Quote Originally Posted by ghostrider View Post
And yet, against Arsenal, Shelvey getting injured disrupted our rhythm.
Shelvey isn't the problem.
The problem is, some players are marmite. Fans either like them or loathe them but tend to change their minds like the wind in many cases.
hmmm, once Shelvey was dropped by Rafa, our performances were remarkably better.

Same has happened in this case too.

Maybe a coincidence, yes, i think Shelvey is a good player but he is a luxury player. He is slow, temperamental, and too inconsistant to be a first team regular.
He dazzles with the hollywood passes but they are at a premium, literally 3 a season come to something other than a throw in to the opposition. Shelvey is a Ben arfa luxury in a different position, when he plays, the rest of the team have to increase their game to make up for him. How often do we see the long range pass go astray and then he hangs his head like a petulant child while everyone else is tracking back trying to win the ball back?

Hayden and Longstaff get stuck in, play as a unit and give their all for the team. Now with young Matty breaking through and Ki also being good at keeping the ball, Shelvey is actually 4th or 5th choice for me.