Anthony Gordon recently admitted his Liverpool-supporting family used to want Everton to lose – even when he was plying his trade for the Toffees. Therefore Wednesday night will no doubt have been a positive one in the Gordon household…
The Newcastle United flyer, on a personal level, endured a tricky evening at Anfield as his side were soundly beaten 2-0 in the red half of Merseyside. Gordon, who was signed for his versatility, was tasked with playing a floating role in the Premier League encounter, leaving his preferred left-wing to instead buzz in and around Callum Wilson throughout the tie.
The reason for this was the absence of regular line leader, Alexander Isak, who missed the Liverpool showdown with a groin injury that Eddie Howe believes ‘isn’t too serious’. However, even with the Swede not expected to miss too much football in the near future, questions will be asked about Newcastle’s ‘plan b’ when their record signing isn’t available.
Wilson led the line the best he could against Liverpool but needed bodies around him given his relative lack of pace these days and perhaps a lack of sharpness due to limited game time in recent months. Newcastle’s No 9 enjoyed his side’s best chance of the evening as he sent a shot wide of Alisson’s goal, with the Magpies failing to register a single attempt on target in the 97 minutes of action.
“I think it was difficult to ask Callum to play on his own,” Howe said at full-time. “We wanted to try and get him support and help and also to try and be competitive in the game and to try and ask Liverpool some questions.
“So trying to play with two players up there I think certainly didn’t harm us defensively and I thought it gave us a twin attack and there were some really dangerous counter-attack moments for us in the game and some really dangerous situations that we didn’t make the most of.”
As Newcastle went 2-0 down in the second-half, Howe rolled the dice with £65m worth of talent brought on in one fell swoop as William Osula, Kieran Trippier, Lewis Miley and Harvey Barnes entered the fray. Osula and Barnes’ introductions, with Joe Willock and Wilson making way, further muddied the waters as to where Gordon was being deployed.
The 24-year-old seemed to be dropping deep into a left-sided No8 role, before dashing down the left and taking Osula’s spot out wide as the youngster moved centrally. Barnes too, usually a left-winger, didn’t appear to be tasked with hogging his preferred flank as Newcastle chased the game.
It again reinforces how fragile in attack Newcastle United remain after 18 months of limited spending. Barnes and Wilson are still working their way back to full fitness, Gordon and Murphy are at risk of fatigue and Osula is not yet deemed ready to be fully unleashed in the first-team.
It puts more pressure on the return of Isak, who will be a monumental miss should he fail to overcome his groin issue before this crucial run of games in and around the Carabao Cup final. It is a problem that likely needs addressed in the summer – with Howe also needing to find the answers before then too.
View news Source: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/noticed-what-anthony-gordon-without-31090694
