Alan Shearer has pinpointed a problem with Anthony Gordon as Newcastle United’s Premier League struggles continue.
Newcastle United lost 3-1 to West Ham on Sunday, with the Hammers derailing the momentum that Eddie Howe’s side had built up in recent weeks.
After three consecutive victories at St James’ Park, the Magpies were brought crashing back down to earth away from home. Newcastle United were terrible against West Ham, with Eddie Howe’s players letting him down.
That was reflected by a triple substitution at half-time, with Anthony Gordon, Nick Woltemade and Emil Krafth coming off. The former had been particularly poor at the London Stadium, as his inconsistent season continued.
Anthony Gordon is challenged by Max Kilman during Newcastle United's defeat to West Ham.
Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images
Alan Shearer demands more of Anthony Gordon amid damning statistic
So far this season, Gordon has scored four goals and provided one assist. Only Bruno Guimaraes and Woltemade have more goal contributions than the Toon winger.
However, the problem is that Gordon’s goal contributions have only come in the Champions League. He is yet to register a goal or an assist in the Premier League, which is becoming a regular problem for the Magpies’ number 10.
Gordon has now gone 19 Premier League games without scoring or providing an assist. That is a damning statistic, with his last contribution being an assist away to Southampton on 25th January.
Eddie Howe needs more from Gordon, who has been called out by Toon legend Alan Shearer following his latest disappointing display in the Premier League.
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“They’ve got to get players into goal scoring positions, because there’s only four of them scored league goals at this moment in time,” Shearer said on the Rest Is Football podcast.
“Anthony Gordon’s been really good in the Champions League, hasn’t done it in the league yet.
“There’s a few like that as well. So they’ve got to get back to being tough and back to basics, what made them successful.”
Alan Shearer is furious with Newcastle United’s away record
While Gordon is struggling in the Premier League, the rest of his teammates are particularly struggling away from home.
Newcastle United have not won away in the Premier League all season, with their last league victory on their travels coming against Leicester City in April.
Howe’s side have been incredibly poor on the road ever since, and Shearer believes that Newcastle United have no excuses for their performances.
“I don’t like what I’m seeing away from home,” he said.
“I get that things have changed, but that doesn’t stop you running around, that doesn’t stop you being aggressive.
“If you go back to last season, the one thing that Newcastle were was tough to play against. The thing about going away from home is, you might have 2,000 or 3,000 of your fans in the stadium, they might be drowned out somewhere. But the difference between away and home, you’ve got 52,000 at home who will not let you not put a shift in, not graft, not work, not tackle, and do all the things that made Newcastle successful by winning the Cup last year, by getting back into the Champions League.
“I’m not seeing that away from home. And that’s the thing that Eddie has to somehow turn around. I could sense his anger after the game. I knew he was angry at half time because he got stuck into his players and made three changes.
“But they didn’t really get any better second half, to be honest. So that’s what he’s got to work out and figure out. He’s got to get back that being tough to play against, particularly away from home.
“Not so bad at St James’, but away from home has been very, very weak.”
Newcastle’s next away game is on Sunday against Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium.