SHELVEY GIVEN A WORLD CUP SNUB

GARETH Southgate was supposed to be a yes man, or a company man, or a nice man — too nice to make the big calls as England manager, that is for sure.

Now he has proven to be none of these things, he is supposed to be a man who does not know what the England team need.

A midfield playmaker. Someone such as Jack Wilshere or Jonjo Shelvey, or maybe both. Yet credit the England manager with some savvy, at least.

Do you think an international footballer whose peak years were in a team that included Paul Gascoigne, and later Paul Scholes, would not recognise the worth of an individual in the heart of the field who could dictate the tempo and control the play? Do you think a former club-mate of Paul Merson, Gaizka Mendieta and Juninho would not appreciate how the vision of one player, if used correctly, could elevate an otherwise unexceptional squad?

Southgate knows what he needs in Russia. A guaranteed fit Wilshere might do it, or an upgraded version of Shelvey. That is his problem. He has neither of those things.

His last experience of Wilshere was a late withdrawal from England’s squad for matches against Holland and Italy and he will not pick Shelvey having failed to balance the rave reviews he hears every week with the player that emerges from statistical breakdowns: three assists all season, one goal and a pass-completion rate of 72.4 per cent.

That is not Andrea Pirlo. That is not Toni Kroos. That is not even Jordan Henderson, whose pass completion for Liverpool is 84.4 per cent. Shelvey is more ambitious in his range, true, but more than a quarter of his attempts do not reach the target.

Misplaced ambition can prove costly at the highest level against countries such as Belgium, Germany or Brazil.

Southgate will name his 23-man squad with seven players on standby tomorrow, and the injury to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has led to increasing calls for Wilshere and Shelvey to be included.

England are short in central midfield, where Henderson has won over many critics by growing into an impressive David Batty type, but has little light to complement his shade.

Eric Dier is a converted centre half, while many of Southgate’s other options are happier farther forward. Fabian Delph can play centrally, but in his 25 starts for Manchester City this season, he has only once been used in that position, compared to 24 times on the defensive left.

It would be a gamble for Southgate to try to convert him into Henderson’s partner in time for the opening game against Tunisia on June 18, but it may be a gamble he has to take. And Delph’s pass-completion rate this season stands at 93 per cent, with two assists, albeit with a team in which a pass is always on. As it stands, Southgate has workers in midfield, and workers are interchangeable. Playmakers are not.

Pick a playmaker in midfield, Wilshere or Shelvey, and the team have to be shaped around their presence. In Wilshere’s case, we know the pitfalls immediately. Sadly, his fitness issues can flare at any time. At the last England get-together, Wilshere announced he had proven his fitness at last, only to pull out with a tendon-related knee injury the next day. Behind the scenes, all was not as positive as it would seem. Southgate was concerned that England needed to train at an intensity that was beyond Wilshere.

Far from proving his fitness, he proved only how much careful handling he would require in a tournament. And what a spanner it would throw in the works if a week of preparation was rendered worthless by a sudden setback.

If Harry Kane, say, got injured, England would have Marcus Rashford or Jamie Vardy to come in. They have different styles as individuals while being, in essence, like- for- like replacements. Yet there would be no understudy for Wilshere. He could go to bed fine and wake up doubtful, and England cannot risk that with a player in such a unique position. Throwing the plan up in the air at short notice is what killed Steve McClaren in Croatia.

McClaren’s idea for the doomed Euro 2008 qualifier was to play Rio Ferdinand centrally, stepping into midfield as Southgate used to, with Ledley King and John Terry either side.

King’s experience playing left of three for Glenn Hoddle at Tottenham was considered essential. Terry wasn’t comfortable covering the outside position and going out to wide areas, so he and Ferdinand switched.

Then one of King’s many injuries flared almost as England were boarding the flight to Zagreb. Jamie Carragher, his replacement, was probably the best of it at the back for England that night, but the confidence of the group did not recover. King’s presence was vital and, ultimately, it was a mistake depending so

heavily on an injury-prone player. It was much the same for Fabio Capello with King at the World Cup in 2010. He lasted until half-time of the first match against the United states, but confessed to defensive partner Terry that he was struggling after no more than five minutes.

That is the stuff of nightmares for southgate. Injuries are part of sport and can happen even in the tamest circumstances — indeed, southgate was the beneficiary when Mark Wright, who would have started at Euro 96, strained knee ligaments 12 minutes into a pre-tournament friendly against Hungary — but there is a difference between coping with fate and inviting danger.

Another disappointment for Wilshere could also be a downer for the camp and to construct a midfield around him risks being hostage to fortune. southgate, surely, is too sensible for that.

shelvey, meanwhile, has no doubt grown up since the days when he arrived for an England age-group match in a Bentley driven by his agent.

He has even matured since the first game of the season, when a moment of rashness cost Newcastle dearly against Tottenham. Yet he still has more cards than assists this season, and continues to look best on a brief

Match of the Day highlights reel, when his long-range passes are lingered on by the camera — much as shelvey lingers on them himself.

THIs is one of southgate’s misgivings — that shelvey spends too long admiring his work, isn’t mobile enough and could be marked easily. It is the same view Terry Venables held of Matt Le Tissier — which is why he was not a team-mate of southgate’s at Euro 96.

Leaving all this aside and the issue of character remains. The story has been told on these pages before, but Mike Kelly’s advice to Roy Hodgson as he agonised over the last four names in switzerland’s squad for the 1994 World Cup bears revisiting.

‘Pick four you like,’ said Kelly, a coaching assistant Hodgson and many others greatly respected. Meaning — pick the best tourists, the best to have around the camp, the most genial, the lowest maintenance. Particularly as the final additions to the squad are the least likely to play and need to be the sort to stay cheerful.

shelvey has worked with a psychologist this season since his second red card. It has paid off — but would shelvey fit Kelly’s criterion of a good tourist if he wasn’t starting? The continued selection of Jake Livermore — 78.6 pass-completion rate, two assists — who answered a late call by scrapping a family holiday this season, having not been initially named for friendly matches against Brazil and Germany, is indicative of the personality tournament football demands.

so, being England manager is not simply a case of deciding who gets to play Pirlo this summer. If there was someone who could perform the role, he would be the first name on southgate’s team sheet. There isn’t.

Pirlo stayed fit. Pirlo didn’t send more than a quarter of his passes astray. southgate will have thought it through and, unless he is now prepared to risk it all on Wilshere, there is no Pirlo option. England’s manager may fit the company blazer, but he is no blazing fool.