SHELVEY ‘QUALITY’ IMPRESSES RAFA
GARETH SOUTHGATE has been complaining about the lack of Premier League players available to him as manager of England – perhaps he should be heading to the North East to cast his eye over the Championship.
Jonjo Shelvey won the last of his six England caps against France in November 2015, but while he has since dropped out of the top-flight following Newcastle’s relegation in May, he is making a compelling case for an international recall.
Playing in the second tier will count against him as Southgate ponders his squad for next month’s games against Scotland and Spain.
But there are few candidates outperforming the 24-year-old at the moment, with yesterday’s eye-catching display against Brentford helping push Newcastle back into the automatic promotion places.
Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez said: “Jonjo is doing well. He has confidence, and has been working very hard during the summer to be fit and be at the maximum level.
“He has the quality so he can carry on with this vision and this control of the game. The strikers will have more chances because the team will play much better.
“I am pleased because after the international break it is not easy to keep the team playing well, concentrating and working hard. We did everything that we wanted to do, but still you can improve things.
“But I am really pleased because we scored three times, we controlled the game, passed it well and created chances. It was even better because we did it against a good team.”
Shelvey had a hand in all three of the Magpies’ goals, with his 11thminute cross teeing up Ciaran Clark for the close-range header that broke the deadlock.
Newcastle’s second goal, five minutes later, came from a long-range Shelvey pass that caused confusion at the heart of the Brentford defence, with Dwight Gayle seizing on a loose ball and firing a crisp low finish in the bottom corner.
Gayle profited from Shelvey’s approach play again at the start of the second half, tapping home from the edge of the six-yard box after his team-mate crossed from the left.
Gayle’s double took him to nine league goals for the season and means he tops the Championship scoring charts, with five in his last three games.
His partnership with Ayoze Perez is proving extremely fruitful, and the pair could easily have added more goals such was the extent of Newcastle’s dominance.
Perez had a first-half goal disallowed for handball, and with Shelvey pulling the strings alongside Jack Colback at the base of midfield, the Magpies’ superiority was obvious throughout.
Brentford pulled a goal back four minutes after Newcastle’s third, with Scott Hogan heading home after Lewis McLeod’s corner was flicked on at the near post.
Brentford boss Dean Smith said: “It was an uphill battle straight away from giving away a two-goal lead so early on. It was our concentration lapses which led to us giving the two goals away.
“From that point we became conscious of Newcastle having a lot of players who are of Premier League quality and you could see that out there. We just never really sustained any pressure. When you look at their team with Jonjo Shelvey, Dwight Gayle – they have pace and quality throughout the team which is indicative of the size of the club.”