It’s been almost three years since Anthony Gordon signed for Newcastle United.
The then 21-year-old winger scapegoated Everton as the club was in a desperate state both on and off the pitch. The club’s owners knew they had to sell him in January 2023 if they wanted to have any chance of not exceeding the three-year PSR limit.
But rather than being honest about this, Everton’s hierarchy were desperate to give the impression that it was just a situation where Anthony Gordon was forcing his way out of the club, rather than them actively and desperately trying to sell him.
As usual, the rabid Everton fans were happy to play their part, shamefully abusing and intimidating the 21-year-old local boy who had been their best player the previous season and was doing well in a very poor team in the first half of the 2022/2023 season.
It’s fair to say that it wasn’t seen as a completely positive signing by Newcastle United fans. Anthony Gordon has stood out against United in recent games, thanks to a combination of playing well AND coming across as a workie ticket, a right-wing scally.
In that half-season after Anthony Gordon signed, there were plenty of Newcastle fans questioning Eddie Howe’s judgment after he committed a transfer fee of £40 million (Everton still ended up breaking PSR limits and gaining points) plus a potential of £5 million more in future add-ons.
Eddie did his usual thing of giving new signings, especially younger ones, plenty of time to settle and get up to speed, Anthony Gordon started just four Premier League games in the 2022/2023 season and was regularly used off the bench (12) in short cameos to keep him comfortable.
His first full season saw an impressive 21 direct goals in 34 PL starts, the impressive 2023/24 performance of double figures for Anthony Gordon on both PL goals (11) and assists (10), plus the title of Newcastle United’s player of the season.
Despite a season hit by injuries and fitness issues, Anthony Gordon still managed to score fifteen direct goals in all competitions in the 2024/25 season. His nine goals and six assists saw him help Newcastle United win the League Cup and qualify for the Champions League for the second time in three years.
This now coincided with Anthony Gordon not only in the England squad, but also as a regular starter.
What can go wrong?
In my opinion, Anthony Gordon does not get the same treatment as other Newcastle United players.
As he and Newcastle United fly, it feels like the praise for Anthony Gordon is being received grudgingly by many fans.
Whenever Newcastle United aren’t doing so well, I get the feeling that Anthony Gordon is invariably at the front of the queue for the fans to blame.
This season Anthony Gordon has had a number of challenges, with injuries, fitness issues, having to play out of position through the middle at times, an early three-match suspension and so on.
I’d say he’s done more than well, a bit up and down, perhaps summarizing Newcastle United in the opening months of the season. But to other Newcastle United fans he has been shocking and useless. Never play against him again, sell him etc etc etc. Selling him is the real extremely crazy edge of the fan base, but they are there.
The reality is that Anthony Gordon has appeared in 24 games in all competitions so far this season and has scored 14 direct goals, scoring ten and four assists.
In total, Anthony Gordon was on the field for 1,823 minutes, directly involved in a goal every 130 minutes on average. So basically that means an average of two goals and/or assists at a rate better than every three minutes of the match.
I see Newcastle United fans being so negative about the fact that Anthony Gordon has scored many penalties among his goals, as if it is some form of cheating!
I see it as a huge positive: fans of other clubs would love to have someone like Anthony Gordon when it comes to penalty taking (and for many other reasons…).
So many other players will do anything not to take penalties because it takes a real bottle to take them, especially on a regular basis. It’s quite clear that Anthony Gordon has put a lot of work into his penalty-taking technique, just as clearly he’s put a lot of work into improving the quality of his crosses with his left foot.
Anthony Gordon has a perfect 100% penalty kill record this season and is playing a game like Bournemouth in the FA Cup. Gordon came off the bench and scored from the penalty spot five minutes into extra time to equalise, who after his pass released Tonali to win that penalty. Deep into extra time, Anthony Gordon put in an excellent cross for Harvey Barnes to score. Before that, Gordon smashed home his penalty in the shootout to help United get through.
The point is also: Anthony Gordon unsettles the opposition with his pace and his sprints to close down defenders and goalkeepers.
Some Newcastle United fans want to make this a Harvey Barnes versus Anthony Gordon thing, as if we can’t have two excellent natural left wingers.
The fact is that they are two completely different wingers and, as is increasingly happening, when they are on the pitch together, they often appear all over the front line.
I believe they are among the players who hold the key to success this season and Anthony Gordon should feel the love from all Newcastle United fans.
#struggle #real #Anthony #Gordon