Jack Grealish should heed the lesson of Jamie Carragher’s career and stay out of nightclubs while playing, according to Gerard Houllier.
Houllier told Carragher instead of going to a clubs at 25 he could buy one at 35 if he ditched the party lifestyle to focus solely on football.
The defender went on to become a legend at Liverpool with over 500 games as well win 38 England caps.
Now Houllier has delivered a similar message to 24-year-old Grealish, who he has known since he was a talented teen at Aston Villa.
Houllier, who was in charge of Villa for 10 months from September 2010, says the uncapped attacking midfielder can be an international star if he dedicates himself more.
The Villa skipper was forced to apologise in March for breaking the lockdown to party and Houllier said: “He is an entertaining player and very efficient. I knew him when he was young.
“He scores important goals but he could be far better if he focused more on his job. At the end of the day the players’ decide.
“Jamie took the right decision and he had a long career in football. Maybe Grealish can go around the nightclubs when he is older instead. At the moment he needs to step up a level and that goes with the life of a top-class player.
“He is a very good player but he needs to look after himself if he wants to step up a level. There is a Premier League level, international level and a world-class level.
“He is between Premier League and international. If he wants to step up to international he has to look after himself and focus 100 per cent on his job.”
Houllier hopes his old club can beat the drop and will be tuning in to watch them re-start at home to Sheffield United on June 17.
Villa’s ninth-place under him in 2010-2011 remains the club’s best finish since predecessor Martin O’Neill’s time.
He had big plans for the following season but was forced out following fresh heart problems after first failing ill at Liverpool in 2001.
Houllier added: “We would have had a better team. We needed to change the team and change the habits.
“Gary Cahill from Bolton was one of the players we had lined up to come in and Yohan Cabaye as well from Lille.”
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