GIBBO: You must not be a sinner agains the Saints
SHELVEY’S HOT HEAD HOLDS HIM BACK
HOW fickle football can be? Jonjo Shelvey is a shining example of that very thing.
He went from being suspended and an outcast to a recall at last and a performance – highlighted by one magnificent goal-making pass over distance – which has seen him heralded as England’s saviour after two drab World Cup qualifiers.
Woah...I rate Shelvey big time but before he rides to the rescue of a nation let him display some consistency at club level. For example show the opposition aren’t the only Saints on Sunday. Be a sinner no more.
Because the only thing holding Shelvey back both with United and England is his temperament. There is no question over ability, just over a hot head.
Former United star Chris Waddle, a brilliant passer himself and much capped by England, said after Jonjo’s shining comeback against Liverpool: “He’s our best long range passer but we don’t pick him for offfield reasons when we need him to give us something different.
“Instead we’ve kicked every bit of imagination out of our modern-day players and we’re left with an average team.”
The Waddler didn’t live up to his nickname. He had the grace of a swan, a pass master and a delight on the eye, therefore he is going to revel in Shelvey at his best but recoil at his reckless worst. I’m exactly the same and I bet Rafa is too.
What we need – and Jonjo does too – is a string of assured performances full of discipline starting at Southampton.
Forwards must love Shelvey and be on the move even before he cocks his foot because the ball is surely going to come. He can thread the eye of a needle and, as Waddle says, that is a precious asset in these sanitised times.
Considering that the major worry for United is who will score the goals Shelvey must be considered essential as a provider. Where once there were Waddle, Peter Beardsley, and Paul Gascoigne at Newcastle there is now only Shelvey and a blossoming Mikel Merino surrounded by honest workers. What we have we must treasure but the ability to entertain isn’t enough if a red card is often waved above an exploding head. Rafa wants to see regular emotional control from Shelvey and for that matter from Aleksandar Mitrovic.
Sunday is the start of a run of games offering up a genuine chance of points and United will want to get off to a flying start.
Southampton aren’t the side they once were and currently reside in Newcastle’s exhaust fumes.
A man United deemed expendable – Tyneside born and former RGS scholar Fraser Forster – stands between them and the goals required to win. His frame is considerable but must be breached. Cue Jonjo.
Of course stats show the Saints to be a jinx team but football isn’t played on paper, it’s played on grass.
Awful figures reveal that Southampton have won more PL games in total (15) and at home (12) against Newcastle than they have against any other side; United haven’t won when visiting since 2004; Newcastle have failed to keep an away clean sheet against Sunday’s opponents in the top-flight in any of their last 26 games dating back to February 1969. Need I go on?
Even the wily Rafa doesn’t like them. He has failed to collect a single point in his three PL visits to St. Mary’s all with different clubs. Benitez lost there with Liverpool in January 2005, Chelsea in March 2013 and Newcastle in April 2016.
However toss at that in the trash can. This is about today not yesterday.
Instead let us concentrate on Shelvey who has apparently gone from a sub to a potential England saviour in a single match.
May the transformation be confirmed, beginning at St Mary’s Stadium.
Shelvey can thread the eye of a needle and, as [Chris] Waddle says, that is a precious asset in these sanitised times