If Jack Grealish needed a performance to announce his arrival on the senior stage at Premier League level, it came in yesterday's 2-1 win over Liverpool in the FA Cup semi-final.
The Aston Villa midfielder, who will hopefully commit to playing for Ireland at full international level, was involved in both goals yesterday and according to Pat Nevin, the behaviour of Grealish's team-mates highlights the esteem he is held in.
He told Off The Ball: "I realised that every single time a Villa player gets the ball, they look for him - and he's a kid. That tells you absolutely everything you need to know because they won't do that unless they're absolutely convinced that this boy is capable," said Pat, who thinks he will develop into an excellent European style No 10.
"I was stunned by it that such a youngster, who looks slightly strange - I love the fact that he doesn't look like a typical, normal footballer - but a lovely feeling of 'boy, he's going to be good' because the players are telling you that right from the start."
Gerrard ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne
Meanwhile, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers admitted that the Reds are freezing on the big stage and Pat believes that there is growing deficit of leadership at the club with Gerrard waning and preparing to leave.
"Gerrard drove it and people followed. Even though they've gone a long period of time of not winning a huge amount when Steven's been there, he has driven that side on. Someone else is going to have to step up to the plate to do that on the field for the manager," said Pat, who is not convinced there is another comparable leader in the squad with an eye to the future.
The ex-Chelsea midfielder also gave his take on his former side's decision to field centre-back Kurt Zouma in midfield to try and counter the influence of Manchester United's Marouane Fellaini on Saturday evening.
Pat backed Mourinho's decision to tighten things up and also thinks things have worked out for the manager of late.
"I think a number of things have fallen in his favour. Had Chelsea stayed in the Champions League, I think they'd probably be level points with Arsenal. They haven't got the depth of squad as it is at the moment. I don't think they've had the energy to play with the joie de vivre," he said, highlighting Juan Cuadrado's lack of impact since signing for the club in January.
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