Sunday 1 October 2017 21:04, UK
Jonjo Shelvey has the required abilities to make it back into the England squad, says Jamie Carragher and Graeme Souness.
Shelvey played his part in Newcastle's 1-1 draw with Liverpool, where he laid on the pass for Joselu to equalise as the Reds continued their poor run of results.
The midfielder was making his first start for Newcastle since his opening day red card against Tottenham and Souness thinks the 25-year-old has a good opportunity to add to his six England caps.
"I'm going to say something daft but if he got his act together there would be a shout for him to get back into the England squad," Souness said.
"There are lots of midfielders who are about possession but he wants to hurt you all the time [with a pass]. A modern midfield player gets away with murder these days because they are allowed to go sideways and the stats say they have kept the ball all day. He has an edge to him, which I love in a player.
"Sometimes he has more than an edge and he has to get that out of his game. At 25 he must have learned his lesson. There's so much to like about him and he's got so much to offer - he will stand up to someone, he has a pass, he has technique - but he has the exploding head he must control."
Carragher played with Shelvey at Liverpool when Rafa Benitez snapped up the youngster from Charlton.
Although his time at Anfield was an inconsistent period, Carragher was impressed with his mentality.
"He has got a mentality about him where he's not scared," he said.
"Sometimes Newcastle is too big for someone and at Liverpool you can say the same. But when he played for Liverpool he wasn't scared to try things. He doesn't get daunted by the size of the club. He has moments [of madness] - there have been plenty including for Liverpool.
"You look at the squad England have with the injuries at the moment and they have workmanlike midfield players. There's very few who see the pass.
"Normally those players we want to play a No 10 and the deeper ones are very safe. He is someone who can play passes from deeper positions. That pass today was the best pass of the weekend."
