Anthony Gordon has revealed his surprise at being substituted after scoring in the World Cup semi-final.
Gordon’s goal against Argentina prompted the retreat of Thomas Tuchel’s side in Atlanta and he was substituted 17 minutes after finding the net.
The Barcelona winger has launched a defence of Tuchel’s tactics and expects England to react differently in the future when in a similar position, although he is wary of trying to replicate the style of Spain’s passing game, admitting it is not in England’s DNA to play possession football.
When asked whether he was surprised at being taken off against Argentina, Gordon said: “Yeah, I was, to be totally honest, only because I’d just scored, I’m the type of player that I’ve said before, I’m really good when I play off adrenalin. And when I score, I normally don’t have many bad games, because I get into an untouchable mode of confidence, it makes me feel on top of the world, especially in that moment, on that stage, I felt really good.
“But as a winger, to be honest, I come off most games, it’s normal. It’s usually the position that’s targeted first for substitutions, because the players on the bench in your position are usually quick, and usually really good as well, but also, managers feel that when you’re getting a bit tired, you can add fresh legs and they can really go.”
Gordon believes England went into defensive mode against Argentina after it worked for them against Mexico and Norway in the previous rounds.
“It’s really difficult because also that same mentality was the reason we progressed through the previous two rounds, so then you almost carry on doing things that have worked, and it’s difficult in life to ever change something that’s working, because if you know something works, why would you go to anything else?” he said.
“We needed to really fight to get the victory against Mexico, which we did, but then that probably became our MO a bit too much for the next two games, and ultimately it didn’t work for us in the semi-final, but there’s no telling that if we would have stayed with the forward at the back, that we still wouldn’t have lost that game, so I think in hindsight everything’s easier.”
Gordon moved to Barcelona in the summer in a £69.3m deal and has seen at first hand the possession-based football of La Liga, with England next facing world champions Spain on Saturday in the Nations League.
“I think now that we’ve had that experience, probably the next time we’re in that position we’ll go the other way, so that’s why I said that scar doesn’t have to be a negative one, because it might lead us to victory in the next tournaments,” he said.
“I think culturally it’s not just that tournament or that game where we couldn’t control a game. England, as a nation, we don’t have that strength like the Spanish, where we control games like they do; it’s not in us. I’m not sure it’s something that can be taught, because now I think playing in Spain, I can speak with an educated view on the way they keep the ball is different; it’s much different than I’ve ever experienced playing in this country, so I’m not sure we can ever get that, but we can definitely get better.
“It’s not in the English DNA, and it’s probably something I’ve only realised to that extent from playing in Spain now, because I think we as English players are educated the same way as the Spanish players, we know how to keep possession, but it’s the decision-making of certain players in Spain, which is just not a natural thing.”