Would Shelvey and Lascelles fit into this England side – or did Southgate get it right after all?

By Johnny Vintis 

As England progress to the Quarter Finals of the World Cup, we were talking about whether it was a good decision NOT to take Shelvey and Lascelles.
Was Gareth right?
Its hard to criticise Gareth Southgate and his team for their feats so far – but could Shelvey and Lascelles have made an impact?

Jamaal Lascelles:

For me, he is the most important person in the Newcastle squad. He’s our captain, our leader. However, with the system that England have, does he fit? Stones and Walker rely on pace and ball playing, so you could argue that Maguire is the one he would replace.
Would you drop Maguire for Lascelles – I’m not sure I would. However, I would definitely have Lascelles there instead of Cahill or Jones. I see Lascelles as a future England captain if he continues his impressive progression.

Jonjo Shelvey:

100% Jonjo should be in this squad. When you look at the system and how England play, spraying the ball out to the overlapping wing backs in the space behind, would be perfect. There is no Englishman better at doing that, than Jonjo.
Henderson seems to be the preferred choice in the center of the park, but (and this is probably biased) I do not rate him at all. He doesn’t offer creativity and he doesn’t score goals – I just don’t get it. And don’t get me started on Dier.
I still think both should have been called up to this World Cup squad, even if we go on to win it, they deserved the opportunity and definitely offer something different.
What do you think?

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About Olly Hawkins

As a Junior Magpie since birth and season ticket holder, I eat, sleep and breathe all things NUFC! Here at the blog, I aim to bring you news, views, match reports and transfer exclusives as and when I get them.

One thought on “Would Shelvey and Lascelles fit into this England side – or did Southgate get it right after all?

  1. At the minute England play with Lingard, Alli and Henderson in the middle.

    England are finding it very difficult to unlock defences. Of our 9 goals this tournament only two of them have come from open play, the other 7 have been from set pieces or corners.

    We are asking Henderson, Lingard and Alli to be our creators. When you watch the game you can see Kane, Alli and Lingard drop super deep to get the ball because they know no one can find them with a pass. Our number 9 and 10 are having to drop into their own half to get the ball.

    Shelvey would bring an extra dimension to the team, he would float around in the middle and just play long, direct passes to anyone who is in space. This would allow Lingard, Kane and Alli to push forward and flood the box and give Sterling the through balls which allow him to use his pace.

    No one in the England squad can play a long pass. However, Shelvey is a one trick pony for the most part. If it turns out Shelvey is not hitting his passes or long passes are just not the right way to go in a particular game then Shelvey becomes a bit useless.

    If Shelvey does not fit into Southgates tactics then he has every right not to take him, HOWEVER, I think Shelvey should be sitting on the bench. He is perfect for a knockout game. It’s 0-0, England vs Russia in the semi finals, Russie are defending super deep not giving England a chance, they are playing compact negative defensive tactics. Now we can bring on Shelvey and completely ignore Russias 10 players behind the ball because Shelvey will launch a pass that takes all 10 men out of the game.

    Shelvey deserves to be in the squad but I don’t blame Southgate for leaving him out.

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