road of Jack Wilshere where he'll get lots of injuries, and he's got to learn to move the ball quicker."