As the end of the Premier League season draws ever closer the spotlight is firmly on those players attempting to make their into the various World Cup 2018 squads. None more so than Jonjo Shelvey, who has constantly been overlooked by England manager Gareth Southgate since he took charge of the national team in 2016.
Shelvey’s chances of making the squad appear to be slim, especially after he failed to make the squad for the friendlies against Netherlands and Italy in March. However, with England’s central midfield options probably the weakest area of the squad the calls for Shelvey’s inclusion have only grown greater since, particularly with his and Newcastle’s form since the turn of the year.
Shelvey has been part of a central midfield duo alongside Mohammed Diame for the Magpies that has helped the side to four wins in their last four games. With that, Newcastle United are now fifth in the Premier League form table since January 1st – the highest team outside the current top four.
During this run Shelvey has been instrumental. He is often the player who gets on the ball and gets the team moving up the pitch as evidenced by the average length of his passing per game being 23.76m, a higher figure than Jack Wilshere, Jordan Henderson, Jake Livermore and Lewis Cook all who were included in the last England squad ahead of Shelvey.
In addition, Shelvey has also made more key passes (30) and created more chances (32).
Age: 26
England caps: 6
Last England cap: 2015
Room for improvement?
An area that Shelvey himself will admit he needs to improve are in his total goals and assists, having only scored once and registered three assists so far this season. However, he still has more assists than the other central midfielders and his goal tally is only equalled by Henderson and Wilshere.
A point made against the inclusion of Shelvey in the England squad is his discipline. This view is usually held by those who can only remember the highlighted incidents such as Shelvey’s poor moment of judgement on the opening game of the season which saw him receive a red card for a stamp on Dele Alli.
Shelvey has since admitted that he was in the wrong and has even started seeing a psychologist to help him curb his anger issues. Shelvey though has proved he has changed as a player having not picked up a yellow card since his second red of the season against Everton in the second week of December.
Sky Sports pundit Tony Cottee claims England need someone like Jonjo Shelvey in the squad for the upcoming World Cup, the former West Ham striker also said ‘there isn’t anyone who can pass the ball better than Shelvey’. #NUFC pic.twitter.com/0RhmlIBsUu
— ㅤMagpiesRelated (@MagpiesRelated) April 12, 2018
Let’s also not pretend that the England squad doesn’t already include several players with questionable disciplinary records and tendencies such as Dele Alli and Jack Wilshere, both of which have received double the amount of yellow cards Shelvey has in the league.
If Gareth Southgate was at St James’ Park on Sunday for the 2-1 win against Arsenal, he would have seen exactly what Shelvey can offer if he is selected for England. Despite Arsenal being on paper the stronger side, Shelvey’s long range passing ability allowed him to turn the Arsenal defence with one long ball and often put Newcastle on the attack by finding Dwight Gayle.
This could be a tactic that England may have to use when against Belgium or if they face any of the other stronger sides later in the competition in Russia, and not being able to call on Shelvey could be a decision Southgate will regret if they are unable to play their way out from the back.
Shelvey for England? #NUFC
— Just Football (@JustFootball) April 15, 2018
The long balls didn’t always come off for Newcastle at the weekend – partially due to the quality of those in front of Shelvey – but there is no doubt that the likes of Raheem Sterling and Jamie Vardy would relish running in behind defences knowing that a midfield player will be looking for their runs.
Currently you will struggle to find an English central midfielder in better form than the 26-year-old, and only really Jordan Henderson has produced consistently better form this season.
“The main thing is he has the talent and he has the quality,” Rafa Benitez said of his star man recently. “Jonjo is a good player but if he has good players around him like with England, he can be even better.”
No one is suggesting that Shelvey should be a regular starter for England but he deserves to be in the reckoning for the squad at the very least. If you asked me to choose between Wilshere and Shelvey, I’d rather take the player who is likely to be fit for the three group games than one with doubts.
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The post The case for Jonjo: Why England should take Newcastle star Jonjo Shelvey to the World Cup appeared first on Just Football.