Alan Shearer shares his honest verdict on Jack Grealish’s decision to celebrate vs Republic of Ireland
Jack Grealish had a point to prove for several reasons as he started for England in their 2-0 win against the Republic of Ireland.
Playing against the side that he represented until the Under-21 level, Grealish would have been aware that much like Declan Rice, he would have got a hostile reception at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
The Manchester City winger was also making his first appearance in an England shirt since being omitted from their squad for Euro 2024; which meant he was given the opportunity to showcase what Gareth Southgate’s side were missing in Germany.
The £100 million man did not disappoint; seeming unfazed playing in front of the Irish crowd as he got on the scoresheet.
Grealish was also handed the chance to play as a free-roaming number 10 — a role he was rarely, if ever deployed in by Gareth Southgate.
The former Three Lions boss preferred the likes of Mason Mount, Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham in the attacking midfield role.
But Lee Carsley decided to show his faith in Grealish in a more central role on Saturday.
Shearer hails England star Grealish for celebrating against Republic of Ireland
The former Aston Villa captain embraced the responsibility and alongside the likes of Rice and Anthony Gordon, he was arguably England’s best player on the pitch.
Grealish picked up a variety of different positions — from dropping deep to drifting on to the left flank and in areas just behind the striker — making him difficult to pick up.
Often, at Aston Villa, Dean Smith handed the three-time Premier League winner a similar degree of freedom as Lee Carsley did to explore different areas of the pitch and impact proceedings.
The silky technician thrived in such a role once again — combining with his teammates, being virtually impossible to take the ball off in tight areas and playing passes in dangerous areas of the pitch.
Eventually, the decorated attacker doubled the visitors’ lead as Carsley’s experiment seemed to have paid off as well.
Unlike Rice, the treble-winner decided to celebrate after scoring his goal.
Alan Shearer admitted he loved witnessing Grealish celebrate after his strike rather than choosing not to in front of the Irish faithful
The pundit told The Rest Is Football podcast: “I loved [Jack] Grealish when he was [celebrating]. I loved it, I thought, it was brilliant.”
Jack Grealish had every right to celebrate against Republic of Ireland
Grealish’s celebration was passionate — perhaps due to the occasion as well as the fact that he would have been frustrated not to have been picked in the squad for the European Championship.
Ultimately, a player’s decision to celebrate is a choice.
Grealish felt like celebrating after scoring and he had every right to.
After the challenging summer the Englishman was not even selected in the 26-man squad for Euro 2024, he would have felt relieved to have got back in the side and amongst the goals.
Grealish perhaps let out his frustration in the best way possible by letting his football do the talking in the Irish capital.
The City wideman would have been overjoyed to have scored and his celebration was an insight into how he was feeling at the time.
