Paul Scholes disagrees with what’s been said about Everton star Jack Grealish
Former Manchester United midfielder Nicky Butt has hailed Jack Grealish for his dribbling ability, but Paul Scholes believes the Everton winger is wrongly categorised.
Grealish has been one of Everton’s standout performers this season, and David Moyes has expressed his delight at the Englishman’s signing.
Moyes is keen on making Grealish’s move permanent, with the winger only set to stay on Merseyside for a season-long loan from Manchester City, as things stand.
The Toffees have a buy option of around £50million for the 30-year-old, and the Friedkin Group will have to dip their hands in their pockets to make the former English international Everton‘s for good.
However, Butt’s Man United team-mate Scholes disagreed on a claim made about Grealish‘s skillset.
Paul Scholes says Jack Grealish isn’t ‘skilful’
The Blues are sitting 10th in the Premier League with one more game to go until the halfway point, as Everton still have a chance of qualifying for European football.
The Toffees are currently suffering due to the loss of players from the African Cup of Nations, but Moyes may be confident that Grealish will be enough to help Everton win games during a difficult period.
While speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast, while discussing who the most skilful player in the world is, former Man United man Butt staked his claim for Grealish, but Scholes disagreed.
Butt said: “What Jack does very well is timing, his touch of the ball just far enough away from the guy to tempt him in, and then skip past him”
Scholes replied: “I don’t think Jack’s that skilful. He might be skilful in the way he receives the ball, I suppose, the way he scores goals now and again.
“But he’s not tricky. I see skilful as tricky. He cuts inside and passes the ball a lot. I still think he’s a great player, great footballer, but I wouldn’t class him as skilful.”
However, statistics on Grealish’s dribbling ability suggest that Scholes may have got this one entirely wrong.
Grealish’s in-depth dribbling stats prove Scholes wrong
Everton picked Grealish up when the Englishman was perhaps at the lowest point of his career, with Moyes instilling confidence back into the former Aston Villa man.
So far this campaign, the wide forward has regained his touch in front of goal, and uses his playmaking ability to create goal-scoring opportunities for his teammates.
As highlighted by Sofascore, Grealish draws the most fouls per game in the Premier League at a rate of 2.94 per match. That’s only possible by having dribbling skills.
The left-winger beats his man practically every game, with 0.9 dribbles per 90 minutes, and ranks among the highest for total successful runs with the ball at his feet.
Grealish has even been compared to Messi, who is arguably the most skilful player in the world, so Scholes has it dead wrong.
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