Newcastle United’s Anthony Gordon lasted just under an hour during England’s defeat against Senegal in a friendly on Tuesday night.
Gordon came into the side after Thomas Tuchel made a host of changes following England‘s disappointing 1-0 win over Andorra in a World Cup qualifier on Saturday.
The national media were critical of Dan Burn’s performance against Andorra, and they were rather disappointed by another Newcastle United player in Gordon.
Indeed, the winger is coming off an underwhelming season at club level and was among a number of England players to labour at the City Ground during another poor display.
Tuchel’s side slipped to a 3-1 defeat, and here’s how the national media rated Gordon’s outing.
Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images
Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images
The 24-year-old did help tee up Harry Kane’s goal. Gordon’s shot was saved by Edouard Mendy, who parried it right into the England captain’s path.
Still, the Newcastle star also missed a brilliant chance at the back post, failing to convert a tap-in.
The Sun gave Gordon a 5/10, writing: “Gordon’s international career has been a perplexing one, looking like it could explode at times but ultimately failing to launch so far. This was his 12th cap and there were hints of what he can bring with his rapid pace and enthusiastic pressing.
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“But he was not clinical enough in front of goal, missing a sitter midway through the first half, once again leaving fans wondering if he has the genuine quality to shine at this level.”
The London Standard, meanwhile, delivered a 5/10 rating and said: “Was fairly bright out on his wing got Krepin Diatta booked early on after skipping past him. Missed a sitter, however, during the first half.”
The Daily Mail also gave him a 5/10 and wrote: “Key to Kane scoring his opener, but made a mess of his own tap-in which would have made it 2-0.”
The Metro were another to rate him 5/10 and said: “His fairly tame shot ended up leading to Kane’s opener as it was parried into the captain’s path. He showed brief signs of danger on the left and got into a brilliant position to score but somehow fluffed a brilliant chance from a Walker cross.”
Elsewhere, The Daily Express were slightly more generous in their 6/10 rating. They wrote: “A few bright moments early on, and it was his shot which rebounded into the path of Kane for England’s opener. Gordon did, however, miss a sitter from a superb Walker cross.”
Anthony Gordon’s stats for England vs Senegal
As was the case with Burn over the course of the weekend, an important caveat must be applied.
All of the players are coming off a long season at club level, so playing a post-season friendly with a group of players they don’t regularly train with cannot be easy.
Still, the statistics do show that Gordon struggled. As per Sofa Score data, he touched the ball only 19 times, gave it away three times and did not play a key pass.
Touches 19
Key passes 0
Pass completion rate 80%
Accurate crosses 0
Big chances missed 1
Dribbles completed 0
Anthony Gordon’s stats for England vs Senegal, data via WhoScored
Clearly, he wasn’t alone in struggling for England. He did not, however, press his case for a regular starting berth.
Tuchel will no doubt want more from Gordon going forward.