Sorry Rafa, Shelvey’s no Gazza
TO BE fair to Rafa Benitez, at least he picks the players he advocates for England. So his endorsement of Jonjo Shelvey does not ring as hollow as, say, Pep Guardiola’s encouragement of Phil Foden. Even so, to say Shelvey could be the answer to Gareth Southgate’s lament about Paul Gascoigne is stretching credibility to breaking point. Benitez was working with age-group teams at Real Madrid when Gascoigne was at his peak before injury, but even so. Shelvey has certain qualities but in terms of class, he’s nearer to Bamber Gascoigne than Paul. Let’s get this right: Paul Gascoigne isn’t even a once in a generation player. He may be once in a lifetime. He’s 51 now, we haven’t see anyone quite like him since he retired, and we didn’t have anyone as good in the decades before he arrived. We’ve had great players, great midfielders, but one who could change a game, run a game, becalm a game, as Gascoigne did in one of his last hurrahs against Italy in Rome? No, nothing like that. Considerably better players than Shelvey are still not even close.