Former Newcastle United winger Anthony Gordon believes he is finally getting the recognition he deserves at Barcelona.
In recent comments, Gordon has suggested that the English football fans were too quick to reduce him to merely pace, directness and aggression, with his move to Spain finally allowing him to really show the technical and intelligent side of his game.
“I felt I had more than what people thought of me,” Gordon said.
But, and by no means do I intend to disrespect the man here, I’m not sure we actually are seeing a different Anthony Gordon, I simply think we are seeing the same player, showing the same attributes, just in a different environment and on a different stage.
Gordon is still doing the same things
Firstly, it’s worth noting that at no point did Newcastle fans really question whether he was adept technically or even intelligently for that matter, it was just we always knew his best attributes were maybe other things.
On Tyneside he became synonymous with running off the shoulder, high intensity pressing, and a ruthless willingness to take on his man.
And Gordon actually addressed all those things in his interview, saying, “I played for Newcastle, who were a really intense running team, so the attributes of running and aggression were always on show.”
And he’s exactly right. Those attributes were always there and those attributes are still there now, which is a big part of the reason he has taken to Spanish football, and Spanich football has taken to him, so well.
Deco’s reasons & a “completely different side”
When Anthony Gordon signed for Barcelona, Deco literally cited that one of the main reasons they chose to sign him over Rashford was because “his style fits what the coach is looking for” and that Barcelona’s style is “much more linked to Anthony’s”
Yet, in Gordon’s interview, he described the Newcastle team he played in as a “completely different side” to the one he does at Barcelona.
Hansi Flick is well-known for his high-intensity, front-foot pressing system. Whilst the build-up phase is more intricate and structured than the turnovers the Magpies liked to utilise, there are still a lot of similarities that are helping Gordon to stand out.
That’s not to say that he isn’t showing his technical ability or intelligence, but to claim he is doing so in some massively improved way from when he was at Newcastle isn’t exactly a foregone conclusion.
Albeit in far fewer minutes, when you look at the stats, Gordon is actually ranking higher for dribbles (93rd percentile) and progressive carries (89th percentile) than he did at Newcastle compared to his peers in the top seven leagues. That suggests, if anything, his directness and speed on the ball are proving more useful for him in Spain.
Barcelona have made the same attributes more valuable
It’s no secret that Gordon wasn’t playing in the greatest of Newcastle teams last year, and that was largely because many teams figured out the intense way the Magpies were playing. As a result, that also meant Gordon had less of an impact because that was his game.
Now, at Barcelona, I think his directness has simply become more valuable because he has something different from many of the players around him.
He can turn a patient sequence of possession into a quick, breaking attack within a moments notice. And he can do so by running in behind, running at lightning pace toward his full-back or even simply by posing the threat to do either of those things.
In a team full of players who are comfortable receiving the ball to feet, playing cat and mouse with the opposition until gaps open up and really showing off their technical ability, the reason Gordon is succeeding to such a level is actually because he’s a bit of a maverick.
He can stretch a team vertically and make the most of a high-line, which would usually be a great way for teams to constrict the pitch and make it harder for Barcelona to play.
Barcelona also signed Karim Adeyemi this summer, a player who possesses many of the same qualities as Gordon. He is explosive, direct and devastating when given space to attack, yet those attributes haven’t stopped him from fitting into Flick’s Barcelona either.
If anything, that should tell us something about what Barcelona are actually looking for from their wide players.
The Gordon misconception
Barcelona haven’t uncovered a completely new version of Anthony Gordon that nobody has seen before. And, while there may be some truth behind the fact that he is more appreciated for his technical ability and intelligence now than he was before, I actually think Barcelona fans are appreciating him for the same thing Newcastle fans did, it just feels different because the environment is.
He’s still pressing aggressively, playing directly, running in behind and terrorising his full-back in 1v1 duels. And it is actually all of those attributes that are seeing him fit in so well into Hansi Flick’s system rather than some sort of revelation that he is a technical wizard with a 160 IQ.
Maybe Gordon feels like those other qualities are being appreciated more now, and perhaps playing for Barcelona has given him a bigger platform to showcase them. But from the outside looking in, I’m not sure his performances actually prove that.
Because the things Gordon is doing at Barcelona are the same things Newcastle fans have watched him do for years. The difference is that he is now doing them for one of the biggest clubs in the world, alongside some of the best technical players in football.
It isn’t that Barcelona are finally seeing a different Anthony Gordon. Perhaps they’re just giving the Anthony Gordon we already knew a much bigger stage.
Add us as a preferred source on Google