Wayne Rooney and Alan Shearer respond after Anthony Gordon hit out at comments before Barcelona game
Alan Shearer and Wayne Rooney made some strong comments about Anthony Gordon ahead of Newcastle United's Champions League Round of 16 first leg tie with Barcelona on Tuesday.
Anthony Gordon had been feeling ill prior to the game and missed training on that morning, and as a result, Eddie Howe opted to leave the forward out of the starting lineup, but kept him on the bench to play 20-30 minutes.
Both Rooney and Shearer were working for Amazon Prime Video and agreed that nothing would have kept them out of the game, making out that it was Anthony Gordon's decision to only play for 20 minutes or so.
Eddie Howe made a point of clarifying that it was his decision to bench Gordon on Friday, but after the win at Chelsea, Anthony Gordon had is own say.
Alan Shearer stood by his convictions
Gordon branded what Rooney and Shearer said as 'nonsense' in a strong statement, saying that the decision was absolutely not his, even though he'd been bedridden for three days prior to the game.
Alan Shearer addressed Gordon's comments on The Rest Is Football and stood by what he said.
"I love it. That's fine. You always get the right to reply as a player. I wouldn't change anything I said the other night against Barcelona. [You] wouldn't have kept me out with an illness for a game. I know he said it was the manager's decision."
Wayne Rooney backtracked on his comments
Meanwhile, Wayne Rooney was a bit more apologetic, saying on The Wayne Rooney Show that he was misunderstood.
“I don't need to come out and say it, but what I was saying is the sports science will probably be saying, 'Oh, we can only play 20 or 30 minutes'. That's the way the game is now. Managers, doctors, all get involved, and you put players at risk of getting injuries and stuff. So that's where I was coming from anyway.
"That wouldn't have happened when Fergie [Sir Alex Ferguson] was here in terms of no sports science telling you [players can't play]. I think the old school generation is if you are fit to play, you can play. Yeah, no one's going to say, 'oh, you can play 20 or 30 minutes.'"
