Eddie Howe reveals real reason Anthony Gordon is kept on left flank at expense of Harvey Barnes
Newcastle United's wingers have been a huge bundle of inconsistency across the board this season, but Harvey Barnes has probably been the standout performer out of the bunch.
Barnes has swapped flanks as and when asked to by Eddie Howe, but there's no denying that he looks way more comfortable out on the left.
Unfortunately, Eddie Howe has Anthony Gordon for that position, and as poor as he's been this season, Howe insists on persisting with the England winger.
On Wednesday night, Howe's likely to only have two options to pick from anyway, with Jacob Murphy coming off with a hamstring issue against Crystal Palace and Anthony Elanga still not fit either.
Eddie Howe says Anthony Gordon has a clear preference of playing on the left
When asked about playing Gordon on the right and Barnes on the left in his press conference on Tuesday morning, Eddie Howe explained why it's always Barnes who gets shifted around.
“I don’t think Anthony enjoys the right, but Harvey is more open to it and enjoys the freedom there. That’s why. It doesn’t mean I can’t, but if a player doesn’t want to play there you can’t really force them to as you won’t get the same level of performance.
“Harvey can play across the midfield, he’s good between the lines, he has done well this year. His number one position is the left but he’s a goal threat on both sides. He’s a good all-round player and he turned the game for us on Sunday.”
We'd rather see Anthony gordon as a right winger than a centre-forward
We understand what Eddie is saying, but he is the manager, and if he tells a player to play out of position, they should just get on with it.
Lewis Miley is the perfect example of that. He is playing way out of position lately and he has been outstanding and never grumbled once.
Anthony Gordon isn't doing the business out on the left, so maybe a change of scenery would do him good. He can't get much worse, can he? I mean, obviously, he can; he could play like Jacob Murphy did on Sunday.
