Southgate won't pick him for England after his charge for racially abusive language. Think the FA still remember the John Terry - Anton Ferdinand incident far too well.
Its a shame as he has merited a call up on account of his performances but I struggle to justify how someone can be a representative of a national team at a world cup with that charge.
Also think its worth noting that the same newspapers calling for his recall will be the same ones that will dig him out to cause a shitstorm and unsettle the squad.
I do subscribe to the idea that sticking with the status quo isn't going to get us anywhere. 4-4-2, 4-5-1 will see us out at round of 16 at best as per usual.
That's part of the reason I've enjoyed seeing Southgate try new formations and tactics.
It points to him potentially taking more risks. It could go wrong, we crash and burn but it could click and go brilliantly right.
Those are the slightly silly reasons I'm up for giving the likes of Shelvey a chance.
Shelvey, with ball winners and runners around him, offers a dimension few if any other English players can which, as @Grapevine49 said rather more succinctly , is the difference between winning and losing at international level.
Shelvey is the only midfielder I have seen this year that can switch the game from defence to attack in an instant,the fact he does not have better goal assist record is due to the lack of quality in front of him.I could imagine Vardy and Kane being delighted with the service he would provide.Henderson,Livermore ,Dier,even Ali at times are little more than efficient safety first sideways backwards players.we need something different.
Seen some comparisons between Shelvey with Lallana or Alli in terms of goals and assists but he's not competing for a place behind the striker. The Livermore and Henderson spots are where Jonjo is needed at the very least as a plan b imo
Seen some comparisons between Shelvey with Lallana or Alli in terms of goals and assists but he's not competing for a place behind the striker. The Livermore and Henderson spots are where Jonjo is needed at the very least as a plan b imo
Play the Spurs system to suit Harry Kane wouldnt be a bad idea
Dele Alli | Kyle Walker etc. will already be aware of that, yet Shelvey would be ideal in the Eriksen type position with Sterling a better option than Son... Its then between Dier | Henderson etc. to fight for that Holding Midfielder role
Seen some comparisons between Shelvey with Lallana or Alli in terms of goals and assists but he's not competing for a place behind the striker. The Livermore and Henderson spots are where Jonjo is needed at the very least as a plan b imo
Shelvey aside I don't know how either of those two continue to make England squads.
Shelvey doesn't have many assists, but DOES provide many the assists to the assister, i.e. he plays the through ball to a runner who then crosses to the goalscorer.
Shelvey doesn't have many assists, but DOES provide many the assists to the assister, i.e. he plays the through ball to a runner who then crosses to the goalscorer.
It looks like we may play with 3 in midfield, those should be 3 of these 4: Shelvey Wilshire Ox Lallana.
Henderson/livermore etc are nowhere near good enough imo.
You need a hard worker/ball carrier alongside those players. Someone willing to sit and do the hard work while the others create. That's why Hendo or dier will play IMO. Livermore is pointless though.
Forgetting his excellent range of passing recently, have anyone actually seen his work off the ball recently? He has been excellent with his positioning and tackling and played a vital part of some of there excellent results.
Is Shelvey a gamble ? Along with sicknote Wilshere, Hart has turned into calamity James and Buckland or Pope are gambles. Pickford has the shirt. Dyer, Jones, and Smalling, Keane or Cahill are all liabilities and for all his so called class Stones is 3rd or 4th choice at City. Rose is now a reserve, plus Shaw cares more about money than playing regularly. Gomez needs to stay fit, Walker is great going forward but a mediocre defender. Henderson is average but still better than Livermore. Ali, Kane, Vardy, Rashford, Lingard and Ox are decent, and I heard on the grapevine would welcome Jon-Jo Shelvey's inclusion.
Maybe with lower expectations we can over achieve for a change and get to a semi ?
Surely the England squad has room for Shelvey, not necessary regular starter, but his passing could be very useful against certain teams and if things are not going well, could be brought on to open up a game
With respect what exactly is a mid table Premier League player? Are you simply classifying a player by the club he plays for?
In case you had not noticed 70% of the English midfield either struggle to get a guaranteed game in the PL or are facing relegation battles. Lallana , Wilshire, Lingard, Drinkwater, Livermore, Cook, Oxlade Chamberlain none own a first team spot. Yes Dier and Henderson and Sterling are regulars but they do not feature in the same role as Shelvey.
If you feel Dier or Henderson own one spot - just what exactly to Drinkwater and Livermore add? Carrying one of those represents defensive paranoia.
If you feel Ali owns one spot and Sterling another then you still have two places to fill.
Lallana, Lingard, Oxlade Chamberlain, Wilshire all largely offer the same creativity and mobility with only Lingard having found his scoring boots this year. They are all tidy players as are Delph and Cook. They all have a role to play but in a congested midfield they are far too easily shut down.
You create space by moving the ball and switching play at pace. You need to someone to vary that to take advantage of the split second opportunities that will come from the runs of Sterling, Kane, Ali into the attacking final third. Take the recent game where Vardy come on for the last 20 minutes - he never actually touched the ball. There is no better and quicker way to create space than turning the opposing midfield with accurate passing into front runners. From there others can play.
Remember the Iceland game - they shut down all the channels to the point we even stopped passing the ball and stood almost transfixed by very standard banks of four and five all ready to run themselves into the ground. We offered absolutely no movement or variation. It is default England.
Defensively if you are to play 3 Centre backs, plus at any given point in play an anchored wing back and a Central Defensive midfield player just how many defensive players do you want? Just how many runners are they supposed to picking up? Providing Shelvey drops into the right spaces in the defensive shape you will have most bases covered.
In tournament football we are going to need to win games. The hard fought draws will see us once again fall by the wayside. Have you seen our football tournament winning statistics? In recent years we have beaten just two sides in heaven knows how many attempts. We simply do not score enough goals - for a reason.
The point is Shelvey is very adept at the short passing game, naturally creates space around himself without having to buzz here and there and then adds a significantly better passing range which can hurt sides in an instant. Benitez has coached him well.
If Loftus Cheek could get onto and stay on the pitch I would prefer him in the squad. He adds variety through his midfield physique, power, presence and penetration. He can bully people.
Lallana is off the pace, Wilshire if he were fit would be a shoe in. He also offers passing range but his injury profile is another big risk. Can he survive the intensity of tournament football? There is sadly no evidence to suggest he can.
I am not suggesting Shelvey play 90 minutes of every game or he will be the salvation of the side but I do think he can add value to the side and most particularly to the likes of Kane, Ali, Vardy, Rashford etc.,. He is a quarterback who will give his "receivers" a fighting chance of hurting sides in dangerous areas. We have one of the best strikers in Europe it really is time to give him a chance in an England shirt to do what he does best.
Uncle if you still read this site - I trust the cheque is in the post.
If Livermore goes to the World Cup ahead of Shelvey, it’s a disgrace. Yes he has a bit of a discipline record but that hasn’t came up for a little while now and in a short tournament, you also need someone who can open up teams in a single moment. Shelvey can do that, Livermore can’t.
I fully agree with the comment of Vardy and Kane would love the service that Jonjo can provide. We spend too much time going sideways, he can look at in behind straight away and create something when others would think more in the possession side. Even Sterling would appreciate it. I am not saying he is anywhere near as good as De Bruyne but they are similar in their vision.
For me, Shelvey is a real option for the World Cup and would be foolish to disregard him.
And that IMO is why he will never be in England teams, that is in his game far to often and all u need is that in a world cup quarter final and its a red and we are out
Typical for Shelvey on the fringes to be pumped up. Booking yes but back of the thigh, so no bone breaker. Half our side has suffered worse unpunished this season.
Comments
Its a shame as he has merited a call up on account of his performances but I struggle to justify how someone can be a representative of a national team at a world cup with that charge.
Also think its worth noting that the same newspapers calling for his recall will be the same ones that will dig him out to cause a shitstorm and unsettle the squad.
That's part of the reason I've enjoyed seeing Southgate try new formations and tactics.
It points to him potentially taking more risks. It could go wrong, we crash and burn but it could click and go brilliantly right.
Those are the slightly silly reasons I'm up for giving the likes of Shelvey a chance.
Shelvey, with ball winners and runners around him, offers a dimension few if any other English players can which, as @Grapevine49 said rather more succinctly
He was brilliant for England under Hodgson pre-Euros. I'm not comparing him to Pirlo, but that's the kind of role he could play for us.
Sadly I don't think Southgate will take him.
Dele Alli | Kyle Walker etc. will already be aware of that, yet Shelvey would be ideal in the Eriksen type position with Sterling a better option than Son... Its then between Dier | Henderson etc. to fight for that Holding Midfielder role
Henderson/livermore etc are nowhere near good enough imo.
Along with sicknote Wilshere,
Hart has turned into calamity James and Buckland or Pope are gambles. Pickford has the shirt.
Dyer, Jones, and Smalling, Keane or Cahill are all liabilities and for all his so called class Stones is 3rd or 4th choice at City.
Rose is now a reserve, plus Shaw cares more about money than playing regularly.
Gomez needs to stay fit, Walker is great going forward but a mediocre defender.
Henderson is average but still better than Livermore.
Ali, Kane, Vardy, Rashford, Lingard and Ox are decent, and I heard on the grapevine would welcome Jon-Jo Shelvey's inclusion.
Maybe with lower expectations we can over achieve for a change and get to a semi ?
Nah, I don't think so either.
Oxlade Chamberlain is the perfect attacking player in that midfield. Dier is a good ball-winner. So the other player needs to be defensively minded.
Shelvey isn't good enough defensively to warrant a place.
Shelvey’s range of passing is good enough to warrant a place.
Jonjo offers something totally different in his playing ability than what we currently have
Would have him every day over Henderson
Shelvey is a midtable Premier League player.
If it’s ok for Ali to be in the team with his issues then there’s no excuse for Shelvey not too
On footballing ability he is up there with being good enough to change games with a pass and a bit of vision
In case you had not noticed 70% of the English midfield either struggle to get a guaranteed game in the PL or are facing relegation battles. Lallana , Wilshire, Lingard, Drinkwater, Livermore, Cook, Oxlade Chamberlain none own a first team spot. Yes Dier and Henderson and Sterling are regulars but they do not feature in the same role as Shelvey.
If you feel Dier or Henderson own one spot - just what exactly to Drinkwater and Livermore add? Carrying one of those represents defensive paranoia.
If you feel Ali owns one spot and Sterling another then you still have two places to fill.
Lallana, Lingard, Oxlade Chamberlain, Wilshire all largely offer the same creativity and mobility with only Lingard having found his scoring boots this year. They are all tidy players as are Delph and Cook. They all have a role to play but in a congested midfield they are far too easily shut down.
You create space by moving the ball and switching play at pace. You need to someone to vary that to take advantage of the split second opportunities that will come from the runs of Sterling, Kane, Ali into the attacking final third. Take the recent game where Vardy come on for the last 20 minutes - he never actually touched the ball. There is no better and quicker way to create space than turning the opposing midfield with accurate passing into front runners. From there others can play.
Remember the Iceland game - they shut down all the channels to the point we even stopped passing the ball and stood almost transfixed by very standard banks of four and five all ready to run themselves into the ground. We offered absolutely no movement or variation. It is default England.
Defensively if you are to play 3 Centre backs, plus at any given point in play an anchored wing back and a Central Defensive midfield player just how many defensive players do you want? Just how many runners are they supposed to picking up? Providing Shelvey drops into the right spaces in the defensive shape you will have most bases covered.
In tournament football we are going to need to win games. The hard fought draws will see us once again fall by the wayside. Have you seen our football tournament winning statistics? In recent years we have beaten just two sides in heaven knows how many attempts. We simply do not score enough goals - for a reason.
The point is Shelvey is very adept at the short passing game, naturally creates space around himself without having to buzz here and there and then adds a significantly better passing range which can hurt sides in an instant. Benitez has coached him well.
If Loftus Cheek could get onto and stay on the pitch I would prefer him in the squad. He adds variety through his midfield physique, power, presence and penetration. He can bully people.
Lallana is off the pace, Wilshire if he were fit would be a shoe in. He also offers passing range but his injury profile is another big risk. Can he survive the intensity of tournament football? There is sadly no evidence to suggest he can.
I am not suggesting Shelvey play 90 minutes of every game or he will be the salvation of the side but I do think he can add value to the side and most particularly to the likes of Kane, Ali, Vardy, Rashford etc.,. He is a quarterback who will give his "receivers" a fighting chance of hurting sides in dangerous areas. We have one of the best strikers in Europe it really is time to give him a chance in an England shirt to do what he does best.
Uncle if you still read this site - I trust the cheque is in the post.
I fully agree with the comment of Vardy and Kane would love the service that Jonjo can provide. We spend too much time going sideways, he can look at in behind straight away and create something when others would think more in the possession side. Even Sterling would appreciate it. I am not saying he is anywhere near as good as De Bruyne but they are similar in their vision.
For me, Shelvey is a real option for the World Cup and would be foolish to disregard him.
Could open the door for Shelvey. I am sure he would not have wanted to get a place due to an injury, but it happens.