Newcastle United supporters have been reacting on Twitter after Jonjo Shelvey rebuked claims that he’s lazy in a recent interview.
The 29-year-old midfielder has come in for criticism from the Magpies fans throughout the current campaign for his seeming lack of effort, although that’s an accusation the Englishman strongly denies.
Shelvey has struggled to make much of an impact for Steve Bruce’s men this season, though, scoring just one goal and providing two assists in 24 Premier League appearances.
In an interview for Newcastle’s regular feature ‘Zoom Army’ (as reported by The Chronicle), the former Liverpool man was asked by a fan ‘why are you so lazy?’ sparking a response from the Newcastle No.8.
“I think I give off this thing with my body language – the way I run,” replied the £11.7m-rated man (as per Transfermarkt).
“The way I am – I’m quite a laid back character – but listen, it might look like that, but the stats say different, and as long as I’m doing it, being recorded and monitored, you can’t get away with not running.
“I know it might seem like I’m not running or that I’m lazy, but the stats say different, so I’m just going to continue doing what I’m doing.” However, the Newcastle fans are clearly not convinced by his defence.
“The stats literally back up that fact that he doesn’t run”
“Did he actually come out with the ‘roll ya sleeves up’ comment. Brainwashed by the Bruce.”
“Watching him run on Saturday… I had to check the match wasn’t in slow motion”
“He’s probably counting all the ground he covers from the centre circle to take corners.”
“No you’re lazy”
“He must be putting his Fitbit on Miggy or something”
A dramatic 3-2 victory over West Ham United last time out saw the St. James’ Park outfit jump up the top-flight table to 15th position, and Shelvey is likely to feature heavily in the remainder of the campaign, having started the last 15 league games.
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