Newcastle United star Jonjo Shelvey has blasted former club Swansea City for losing their identity.

City have regressed over the past few seasons after making an initial positive impact in the Premier League following their promotion under Brendan Rodgers and now ex-Swans Shelvey has criticised the Welsh side for not staying true to their identity in recent seasons.

"They have chopped and changed the managers to be fair and I don't think that has helped them," Shelvey told the club's website. "I think they need to get back playing the way they played football.

"Even when I was at Liverpool you wouldn't see the ball for a lot of the time. When I went there everything was about ball possession, all of our work was about the football and we were battering teams at home with the ball - even against the top teams.

"They have gone away from that a little bit which is obviously down to whatever manager they had in at the time."