21 Dec 2013

€7m star blasts: I 'needed' to quit LFC because it was killing my 'confidence'. Loss...?

Over the summer, many LFC fans were surprised that Brendan Rodgers sanctioned the sale of Jonjo Shelvey, a midfielder in the Steven Gerrard mould with massive future potential. The decision hasn't really affected the Reds, but to be fair, the main impetus to leave seems to have come from Shelvey rather than Liverpool.

In his 3 years at the Liverpool, Shelvey managed only 31 starts for the club, and even now, it's clear that the lack of regular opportunities rankles with him.

In an interview this week, Shelvey - who cost Swansea €7m over the summer - insisted that he has 'no regrets about joining Liverpool', but revealed that he'd grown unhappy with his treatment at Anfield. He told The Guardian:

"I wasn't enjoying my football. I never got that run of games, or run of consistency, to show what I could do. I wanted to play. It's hard to go in and come back out, your confidence goes and you start to feel: 'Am I not good enough? It was a big decision to leave but I needed to do it for myself".

Shelvey is certainly getting a run of games for Swansea. So far, he's made 22 appearances for the Swans, and contributed 3 goals and 3 assists, which compares favourably with Jordan Henderson's return for Liverpool this season. His comments betray some (understandable) resentment towards Liverpool for not giving him more game time, but overall, he has a great attitude to the game, as the following comment proves:

"People were telling me 'You're only young, you're getting paid all that money, you should be happy sitting on the bench at Liverpool'. Well, I wasn't. I'd rather take the money away and play football. That's the way I am."

I like Shelvey as a player. I love the fact that he's self-confident, and is not afraid to take responsibility on the pitch. He doesn't hide, and seemingly has no fear, as evidenced by his willingness to give Alex Ferguson a mouthful after he got sent off against Man United:



Shelvey, however, regrets that altercation:

"To this day, I still don't think it was a sending off. The only regret I have is doing what I did to Sir Alex (Ferguson) that day, when I pointed and shouted at him - I was obviously emotional"

Earlier this season, Shelvey put in an outstanding performance in Swansea's 2-2 draw with Liverpool. Despite making two massive errors that led to LFC goals, he displayed great mental strength to recover from that, keep his head, and play well for the rest of the game. He (arguably) overshadowed Gerrard on the day, and displayed a truly sublime range of passing.

Unfortunately for Shelvey, he arrived at a time of extreme turmoil for Liverpool, and then went on to feature under FOUR different managers. There was no real stability during his time at the club, which possibly explains (in part) why he never got a consistent run of games.

If Shelvey had stayed, would he be getting a run in the team right now, or would Joe Allen and Jordan Henderson be favoured ahead of him? Given the way the team is playing/set-up, I believe he could've flourished, but I personally doubt Rodgers would've played him over Henderson, who is clearly one of his favourites.

Competition in the centre of Liverpool's midfielder is already intense, and if Shelvey had stayed, he probably would've found himself on the bench more often than not, so he clearly made the right decision to leave.


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35 comments:

  1. shelvey was Rogers favourite - he showed us this on being Liverpool the TV show. helvey however did not respond and missed chance after chance in front of goal, got sent off regularly and was hot headed, Hendo did the opposite and learned what Rogers wants and delivers it.

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  2. Surely people realise the contract is win win anyway. We all know Suarez will go sooner rather than later but at least it will put to bed completely the January rumours and it will boost the value liverpool get for him. My hope e does a ronaldo, signs a big contract and stays one more season. If we qualify for champs league I think this is possible. Id be happy with that.

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  3. Sent off once, unfairly

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  4. Yep...if Hendo was Rodgers favourite when Shelvey was arround, can't find the answer why Rodgers keen to loan out Hendo to Fulham in the first place?

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  5. shelvey is a good player, self confident with lots of energy. I think he can do well than lucas. Am sad we sold him.

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  6. The (obvious) point is they are guaranteed to be in the competition every single year, thus have more chance of winning it.

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  7. I am not sure how you can claim he got regularly sent of when he has one red card in his 61 game Premier League career overall. He also collected 5 yellow cards over 3 season at Liverpool so he never missed any games from accumulating 5 yellows within one season


    Comparing him to Henderson is clearly unfair when you note Henderson has featured 37 premier league games in 2011/12, 30 games in 2012/13 and 17 out of 17 in this current season. Shelvey on the other hand consistently had bit part role for Liverpool featuring 15 times in 2010/11, 13 times in 2011/12 then 19 times in 2012/13


    I wonder where the 'Rodgers favourite tag' comes from if Rodgers picked Henderson 30 times out of a possible 38 against Shelvey's 20 out of 38 in his first season in charge.


    Shelvey's 2 league goals in 47 for Liverpool is clearly no good but you cant argue Henderson's 8 league goals in 84 league games is much better. You also have considering Henderson made 67 appearance in their time together at Liverpool which is 19 more games than Shelvey who had been at the club one season longer.


    Note the 20 game advantage Henderson had on Shelvey also beat his average seasonal games for the club which was roughly 16 games a season.


    Henderson seems to be coming good and applying the talent most knew he had but then Shelvey is also beginning to show the talent some of us knew he had over at Swansea where he is getting a fairer crack hence his game time has also increased to compare favourably with Henderson.


    Shelvey's 3 goals and 3 assists in 14 games this season compare quite favourably with Henderson's 1 goal and 5 assists in 17 games given Liverpool is having a much better season than Swansea.

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  8. I like Shelvey I think he is an ambitious talented player. I think Rogers gave him opportunities but his mistakes and misses in front of goal will always get magnified ten fold at a club like LFC a pose to a smaller club like Swansea who may still place him in the team regardless. All being said I wish Shelvey all the best as we still have the likes of Suso, Ibe andTeixeira to make the step up and look forward to.

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  9. Shelvey is a good player but he did not have the mentality that Rodgers requested of him. Rodgers has included young players as long as they impress in training; which he probably didn't. Among his biggest negatives is his lapse of concentration (which he clearly showed against us), ability to win ball back (which I must say both Hendo and Allen are good at) and the tendency to disappear within games. Without his contribution Liverpool would have lost that match at Swansea. Such lapses were common as he loses the ball unnecessarily. Sterling does that sometimes too, but he's a forward/winger who is allowed that bit of leeway (By the way, I'm impressed by his improved crossing this season); but Shelvey loses possession in the defensive half and that hurts the confidence of players around you because u don't know when he's gonna expose you by losing the ball from a counter-attacking opportunity.

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  10. The sad thing about Shelvey, in my humble opinion, is that he simply wasn't good enough, quickly enough (ala Coutinho/Sturridge) for Liverpool. Which IS a shame because everything else about the lad, his character, guts, humbleness, workrate and teamwork was ideal for Liverpool..
    YNWA
    EVER!

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  11. He is like Dirk Kuyt, exceptional work rate but very little to show for it in terms of goals and assists.

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  12. I say there is no loss based on how the team is playing in Gerrard's absence. What Shelvey offers is quite similar but minus the experience. It is quite different when you've got the likes of Lucas, Hendo and Allen who are hardly adventurous with their football but remarkably mobile and willing to graft which allows for our attackers and defenders to do their jobs better.

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  13. of cos lucas is wayyy better than him

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  14. Harsh on Kuyt. Great big game player.

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  15. I don't think Shelvey had the mentality to become a top player. With his natural lack of acceleration, he'd have to have fantastic application and understanding of the game, allied to a hunger to constantly improve. I'm not sure that was there. You look at the above quotes, and whilst his desire to play football is creditable, think of his comments about losing his confidence when out of the team (which is understandable, but if you want to be a top player, you have to have enormous self-belief) and compare with how Henderson forced Rodgers to take notice of him when he was given scant opportunities. Rodgers preferred Shelvey to Henderson but the former is gone and the latter is one of the first names on the team-sheet nowadays. I think that speaks volumes about the differing mentalities. I still think Henderson has a long way to go, but his natural athleticism combined with his fantastic attitude leave him a better prospect than Shelvey.
    Shelvey was always brave and willing to take responsibility for us though, so I wish him nothing but look. With his range of passing, good positional sense (going forward, at least) and decent eye for goal, I think he will be a reliable Premier League midfielder for some time to come.

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  16. Analogy: Shelvey's 3 goals and 3 assists for Swansea for a smaller team than Liverpool - Suso has better stats than that.

    And if you see Henderson since Gerrard went in the role that Henderson thrives in - a responsibility which Shelvey often found himself at Liverpool with and failed to make the most of his chances - Hendo has scored 1, created 4, and made the telling pass for 2 more. That is 7 goals in a little over 200 minutes. Enough said!!

    I loved Shelvey - but there is competition everywhere. If you do not take your chances you will lose out. Don't you think if Henderson fails when Gerrard is out of the team - a new signing in January would replace him.

    Currently Allen is doing well, but the team throughout is doing well. Which means that Allen may miss out despite his good or shall we say better-than-past form when Gerrard returns. It is the nature of the game. It is the nature of life. One just has to accept it sometimes.

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  17. 3-1 on zenit . shelvey misses a goal all of us will score.

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  18. He made the right choice by going to get confidence and games elsewhere. Obviously a loan could have affected him same way but i myself didn't hurt a bit to see him leave.

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  19. It seems that BR's favouritism towards Henderson is beginning to pay off. Perhaps just perhaps he has got this one right? I know you like your stats so if his goals/assists in the last two marches continue he'll be the one of the best midfielders in the world.......(yes I know - if)

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  20. The best comment on Shelvey. Lapse of concentration, lack of discipline, and his temperament gets the better of him. Always make poor decisions in the final 3rd.

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  21. Wasn't Shelvey the one who shouted at Carroll once to move on up the pitch couple of seasons back...if my memory serves me right. I like the fighting attitude he has and it is a loss to LFC as he had the physicality and mind of Stevie G, even though few glaring misses he made, he was young and could only get better. All the best to him.

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  22. You can all say he's not good enough, but I'm watching him getting better an better, week on week he is improving!

    How many goals & assits has joe Allan had? Compare to Jonjo who is only 21 with not much that much top flight experience. I know for a fact he will become one of the best CM in England, I know it, Swansea know it & one of the greatest CM of all time knows it. (Laudrup) we're all ready watching him grow keeps an bounds as a player, we know he will make mistakes but he's a lad who gives 100% an has a lot of talent. Give him two or three seasons as a jack, and you'll be seeing the next Stevie G for 5 million. lol

    Enjoy Joe Allan & your ageing Steve Gerrard.. (Sorry)

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  23. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu6jMk4d3kw&feature=youtu.be

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  24. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=pu6jMk4d3kw

    this video is better :)

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  25. Based on today's performance I am glad we got shot.. Nothing changed with him. Bad decisions, lack of concentration and poor decipline.. Thank god we got something for him.. Hendo is a classier player on all front compared to him

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  26. I am glad you were right.. Hot head, age, inconsistance were my reasons for doubt. And the crucial one- fear that he will once again be overpraised and sink once again. But he matured, now we can hopefully enjoy on regular basis.. I said he will be a top player when he showed up under Kenny, but his development didn't go as planed..

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  27. I think Moses is a very good player but with Sterling getting on the level expected,Salah coming in,Ibe, Aspas and Suso- it is getting crowded..
    And NOBODY can replace Kuyt..

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  28. It is hard to say weather it is aloss or not- for him or us,but I think he will have great carier..

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  29. Not everybodies' job is goals and assist.. Though he had enough of those..

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  30. :-) we will finish above united this year!

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  31. Here are his stats: in 3 years at Liverpool he played 47 games (most as substitute) he scored 2 goals and 1 assist. Most games he would come in subbing an attacker or attacking midfielder. His job was to get goals and assists and he did not.

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  32. Though, I am starting to agree regarding Moses.. It is just that in first two matches, and in couple of interviews, I saw and heard a guy ready to put up a great fight with anybody, for half an hour of football. And occasionally win, and is satisfied as long as he gets the minutes he deserve.

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  33. but d deal has been done. Lets hope to see a great midfielder arrive in liverpool.

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