Gareth Southgate finally saw sense in March by selecting one of the Premier League's most consistent performers for England in the form of Newcastle United's Anthony Gordon.
After an impressive display against Brazil and an equally impressive cameo against Belgium, Gordon had done enough to secure his spot in the England squad for Euro 2024.
England got off to a slow start in the Euros with a laboured 1-0 win over Serbia with pundits after the game screaming for Southgate to play Anthony Gordon against Denmark, something that many pundits said should have been the plan from the get-go.
Once again, Gordon was overlooked, sitting out the entirety of the game as he watched on from the bench.
Gordon was finally given time to shine, well, time to say he has a cap in an international tournament anyway. Southgate put Gordon on the field on 89 minutes against Slovenia giving him one minute plus four minutes of stoppage time to try and prove himself. Which, according to many fans and pundits, he actually did as he created more in those five minutes than anyone from the starting eleven.
England have since played two more games, both of which went to extra-time and still Gordon has but one minute of game time to his name. When Southgate gave his on-field team talk in extra time in the game against Switzerland, Gordon looked like he wanted to be literally anywhere else. He looked broken. Defeated.
Fans and pundits alike can all see what Gordon would bring to that England team and yet Southgate refuses to budge from his plan despite all the criticism.
While all this is going on, the media are whipping up a storm with transfer stories linking Gordon with a move away from Newcastle, so he not only has to contend with his immediate future but he'll know he will be returning home to a media frenzy.
Leaving the transfer stories to one side and assuming Gordon will still be a Newcastle player when the season gets underway, how is this England nightmare going to affect him?
It could go one of two ways - he could be more determined than ever to prove that Southgate made a huge mistake and we get the next evolution of Anthony Gordon, or his spirit could be completely crushed and it will take him a while to get anywhere near the level he was at last season.
Having seen interviews with Gordon, we're pretty sure he's strong enough and mentally focused enough that it would likely be the former, but we honestly wouldn't blame him if his head was mush for a few games at the start of the campaign. Just another part of the Gareth Southgate legacy.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Liverpool
|
14 | 18 | 35 |
2 |
Chelsea
|
15 | 17 | 31 |
3 |
Arsenal
|
15 | 14 | 29 |
4 |
Manchester City
|
15 | 6 | 27 |
5 |
Nottingham Forest
|
15 | 1 | 25 |
6 |
Aston Villa
|
15 | 0 | 25 |
7 |
Brighton
|
15 | 3 | 24 |
8 |
Bournemouth
|
15 | 3 | 24 |
9 |
Brentford
|
15 | 3 | 23 |
10 |
Fulham
|
15 | 2 | 23 |
11 |
Tottenham Hotspur
|
15 | 12 | 20 |
12 |
Newcastle United
|
15 | -2 | 20 |
13 |
Manchester United
|
15 | 1 | 19 |
14 |
West Ham United
|
15 | -8 | 18 |
15 |
Everton
|
14 | -7 | 14 |
16 |
Leicester
|
15 | -9 | 14 |
17 |
Crystal Palace
|
15 | -6 | 13 |
18 |
Ipswich
|
15 | -13 | 9 |
19 |
Wolves
|
15 | -15 | 9 |
20 |
Southampton
|
15 | -20 | 5 |