What Gary Lineker told Anthony Gordon immediately after England's Euro 2024 final defeat
Newcastle United fans, and indeed England fans in general can all agree that Anthony Gordon was handed the dirty end of the stick at Euro 2024.
Pundits were clamouring to see Anthony Gordon in action for England all tournament, in fact, Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker both had Anthony Gordon as nailed on to start before the tournament even got underway.
As we all know, Newcastle's Player of the Year was handed a substitute appearance on 89 minutes in the final group game against Slovenia.
And despite looking lively and playing the most positive pass of the entire game in his criminally brief cameo, he was never seen again.
Southgate's refusal to play Anthony Gordon cost England in the end
Gordon could have impacted the game against Spain as the eventual winners started to regain a foothold after an impressive spell by England, but Gareth Southgate, before Spain's 86th-minute winner, was about to bring on Kieran Trippier and Conor Gallagher - he was literally ready to play for the draw, and then how would we have looked in extra time?
Gordon could have restored some impetus to the attack, and with Ollie Watkins on the pitch actually getting into areas that a centre-forward should, we may have done some damage.
In the end, Captain Cautious got what he deserved for his negative tactics.
Let's hope Gordon is still at Newcastle next season to wreak havok
Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Gary Lineker says that he spoke to Anthony Gordon after the defeat to offer him some comfort.
“I saw Anthony Gordon after the game. I said to him briefly, I said, I feel for you in this tournament – I think you should have got more minutes.
“And he was very kind, and I went but don’t worry, you will get more chances. It will happen for you, he’s very young.”
We know how level-headed Gordon is, but those words will likely have come as little comfort to him after such a stressful month. There were times when he looked completely dejected - granted, it may just have been the timing of the photos that did the rounds, but we wouldn't be surprised at all if that's how he was feeling, knowing he could have made a positive impact.
Anyway, let's just hope he remains at Newcastle this summer to take his frustrations out on the Premier League next season.
