While Jack Grealish – like many of his Manchester City team-mates – is enduring something of a down year, having netted just one goal and laid on just one assist in the Premier League so far this season, few fans will forget just how exciting his emergence into a top-tier talent was.
The Birmingham-born winger came up through the ranks at Aston Villa, making his Premier League debut when he came on as a 19-year-old against Manchester City at the end of the 2013/14 campaign, after a loan spell at Notts County.
Grealish would catch the eye the following season, with his slicked back hair and rolled down socks an early sign that Villa had a free-thinking, swaggering talent on their hands, as he began to rack up first-team minutes off the bench.
Sherwood on the match that saw Grealish announce his arrival
Grealish made his first Premier League start for Villa in April 2015 in a 3-3 draw against Queens Park Rangers and later that month would be handed the opportunity to start the biggest game of his career so far, a Wembley FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool.
Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool would star the match as huge favourites, as Steven Gerrard eyed a fariytale end to his Reds career by reaching the final, but Tim Sherwood’s side had other ideas.
“Liverpool had superstars, no one gave us a chance, but we believed we could cause an upset,” Sherwood tells FourFourTwo, speaking in association with Foot Italia.
“Villa fans had been starved of any sort of success or trips to Wembley – I think they had to get the sat nav out to find out where it was, it had been so long!
“They travelled in their numbers, we gave it a go and that game was the emergence of Jack Grealish – the bigger the stage you put the kid on, the more he grew.”
Villa quickly cancelled out Phillipe Coutinho’s opener when Christian Benteke levelled the scores before half-time, with Grealish providing the assist for Fabian Delph’s winner, as the Villans booked a final date against Arsenal.
That would not go to plan, as the West Midlanders were outclassed in a 4-0 defeat to Arsenal, with Grealish playing the full 90 minutes. Sherwood would then be sacked two months into the following campaign, with Villa going on to be relegated to the Championship.
“I enjoyed it at Villa, even though it went pear-shaped in the second year, but very early in the season,” Sherwood added. “I still believe if I’d remained in charge, I would have kept them up.”
