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Solving Benitez’ Selection Headaches: This Spaniard Is The Ideal Man For Newcastle’s Situation

Jonjo Shelvey
Jonjo Shelvey

Irreplaceable? Certainly Not! – Here’s How Newcastle United Can Cope Without Jonjo Shelvey

Newcastle United’s long-awaited return to the Premier League finally took place on Sunday afternoon, as the Magpies took on last season’s runners-up Tottenham Hotspur at the St. James’ Park. And it couldn’t have gone any worse for Rafael Benitez’s men as they were handed a 2-0 defeat by the North Londoners, courtesy of second-half goals from Dele Alli and Ben Davies.  

The Magpies never really looked like they were in the game as their only mode of attack was punting long balls upfield for the likes of Dwight Gayle and Christian Atsu to chase down and produce something. They might have produced a few moments of spark, but there was nothing concrete enough to say that they posed any sort of threat to Mauricio Pochettino’s side.

Sure, they had to lose two of their players from the starting XI in Paul Dummett and Florian Lejeune in the first-half itself due to injuries, but the biggest moment of the game came in the second period, when Newcastle’s captain Jonjo Shelvey was shown a red card.

Three minutes into the second period, Dele Alli was delaying play with a free-kick, holding on to the ball on the ground. Shelvey tried to get the game moving on, but seeing him, Tottenham’s star kicked the ball away, hoping that would draw a reaction from the former Liverpool and Swansea City man. And draw it did, as Shelvey stamped on Alli’s foot blatantly, right in front of the eyes of referee Andre Marriner, leaving him with no choice but to show the red card to the England international.  

It was a moment of petulance and silliness from the captain that let his team down after which the floodgates opened up. Shelvey’s actions not only cost Newcastle the season opener, but the fact that he is set to miss three upcoming games will hurt the Tyneside outfit very much, given how influential he has been for the club.

With him set to be ruled out for the coming games, how can Benitez deal with Shelvey’s absence in the middle of the park? Isaac Hayden is set to feature prominently as one of the two pivots, just like he did against Tottenham, but the position alongside him, that was occupied by Shelvey, will be up for grabs in the coming weeks.

Firstly, let’s rule out the option that Benitez is highly unlikely to consider – Jack Colback. The former Sunderland man had a falling out with the manager recently and his future at the club is pretty much sealed. Even if there had not been a fall out, it was unlikely that he would take Shelvey’s place in the first-place, given his demure style of play.  

Then, there is the option of Mohamed Diame that Benitez could look to call upon. The Spaniard had relied upon the former Hull City man heavily last season in the Championship, but hasn’t looked to use him a great deal in the pre-season. The 30-year old, however, does not possess the necessary ability or the range of distribution, to pull strings from the middle of the park.

That would bring us to the final option of summer signing Mikel Merino. The loanee from Borussia Dortmund isn’t exactly the typical box-to-box midfielder like Shelvey and is more of a sit deep and break up play kind of a player. But, his expansive range of passing combined with his terrific work-rate could make him the right man to replace Shelvey.

With him in the side, Rafa can set up his team to play on the counter, owing to the Spain youth international’s ability to play accurate cross-field balls in behind the opposition defences for the likes of Atsu and Matt Ritchie to chase down. The midfielder is coming on the back of a difficult season in Germany but showed good confidence in the pre-season. With Shelvey out for the coming fixtures, Merino seems to be the ideal option for Benitez and Newcastle to call upon to fill in for their influential Englishman.