Fair to say that Anthony Gordon didn’t set the world on fire after arriving at St James’ Park in January.
Only four Premier League starts and 12 sub appearances, seeing the former Everton player spend 480 minutes on the pitch as Newcastle United ended the season fourth in the table.
With £40m spent, all up front, plus a potential £5m in future add-ons, Anthony Gordon still with it all to prove, although Newcastle fans had seen glimpses of what the young attacking player is capable of.
The final day of the season saw Anthony Gordon get his first ever goal in NUFC colours, a smart finish at Chelsea in a 1-1 draw.
After the 2022/23 season had concluded, Anthony Gordon making a very honest admission AND a big Newcastle United prediction:
“I am so happy to get that goal [against Chelsea].
“You could see it in my celebration, as all the emotion came out.
“It has been a really difficult year, not just at Newcastle… it was good to get [that goal].
“It has been so difficult, just because of the level I was at coming in at, the lads here were so much higher.
“I had such an uphill battle to match them and then I had the injury, it always felt like I was chasing, it was hard mentally and physically.
“Now I feel that I have a big summer coming up, so I put myself in a really good position for next season.
“This summer I have got the Under 21 Euros, so physically I am going to be so on it like never before, because out there I am absolutely blowing [when playing for Newcastle United].
“In this [Newcastle] team you have to be so fit.
“The gaffer demands so much from the players, that was something I didn’t expect and didn’t know.
“But I know for next year.
“So I will be on it.”
A very honest admission from Anthony Gordon, to reveal that he just wasn’t fit enough to play the Eddie Howe way.
Which to be honest was the case with pretty much every single Newcastle United player back in November 2021, when Howe inherited the shambles left behind by Steve Bruce. Players lining up to admit that a big factor in the disastrous start to the season was that basically the team just hadn’t been fit enough.
Eddie Howe got the necessary done on the training pitch and that eventually paid dividends on the pitch, an incredible turn around from the mess Ashley and Bruce left behind, as Newcastle had the third best form in the second half of the 2021/22 PL season.
I feel there is every chance we are going to see the same turn around for Anthony Gordon, after four months of Eddie Howe working with him, as Gordon says, this Under 21s Euros tournament is perfectly timed.
The NUFC player may well miss the very start of Newcastle’s pre-season, if England reach the late stages, but it will surely do him the power of good.
Thursday night saw England Under 21s play their first group match and Anthony Gordon was amongst those to impress in a very good performance.
Anthony Gordon with a lovely pass to set up Jacob Ramsey to score the opener just after the break, the Villa player exchanging passes with Gordon, before bursting into the box and slotting into the far corner.
An assist for @anthonygordon for England U21’s 👏 #nufc pic.twitter.com/1XzmQecAvI
— Andy⚫️⚪️ (@AndyNufc48) June 22, 2023
Anthony Gordon then so unlucky to see a goal ruled out, due to an infringement by Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White.
The Newcastle United winger / attacking player looking good on the fitness / stamina side of things before becoming one of five late subs for England, heading off in the 79th minute.
Arsenal’s Emile Smith Rowe scored deep into stoppage time to give the match a more realistic scoreline of 2-0 against the Czech Republic after having 71% possession. Restricting the Czech Republic to only one corner and two efforts on target all game.
Hopefully Anthony Gordon can get plenty more minutes on the pitch in this tournament, as well as the work on the training pitch, fingers crossed England go far in the competition to give Gordon the perfect fitness and form springboard before he rejoins his Newcastle United teammates.
The England Under 21s now play Israel on Sunday and Germany on Wednesday, Anthony Gordon and his teammates knowing a win in either game will see them through to the quarter-finals, with Israel and Germany having drawn the other opening game in the group.
I have seen a few people questioning how 22 year old Anthony Gordon and 23 year old Sandro Tonali are playing in an Under 21 Euros finals?
The rules state that for these finals, it is players born on or after 1 January 2000 who are eligible to participate. Gordon born 24 February 2021 and Tonali on 8 May 2000.
This tournament will serve as European qualifying for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, where (in Paris next summer (26 July to 11 August 2024) they will be represented by their under-23 national teams with a maximum of three overage players allowed.
If England go all the way, Anthony Gordon and his England teammates will contest the final of these Euros on Saturday 8 July, before then potentially rejoining their club sides.
Newcastle United kick off their pre-season friendlies on Saturday 15 July (at Gateshead), the Tuesday 18 July at Rangers.
England Under 21 squad for this 2023 European Under-21 Championship:
Goalkeepers:
Josh Griffiths (West Bromwich Albion), Carl Rushworth (Brighton and Hove Albion), James Trafford (Manchester City)
Defenders:
Max Aarons (Norwich City), Jarrad Branthwaite (Everton), Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Charlie Cresswell (Leeds United), Taylor Harwood-Bellis (Manchester City), Ben Johnson (West Ham United), Luke Thomas (Leicester City)
Midfielders:
Tommy Doyle (Manchester City), Harvey Elliott (Liverpool), James Garner (Everton), Angel Gomes (Lille), Curtis Jones (Liverpool), Jacob Ramsey (Aston Villa), Oliver Skipp (Tottenham Hotspur)
Forwards:
Cameron Archer (Aston Villa), Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Noni Madueke (Chelsea), Cole Palmer (Manchester City) Emile Smith Rowe (Arsenal)
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