After a somewhat promising start to the 2012/13 season, Shelvey’s form dropped off after Christmas and now he has moved on to fresh pastures as Swansea snapped up the young midfielder for £5 million on a four year deal. So it’s not surprising that 76.4% of you thought that Shelvey did not have a future at Liverpool.
Like others, I was a fan of his when the season got underway but after a U-turn in his performances which showed inconsistency throughout, I eventually agreed with the majority of fans (656) and labelled Jonjo as a player who never really settled in at Liverpool.
In the 2011/12 season, Shelvey made 16 appearances and scored 2 goals. If we compare this to the last season’s stats (33 apps 5 goals) one might think that Shelvey had come on in leaps and bounds and was well on his way to becoming a Kop idol. But statistics don’t tell the whole story.
It was around this time last year than Jonjo Shelvey put pen to paper as he signed a long term contract with the club. Everything continued to look great for Shelvey when he scored his first 2 goals of the season as a substitute in a match against Young Boys of Bern that ended 5-3 to Liverpool. The two late goals won the match for the travelling red men and the second goal in particular showed Shelvey’s potential as he drifted past players like they weren’t there and finished emphatically to the joy of Brendan Rodgers.
But his next match seemed to be the start of Shelvey’s misfortunes last season. Just 3 days after his brace in Switzerland he was named in the starting line-up against Manchester United at Anfield. In the 39th minute Shelvey made a tackle on Jonny Evans. When I was watching it I thought it was a perfectly legitimate tackle. He seemed to get the ball even if it was a bit hard, but that’s expected against your rivals. Mark Halsey blew for a free kick, I started to protest, it was a bit rash but so was Jonny Evans’ challenge. Players crowded around Shelvey, this happens loads of times; it’ll all blow over. Halsey produces a red card!? No way! Ok, maybe it was a foul, at the very most a yellow, but never a red! He’s just a young lad and he’s just passionate about his football! Jonny Evans’ tackle was just as bad, why should Shelvey, the least experienced, get sent off? He did not deserve the red card but he definitely shouldn’t have done what he did next. While he was walking off the pitch he mouthed off to Alex Ferguson, accusing him of paying the ref possibly. It was disappointing to see him ruin his reputation after wrongly getting sent off. The headlines would now be about his final actions rather than the unfair red card. After the match Shelvey tweeted this: 'I apologise to the fans for getting sent off but no way was I pulling out of that tackle in a game of that importance. I'm sorry.’ He then said 'I have also apologised to Sir Alex, just where I come from people don't grass people up to get someone sent off.' Although he acted immaturely at first it was good to see he behaved professionally in apologising to Alex Ferguson. The latter tweet did give a little hint of a bitter attitude however.
Later some good performances in the Europa league resulted in two headed goals against Udinese and Young Boys of Bern. During the latter match, Shelvey also impressed with a skilful flick to put in Jordan Henderson whose shot was saved well by Wolfli. In a previous match against Anzhi Makhachkala Shelvey also assisted the only goal of the match from Stewart Downing. These performances in the Europa league showed progression but also showed that Shelvey played better at a lower level as Liverpool usually fielded a weaker side for these European matches. Shelvey’s only other ‘goal’ came in an away Premier League match against West Ham where he ‘scored’ the winner in the 79th minute. (With Suarez suspended and Borini injured, it fell to Shelvey to act as striker in the match) Even though replays showed that Shelvey never touched the ball and instead it came off Collins and looped over the goalkeeper. This ‘goal’ would be his last in Liverpool red.
The second half of the season was a disappointment from Shelvey’s point of view. He started only 2 matches in the Premier League and provided no assists and no goals from his total of 4 BPL appearances. We have to assume this underwhelming finish to the season was due to the signings of Coutinho and Sturridge as well as the return from injury of Allen and Borini. Perhaps even some poor performances in training kept him out of the team.
We can see then by these statistics how Shelvey really played a backup role in the first team and only featured by injuries and lack of squad depth. This summer, however, we have already improved and expanded our squad and even some first team players last season will miss out on their places next season. I don’t see in any way that Shelvey will get any significant amount of game time next season. So why didn’t we send him out on loan? Well, Liverpool would only do that if they believed that Shelvey had potential to be a first team player in the future. With his lack of consistency and a somewhat rash attitude it’s not surprising that he was allowed to go. I think he will fit in perfectly with Swansea’s passing style of play and I wish him a successful and lengthy career in whichever club he plays for in the future.
In the 2011/12 season, Shelvey made 16 appearances and scored 2 goals. If we compare this to the last season’s stats (33 apps 5 goals) one might think that Shelvey had come on in leaps and bounds and was well on his way to becoming a Kop idol. But statistics don’t tell the whole story.
It was around this time last year than Jonjo Shelvey put pen to paper as he signed a long term contract with the club. Everything continued to look great for Shelvey when he scored his first 2 goals of the season as a substitute in a match against Young Boys of Bern that ended 5-3 to Liverpool. The two late goals won the match for the travelling red men and the second goal in particular showed Shelvey’s potential as he drifted past players like they weren’t there and finished emphatically to the joy of Brendan Rodgers.
But his next match seemed to be the start of Shelvey’s misfortunes last season. Just 3 days after his brace in Switzerland he was named in the starting line-up against Manchester United at Anfield. In the 39th minute Shelvey made a tackle on Jonny Evans. When I was watching it I thought it was a perfectly legitimate tackle. He seemed to get the ball even if it was a bit hard, but that’s expected against your rivals. Mark Halsey blew for a free kick, I started to protest, it was a bit rash but so was Jonny Evans’ challenge. Players crowded around Shelvey, this happens loads of times; it’ll all blow over. Halsey produces a red card!? No way! Ok, maybe it was a foul, at the very most a yellow, but never a red! He’s just a young lad and he’s just passionate about his football! Jonny Evans’ tackle was just as bad, why should Shelvey, the least experienced, get sent off? He did not deserve the red card but he definitely shouldn’t have done what he did next. While he was walking off the pitch he mouthed off to Alex Ferguson, accusing him of paying the ref possibly. It was disappointing to see him ruin his reputation after wrongly getting sent off. The headlines would now be about his final actions rather than the unfair red card. After the match Shelvey tweeted this: 'I apologise to the fans for getting sent off but no way was I pulling out of that tackle in a game of that importance. I'm sorry.’ He then said 'I have also apologised to Sir Alex, just where I come from people don't grass people up to get someone sent off.' Although he acted immaturely at first it was good to see he behaved professionally in apologising to Alex Ferguson. The latter tweet did give a little hint of a bitter attitude however.
Later some good performances in the Europa league resulted in two headed goals against Udinese and Young Boys of Bern. During the latter match, Shelvey also impressed with a skilful flick to put in Jordan Henderson whose shot was saved well by Wolfli. In a previous match against Anzhi Makhachkala Shelvey also assisted the only goal of the match from Stewart Downing. These performances in the Europa league showed progression but also showed that Shelvey played better at a lower level as Liverpool usually fielded a weaker side for these European matches. Shelvey’s only other ‘goal’ came in an away Premier League match against West Ham where he ‘scored’ the winner in the 79th minute. (With Suarez suspended and Borini injured, it fell to Shelvey to act as striker in the match) Even though replays showed that Shelvey never touched the ball and instead it came off Collins and looped over the goalkeeper. This ‘goal’ would be his last in Liverpool red.
The second half of the season was a disappointment from Shelvey’s point of view. He started only 2 matches in the Premier League and provided no assists and no goals from his total of 4 BPL appearances. We have to assume this underwhelming finish to the season was due to the signings of Coutinho and Sturridge as well as the return from injury of Allen and Borini. Perhaps even some poor performances in training kept him out of the team.
We can see then by these statistics how Shelvey really played a backup role in the first team and only featured by injuries and lack of squad depth. This summer, however, we have already improved and expanded our squad and even some first team players last season will miss out on their places next season. I don’t see in any way that Shelvey will get any significant amount of game time next season. So why didn’t we send him out on loan? Well, Liverpool would only do that if they believed that Shelvey had potential to be a first team player in the future. With his lack of consistency and a somewhat rash attitude it’s not surprising that he was allowed to go. I think he will fit in perfectly with Swansea’s passing style of play and I wish him a successful and lengthy career in whichever club he plays for in the future.