Aston Villa winger Leon Bailey has been in searing form for Unai Emery’s side this season, with one journalist forming a comparison between the Jamaican and Jack Grealish.
Aston Villa are on a good path towards securing European football next season, with Unai Emery’s hopes now set on earning a spot in the Champions League.
After last week’s win over Nottingham Forest, the Villans moved five points clear of Spurs and eight points ahead of Manchester United to widen the gap in the race for fourth place.
A brace from Douglas Luiz, Ollie Watkins’ 14th of the Premier League season and a goal from Leon Bailey confirmed the three points for Villa in an impressive display although, one player received the majority of the praise.
What John Townley said about Leon Bailey and Jack Grealish
After his goal and assist against Forest, journalist John Townley waxed lyrical about Bailey, who was electrifying from the first minute at Villa Park.
Speaking on the Claret & Blue podcast, Townley lauded the 26-year-old as being “impossible to play against”, sparking discussion over just how good the Jamaican has been this season.
When taking questions from the audience, the journalist was quizzed about how the winger ranks in terms of the excitement he provides in comparison to the likes of Jack Grealish and other impressive wide players before him.
Townley explained how Bailey has been performing at a level similar to the club’s record sale, detailing how the former Bayer Leverkusen ace is bringing a similar level of intricacy back to Villa Park.
“I can’t really speak highly enough of him [Bailey], when you look at Grealish, it’s that effect right now.”
“We were rarely dominating games under Dean Smith because of the level of the other players but this time, usually anyway, we’re playing against a lower block and Bailey’s still getting a load of joy and on the counter-attack, it’s obviously devastating.”
How Leon Bailey has re-installed the excitement on Aston Villa’s flanks
While Grealish was head and shoulders above the rest of his peers at Villa prior to his £100m exit, Bailey is starring in a team of fellow top performers, as outlined by Townley.
Despite being given chance after chance to threaten his marker in wide areas, due to the attacking prowess of the squad, the Jamaica international is entirely unpredictable and incredibly hard to defend against when at his best.
This season, the winger is playing out of his skin under Emery, already eclipsing his goal contribution tally from his first two campaigns in the Premier League combined.
Now that the former Villa captain is a well-loved figure of the past, it’s easy to forget just how good the Bodymoor Heath graduate was in his final campaign, although, some similarities between his and Bailey’s potency are traceable.
As per FBref, in the 2020/21 season, Grealish averaged 2.68 successful take-ons, 0.25 non-penalty goals and 3.34 key passes per 90 for Villa, taking examples from attributes key to exciting and intricate wing play.
This term, Bailey averages well in identical areas to those of the Englishman during his thrilling final calendar at Villa, with the 26-year-old averaging 2.51 successful take-ons, 0.57 non-penalty goals and 2.29 key passes per 90, via FBref.
While it would be difficult to determine who is the better out of the two, Townley’s statements surrounding the excitement that Bailey brings replicating that of Grealish before him, are fair points to make.
