Jonjo on Fergie, tackling and Rafa
In an interview with the Independent, Jonjo Shelvey spoke openly about his Manchester United red card, his attitude towards tough tackling and the day he visited Melwood with the view to becoming a Liverpool player.
Here are some of the best bits from the interview.
Shelvey on signing for the Reds...
"Rafa Benitez was here when I came but I believe Kenny Dalglish had a big part in my signing. I can recall looking at the directors' box at Charlton and seeing him in the stands. I remember coming up here with my mum, sister and dad and we met Rafa at the training ground. He took us into his office and began talking to my mum about how Stoke played the long ball. My mum was thinking: 'I really don't care about Stoke'."
Shelvey on tackling...
"You have got to be very careful what you do and what you say nowadays. Football is becoming less and less of a contact sport. Some players are making what you would consider good, old-fashioned tackles but are being punished for them. You can't get away with anything. How can you pull out of a tackle if the ball is there to be won? That's what fans want to see but times have changed and we have to adapt. You don't go on the training pitch and learn how to tackle. You learn how to shoot, how to pass but not how to tackle."
Shelvey on his Manchester United red card...
"If I had pulled out of a tackle against Manchester United, I would probably have hurt myself and the fans would have gone mental. That walk [from the field] felt like a mile but I had seen Alex Ferguson in the fourth official's ear so I said to him: 'It's your fault I got sent off'. After the game I had just picked up my friend and his girlfriend from the players' lounge and I was walking back down the tunnel towards the car park and saw him coming towards me. I pulled him and apologised for what I had done. I said it was wrong and I was frustrated. I'm a young boy and emotions got the better of me but I said I still wouldn't have pulled out of that tackle. He said it took a man to apologise. He said it is an emotional game and not to worry about it. My dad has always brought me up to respect people but, if you have opinions and if you are in the right, don't be afraid to say so."
Shelvey on his early footballing career...
"I went to West Ham, where my brother was. When you were in the younger age group you would play four 20-minute games on a Sunday afternoon and the favoured players would play all four 20s and the less favoured ones would play two 20s. My brother was two years above me and he was playing just two games and I was often in all four. My dad was a coach at West Ham at the time and he thought that was wrong. We brought my brother out and my dad left but he said if I wanted to stay at West Ham he would support me. It was hard because West Ham was our club. Di Canio, Cole and Carrick were all there and Glenn Roeder was the manager. He pulled me into his office and tried to make me stay but I said no. I wanted to stick with my brother because he was so upset by it. I spent a year playing local football and then joined Charlton."
On his Blackpool loan spell...
"Even if you had a bad game, you knew you would probably be playing next week and as a young footballer that is what you want. The players also had to wash their own kit. I didn't - my girlfriend did!"
On joining the England senior squad...
"I thought nobody would talk to me. I'd gone very quickly from playing in a park with my mates to sitting next to Wayne Rooney at dinner. The ice was broken when Manchester United's Danny Welbeck pulled me when I arrived and shouted: 'Leave my manager alone!'"