Shelvey Tipped For England Place

Shelvey looked to be heading out of Swansea at the turn of the year after some very public criticism from his manager and a display at Liverpool that earned him a ban and widespread criticism from the Swansea support.

There wouldn’t be too many Swansea fans after that Anfield performance that believed that Shelvey would play for the Swans again but he turned it around to such an extent that he is now a massively important part of the Swansea squad.

Shelvey returned to the Swansea squad almost as soon as his ban was over and was a major part of the squad that ended the season in 8th place, scoring twice in his last 15 appearances in the league – a winner at Southampton on his Premier League return and a goal against Everton that earned the Swans a point at the Liberty.

And his form in those last 15 games showed that he had listened and learned from his mistakes and wanted to push on with his career. Summer interest from Spurs got Swans fans worried but there was no definite move from White Hart Lane and he remains very much a Swansea player.

Shelvey was simply brilliant at Chelsea on Saturday, setting up numerous chances including the one that led to the penalty and red card and he almost scored direct twice from a corner as well as finding the heads of Gomis and Fernandez from two as well.

And it is form like Saturday that means he has a chance of an England recall and potentially be part of their plans for next summer.

Garry Monk puts his change of form down to some of the chats they had at the back of last year “We got his father in and his agent in and we all had a good chat

“He’s a young player, which you forget about because he looks older. But he has talent. His technical ability is excellent.

“I said a few things last season to see what reaction I might get and I’m glad to say I got the right reaction He did it at the end of last season and has done it again.

“He realises how serious it is at this level and what type of player he can be, it’s alright me wanting it for him but he has to want it for himself. He’s a great lad, keep him motivated and he can produce his best football like he did against Chelsea.

“It would be nice to have an English international at Swansea. I am just focusing on the group at Swansea, what will be will be.”