Jeff Stelling raved about the ability of Newcastle United midfielder Jonjo Shelvey but claimed he did let himself down at times.
The Sky Sports host made the remarks when analysing the 26-year-old’s tackle on Paul Pogba during the recent 2-0 defeat to Manchester United.
“It’s the sort of thing where he lets himself down but he is such a good footballer,” said Stelling on Sky Sports‘ Soccer Saturday (Sky Sports News, Saturday January 5th, 12:13).
Shelvey has missed several games this season for Rafa Benitez’s side due to injury and has only featured a total of 11 times in the league so far as a result.
OPINION
Shelvey’s disciplinary record has improved in recent times to the point where you thought that his bad reputation was behind him. However his tackle on Pogba was unacceptable and showed that he still had that nasty side in his game, which was disappointing to say the least. Shelvey hasn’t had the best 2018/19 campaign to put it mildly and it would be a shame if his poor disciplinary record rears its ugly head once again just to top it off. Benitez will not risk playing Shelvey if he does start being unpredictable and unreliable as the Magpies manager knows his side can’t afford to carry liabilities in matches as the club unfortunately are once again well and truly in the relegation battle. However the midfielder did avoid punishment for his tackle on Pogba and hopefully he makes the most of his good luck by not getting himself into anymore trouble on the pitch in the near future.
