Anthony Gordon attempting to replicate blistering form at Newcastle
Newcastle striker Anthony Gordon admits he is a victim of his own success as he attempts to replicate the blistering form which won him England recognition.
The 24-year-old has six goals to his name in this season’s Champions League, level with the Magpies’ record scorer in the competition Alan Shearer, but has not found the back of the net in open play in the Premier League since January last year.
However as he prepared to lock horns with European champions Paris St Germain at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday evening, the former Everton frontman, who also has a World Cup place for which to fight, remained defiant.
Asked how he judged his form this season, Gordon said: “I think perception sometimes can distort reality a little bit. I think people’s expectations of me have grown – and rightly so – and I’m completely fine with that.
“But I know I’m doing the right things every day. I try and do the right things whether I’m flying, whether I’m not playing so well. I try and just give my best and the result sometimes is kind of out of my hands.
“I’m always playing against right-backs who are elite themselves, so I know people expect a lot from me, but they’re also quite good players themselves. They get paid quite well to stop me.”
Gordon’s form has been a topic of debate on social media, although that is something he stays away from.
He said: “I don’t use it, so it’s not that bad for me, I don’t see a lot of it. I know a lot of players do, it’s their choice. It is what you make it, but it’s not for me.
“I don’t care for people’s opinions. Whether they love me or they don’t like me, it doesn’t bother me either way.”
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe will hope Gordon – who played in both games against PSG two seasons ago when the Magpies clinched a famous 4-1 victory at St James’ Park before being denied perhaps an even bigger win in Paris, by a controversial late Kylian Mbappe penalty – is at his very best as they attempt to snatch an automatic passage to the last 16.
The sides are locked together on 13 points with Luis Enrique’s men ahead only on goals scored and it will take another heroic performance to deny last season’s winners.
Howe will be without Brazil midfielder Joelinton, who is likely to be missing for several weeks with the groin injury he suffered in Sunday’s home defeat by Aston Villa, while compatriot Bruno Guimaraes, who sat out the Villa game with an ankle problem, will be give until the last minute to prove his fitness.
Newcastle are yet to win a Premier League game without Guimaraes since his arrival in January 2022, and Howe said: “He’s got that warrior attitude that he will fight for you, he will fight for the team, he will fight for what he believes in.
“And of course then you put that aside and then you go to the football player who’s just a magnificent technician.”
Howe will hope the game goes more smoothly than the club’s charter flight to Paris, which was delayed by several hours because of strong winds on Tyneside which even prompted them to consider postponing their departure until Wednesday.
The head coach said: “We were on the tarmac ready to go and just the winds were too high for us to take off, the pilot looking after our safety first. And then just as we were probably about to call time on it and possibly look at an alternative arrangement, he felt it was good to go and got us here safely.”
Published: by Radio NewsHub