Former England great Darren Anderton believes that Anthony Gordon will be crucial in helping Harry Kane reach his peak at Euro 2024.
After finishing first in Group C, Gareth Southgate’s team has advanced to the competition’s knockout rounds, where they will face Slovakia on Sunday night. But the German results have been worrisome.
Their lack of creativity or passion in their passive performances has plagued their opening three games, with captain Kane’s form being one of the main causes for concern.
The Bayern Munich player, who scored 45 goals in 48 games during his debut campaign in Germany last year, has found it difficult to repeat his typical lethal form since two of his predecessors in spearheading the England attack, Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker, have been outspoken in their criticism.
Anderton, a former Tottenham player who earned 50 matches for his country, thinks that Southgate needs to make some “big decisions” regarding his starting lineup, and that Gordon’s selection is one of them.
Gordon made a late cameo off the bench against Slovenia in what were his first minutes of the competition, offering an immediate threat.
With England struggling to get players in behind the opposition, Anderton believes the Newcastle United star can offer what Son Heung-min used to do working in tandem with Kane at Tottenham.
‘For me, we need to stretch the pitch now, the movement is not good enough and everybody is coming to the ball and we end up playing in such a small area,’ Anderton told Metro courtesy of whatbonuscode.
‘You want to make the pitch big when you’ve got the ball, so you need people to run in behind. Harry used to do that at Spurs but doesn’t do that anymore, so you need someone like Son would do at Spurs.
EURO 2024 LAST-16 FIXTURES
June 29
Switzerland vs Italy (Berlin, 5pm)
Germany vs Denmark (Dortmund, 8pm)
June 30
England vs Slovakia (Gelsenkirchen, 5pm)
Spain vs Georgia (Cologne, 8pm)
July 1
France vs Belgium (Dusseldorf, 5pm)
Portugal vs Slovenia (Frankfurt, 8pm)
July 2
Romania vs Netherlands (Munich, 5pm)
Austria vs Turkey (Leipzig, 8pm)
“I learned from that game [against Slovenia] that Gordon needs to be a member of that team in order to establish the proper balance.” It most likely indicates that Gareth has to make some significant choices.
Anderton thinks that Kane’s position in the England squad is starting to resemble that of another legendary Tottenham player, Teddy Sheringham. However, he feels that Gordon is the only player on the team who can provide the necessary space between the lines.
‘You have to have someone that will run in behind,’ Anderton continued. ‘As a centre-back, if you know the ball isn’t going in behind you, you can get as tight as you like but if they have the worry of someone running in behind them they might get a little deeper and create more space for Harry to come into the hole and play like Teddy used to.
‘Harry can do that but there’s no space for him to come into at the moment, because Foden is trying to get in there, Saka’s coming inside, Bellingham is in there.
WHEN IS ENGLAND’S NEXT GAME?
England play Slovakia in the Euro 2024 last-16 stage at 5pm on Sunday.
‘You need to stretch the play and it is a big, big decision, but Gordon is the only one I see doing that.’
England will avoid Germany, France, Portugal and Spain on their half of the draw and also avoided a last 16 clash with Netherlands, who only qualified for the knockout phase by finishing third in their group.
Slovakia, who also finished third behind Romania and Belgium in Group E, await this weekend but Anderton believes a sterner test against the Dutch may have been more beneficial for a side needing to up their game.
WHO COULD ENGLAND PLAY IN THE QUARTER FINAL AND SEMI FINAL?
If England beat Slovakia, they will play either Italy or Switzerland in the Euro 2024 quarter final on July 6.
Potential semi-final opponents: Romania, Netherlands, Austria or Turkey
‘You always want the easier draw, but I felt like it would have done us good to play the Netherlands and to see exactly where we are,’ Anderton said.
“With the draws we keep getting, I’d say Gareth is a pretty lucky manager, and we have to finally take advantage of it.” You can’t ask for more than that—we’ve won the group and will now play Slovakia in the knockout stage after three poorly played games so far.