Sky Sports pundit brands Everton winger Anthony Gordon ‘lazy’ v Brentford
Sky Sports pundit Don Goodman was highly critical of Everton winger Anthony Gordon after a first-half moment in Sunday’s clash at Brentford.
Gordon, 20, was named in the Everton starting XI for the third consecutive game and with Richarlison, Demarai Gray and Dominic Calvert-Lewin all missing, extra pressure was placed upon his shoulders to provide some attacking thrust.
However, it was his defensive work that was questioned by Goodman during live commentary duties for Sky Sports [28/11/21].
He said: “Lazy defending from Anthony Gordon here.
“[He] can’t get there and he just nudges there, that’s really lazy, knocks [Sergi] Canos off balance and now his team have got to defend a set-piece.”
Harsh
Gordon is still a ‘pup’ in senior football terms, so he’s still got a lot of growing up to do in terms of learning when and when not to make a challenge.
An older pro may have shown more patience and forced ex-Liverpool player Canos into making a mistake, but Gordon was over-enthusiastic and paid the price as the home side earned a free-kick.
Calling it lazy, however, is probably a bit harsh as the Blues winger was at least aware of his defensive duties and attempting to track back.
Gordon was actually one of the brighter sparks for Rafa Benitez during the first half.
The home side were on top for the most part and Gordon’s pace and trickery was important to mount a couple of counter-attacks.
With the likes of Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison and Gray all to come back into the team over the next few weeks, Gordon’s place in the starting XI is likely to come under huge pressure.
However, he’s certainly shown enough not to be automatically discarded, even with the returning Blues stars.
Rotation will be key over the festive period, and Gordon should earn himself plenty of minutes.
In other Everton news, Jeff Stelling has blasted this ‘Daft’ Blues ace.
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