**Anthony Gordon has been selected for the latest England camp by Thomas Tuchel despite being a doubt for Newcastle United's game against Brentford on Sunday.**
Call us old-fashioned, but it's our belief that when a player isn't 100% fit, it's probably best not to throw them into the starting lineup.
Indeed, the only time a player should be on the pitch when not 100% is when they are returning from injury and they are building up their fitness.
Eddie Howe seems to think, if you can still run, you can still play, and that's resulted in Anthony Gorodn, who is carrying a hip injury, being substituted during the last two games.
Thomas Tuchel promises not to risk Anthony Gordon during the international break
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Eddie Howe refused to rule out Gordon playing on Sunday against Brentford, which is just madness as far as we're concerned.
On top of that, though, Thomas Tuchel has called up Gordon to the England squad for their upcoming games against Serbia and Albania. However, the German is aware of Gordon's injury issues and has promised Newcastle they will look after him.
> "He gives intensity, hunger, and physical input that is very rare to find and helps us a lot to build a team identity that we need. He puts the effort in, and he is relentless."We are aware he has been subbed twice for minor issues. We are in close contact with the Newcastle medical staff on a very trustful and professional level."We decided to call him up, and my last information is that we have a chance he will come to the camp and we will take care of him.
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> "We will not take any unnecessary risk. Players' health is always first."
Why risk it with Anthony Gordon on Sunday?
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Our feeling is that if Gordon plays on Sunday, he'll not be linking up with England anyway, as he's likely to be injured again.
Obviously, we aren't as close to things as Eddie Howe and Thomas Tuchel are, but it was clear on Sunday and again on Wednesday that Gordon wasn't anywhere near 100% fit, and the evidence came when he was taken off in both games.
Given his form in the Premier League this season, he's simply not worth the risk on Sunday. If he were the Anthony Gordon of two seasons ago, we could see the logic behind wanting him to start every game, but he's way off that level lately.