Anthony Gordon gives a heads-up to England stars as he talks about a big Thomas Tuchel choice before the Nations League.
Anthony Gordon shared that he was a bit surprised by a choice England’s head coach Thomas Tuchel made during the World Cup semi-final. He also talked about why his England teammates can’t play like Spain’s national team.
Gordon, who recently joined Barcelona after a £69.3 million move from Newcastle United, spoke ahead of England’s next UEFA Nations League games against Spain, Czechia, and Croatia. These will be England’s first matches since their exciting 6-4 win over France for third place, after the tough 2-1 loss to Argentina.
Gordon gave England the lead in that game against Argentina, scoring in the 55th minute, but late goals from Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez pushed Argentina into the final, where they lost 1-0 to Spain. Despite his goal, Gordon was taken off 17 minutes later, which surprised him.
“To be honest, I was surprised because I’d just scored,” he said. “I usually play better when I’m full of adrenaline, and scoring boosts my confidence a lot. It made me feel great, especially on such a big stage. But as a winger, it’s normal to be substituted because managers like to bring on fresh, quick players to keep up the energy.”
The 25-year-old from Liverpool then explained how England’s style shifted to being more of a battle after their 3-2 win against Mexico in the round of 16. “That became our way for the next two games, but unfortunately, it didn’t work out in the semi-final. Looking back, maybe things would have been different if we hadn’t changed our approach, but it’s hard to say for sure.”
He added, “I understand why the manager wanted to be more cautious and defensive against Argentina. As players, we could have done more to take control of the game. We had the best team and players, but in the last 20 minutes, we didn’t play our best football, and that’s something the coach can’t fix.”
Gordon then talked about how the culture around England’s football is different from Spain’s. He said English players don’t have the same natural ability to control games as the Spanish do. “It’s not just about that one tournament or game. England doesn’t have that same style where you control the game like Spain. I’m not sure it can be taught. Playing in Spain has shown me how their way of keeping the ball is very different from anything I’ve seen in England.”
He continued, “It’s not really in our English DNA, and playing in Spain helped me realize that. English players are taught similarly to Spanish players, but the big difference is in the decision-making. That seems to come naturally to Spanish players, but not as much for us.”
Gordon has adjusted well at Barcelona so far, assisting four goals in his first six La Liga games, with the team winning all seven of their league matches so far.