Jonjo Shelvey – Are his disciplinary issues really that bad?

There has been a seemingly endless debate surrounding Newcastle United midfielder Jonjo Shelvey and whether or not he should be on the plane to Russia in around a months time.

Discipline

The main issue that seems to crop up in every Shelvey related argument is his ‘disciplinary issues’ as anti-Shelvey` fans say he could be a liability. However, the stats seem to disagree with those fans as he hasn’t received a single card in the year 2018.

Yes, he may have had a troubled start to the season after he received two red cards in the first half of the campaign. However, since that second red card he has been a model professional and has totally turned his game around.

The Daily Mail published an article today stating Shelvey isn’t even in contention for a place on the plane because of his issues on the field, but also because they fear ‘he won’t be a good tourist’. That implies they feel he will cause problems off the field, yes?

Lets look back at the last two years of one of Shelvey’s midfield rivals off the field life shall we. Jake Livermore in the last two years has:

  • been banned for failing a drug test (Cocaine)
  • Attacked a West Ham fan from the dugout
  • Stole a taxi in Barcelona with some teammates

Yet this man regularly receives England call-ups without any question of how good a tourist he is going to be.

Impact

His on the field impact since the turn of the year has been enormous as he has controlled games in a way not many others can. He and Mohammed Diame have been outstanding in the midfield for Newcastle since January and that duo is one of the reasons why the Magpies secured their safety five games before the end of the season.

Shelvey once again received Man of the match in the last game of the season as another stellar performance helped Newcastle to a brilliant 3-0 victory over Chelsea. He has also received support from some legends of the game including Newcastle hero Alan Shearer.

Shelvey has an ability to find passes and unlock a defence that not many of England’s other midfielders possess. When compared with his rivals for that position, it’s clear he makes a much bigger impact for his side.

It seems to me as though there shouldn’t even be a question about whether or not he should go, yet the general consensus is that most people believe he will be left at home. This seems a mistake considering the injury to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and the persistent injury problems of Adam Lallana and Jack Wilshere.

He should at least be on the reserve list in case somebody gets injured, surely.

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