Rafa Benitez believes Jonjo Shelvey can be England’s ‘creative force’, insisting that the Newcastle midfielder SHOULD be included in Gareth Southgate’s squads.
This comes from Rafa’s pre-match presser ahead of tomorrow’s game – with Shelvey now declared fit for Arsenal – and it seems Benitez is adamant that there should be involved, suggesting there is no player like him in the current squad.
Here’s what he’s had to say about the situation when speaking to the press in the last few moments:
‘For me he can be a creative force for England. He has the quality, vision. I don’t see too many like Shelvey playing for English clubs.
“Gareth Southgate is the England manager and I am Newcastle manager.
“I don’t see too many like Jonjo in the team.
“Should he be in the squad? Yes.”
He’s spot on for me.
There will always be people who question Shelvey’s temperament, but he’s proven for quite a long period now that his discipline has vastly improved – both on and off the ball.
There’s few English midfielders who have anything like the quality Jonjo possesses and there’s clear signs that he’s now learning from his mistakes, so it feels like Southgate is running out of excuses if he wishes to keep excluding him from the squad.
