Martin Keown names this one player as crucial to Newcastle plans

Mon 16 October 2017 14:27, UK

By Russell Edge

Match of the Day pundit Martin Keown has said that Newcastle United midfielder Jonjo Shelvey is crucial to the club’s way of playing.

The 25-year-old has only started three of the club’s eight league fixtures this season, having seem himself serve a three match suspension for a stamp on Tottenham’s Dele Alli in the first game of the season.

Despite having started against Spurs, he was not immediately recalled to the starting line up on his return, with Isaac Hayden and Mikel Merino both having impressed in the centre of the park.

However he has now started two games in succession, with both his midfield counterparts serving their time on the bench, and he made an instant impact against Liverpool as he pierced the Reds’ back line with a through ball for Joselu’s equaliser.

Having impressed against Southampton on Sunday, Keown believes that Shelvey is the crucial figure in the Magpies’ side with his ability on the ball in the middle of the park.

Speaking on Match of the Day two (15/10, 22:30), he said: “Newcastle are a very young side but the spine of the side: Lascelles, Jonjo Shelvey, Isaac Hayden in there, every one of their players looks pretty comfortable.

“There is a structure to the way they play, Shelvey at the centre of everything.