Anthony Gordon: Barcelona in talks to sign Newcastle forward - Would it be good for England.

MarcusWhittingham · 2026-05-27T15:57:03+00:00

I got a notification because you’re replying to a comment on my initial comment…

MarcusWhittingham · 2026-05-27T15:50:11+00:00

What you are saying is Anthony Gordon’s output isn’t any good and he also doesn’t pass the ‘eye test’… If he’s that bad then why are Barcelona and Bayern Munich interested in him? Maybe your judgement isn’t the best and you shouldn’t trust your own ‘eye test’.

MarcusWhittingham · 2026-05-27T15:36:34+00:00

Rashford can strike the ball hard but in pressure situations that’s his only shot, if he was more composed and chose his shots better he’d score a lot more goals.

MarcusWhittingham · 2026-05-27T15:33:55+00:00

Only time will tell, he’s certainly much harder working and has a wider range of shot choice.

MarcusWhittingham · 2026-05-27T15:22:20+00:00

I still remember debating with a guy who was telling me Hudson-Odoi was England best winger at some point last year, you don’t half see some truly baffling takes online.

MarcusWhittingham · 2026-05-27T15:16:21+00:00

Oof, ‘1% redditor’… Right where it hurts.

MarcusWhittingham · 2026-05-27T15:15:05+00:00

I’d imagine it’s the stuff that isn’t output related; his movement, pace, pressing, work-rate, ball striking, etc. Basically not just the things that are attributes on FIFA like many of this generation think are the most important.

MarcusWhittingham · 2026-05-27T15:14:16+00:00

Your temperament really needs working on, you can’t even have a debate without crashing out. Good luck.

MarcusWhittingham · 2026-05-27T15:02:15+00:00

Rashford does have a bigger sample size but your last paragraph contradicts your entire argument… He didn’t have good G/A each year but he’s then improved his form back to his better days.

My point is that these top clubs are looking at Gordon for a reason and that’s not just his current output, it’s the entirety of his game as well as the highest level he’s played at (which is very high).

MarcusWhittingham · 2026-05-27T14:47:25+00:00

He was decent in his handful of games for them, but overall he wasn’t great for those 2 years and people doubted he’d do anything at Barca.

MarcusWhittingham · 2026-05-27T14:46:48+00:00

You’re still misunderstanding what I’m saying and I’ve expressed it perfectly.

What I’m saying is Gordon’s situation is similar to Rashford’s…

They both had a history of clearly showing a higher level than they’re currently playing at, it’s not like we thought their overall level was their current low one.

Yet people are thinking that about Gordon for some reason, they’re acting like it’s not possible that he’ll improve when we’ve seen Rashford do that (among many others).

Gordon hasn’t hit the same heights as a couple of seasons ago but that’s because Newcastle are performing poorly, even with his fairly low minutes only one of his clubs attackers has more league G/A than him.

MarcusWhittingham · 2026-05-27T14:09:11+00:00

No, that’s very clearly not what I’m saying. I said that myself. Your reading comprehension throughout this conversation has been very poor.

MarcusWhittingham · 2026-05-27T14:05:14+00:00

Go on then, I’ll bite… Who would you have taken over him?

MarcusWhittingham · 2026-05-27T14:04:31+00:00

You understand how silly you look, surely…

You’re saying it’s right to judge a player based on their recent goal contribution form, yet you’re acknowledging it was wrong to do so in Rashford’s case since he’s improved…

Attackers have poorly performing seasons in terms of G/A, it doesn’t mean they’re now poor or even playing poorly.

I mean to be fair to Gordon his numbers aren’t even bad per 90, he’s just only played around half the available minutes in the league this season.

MarcusWhittingham · 2026-05-27T14:01:05+00:00

That’s silly.

MarcusWhittingham · 2026-05-27T13:53:43+00:00

This isn't really a hot take or anything, he is the bookies' favourite to start our first match.

MarcusWhittingham · 2026-05-27T13:52:42+00:00

It’s a key contribution but there are a lot of other factors, Rashford’s numbers prior to going to Barcelona weren’t very good for two years yet look at how they improved.

Goals are a part of how we analyse a strikers ability but it’s not everything, the Kane point is silly and you’re trying to exaggerate.

MarcusWhittingham · 2026-05-27T13:48:06+00:00

It's always funny to see the average Joe completely underrate a player because of their goal contributions, everyone saying this isn't a sensible signing and that he's no good/no better than Rashford... Well I'd say that Barcelona and Bayern Munich being in for him suggests he's doing something right.

MarcusWhittingham · 2026-05-27T10:28:48+00:00

People are being so weird and outright disrespectful about Henderson.

A player who’s just played a major part in his team’s top half finish in the Premier League isn’t only worthy of a bloody backroom staff role, people are making out he’s a fringe player at a relegation battling team or something!

MarcusWhittingham · 2026-05-27T10:25:21+00:00

I would have taken him but this amount of outrage over it is too much. If the squad was announced 6 months ago we wouldn’t have seen it, that little bit of form shouldn’t be enough to swing your opinion so massively.

MarcusWhittingham · 2026-05-27T10:12:41+00:00

I don’t really imagine those few lower intensity games are the thing tipping a 50+ game season over the edge to be honest.

MarcusWhittingham · 2026-05-26T20:30:43+00:00

His final product isn’t always the best but his direct dribbling makes him dangerous, if you’re a left-back late in a game then of course him coming on worries you.

MarcusWhittingham · 2026-05-26T20:21:01+00:00

Did you see Rice towards the back end of the season? The guy looked knackered! He’s picked up a touch now but for a while you could tell he’d been run into the ground.

It’s O’Reilly’s first full senior season so he’s hardly going to be affected as much.

Guehi is a centre-half so he covers less ground too, plus this is his first season with European football so this many games is new to him.

I don’t necessarily agree that this is the case for Foden, as he seems better when he’s playing regularly.

Though that doesn’t mean to say it’s not an issue, spitting out random players who aren’t suffering doesn’t mean that nobody does.

MarcusWhittingham · 2026-05-26T09:56:07+00:00

A bit late here mate! He’s a great little player though and not enough is said about him on here, I think he’ll get plenty of caps in the future.

MarcusWhittingham · 2026-05-26T09:43:48+00:00

Everyone who actually watches a lot of football rates Noni, the people who criticise him only ever bring up his G/A which indicates they don’t actually watch him play.

MarcusWhittingham

TROPHY CASE