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Anthony Gordon revealed in the summer that he needs something to go wrong to come back stronger. ‘I need to make it personal with myself,’ he told me in Seoul.
After 19 Premier League games without a goal or assist, one would expect - and Newcastle fans will hope - he is beating himself black and blue in aid of black and white. Being substituted at half-time at West Ham on Sunday felt like the reckoning he craves.
Eddie Howe said he could have taken off any one of his XI, so bad were they, but he chose Gordon, the England starter. This when his team needed attacking inspiration, too.
But Gordon’s light, in the Premier League at least, has long since flickered. His last goal was against Wolves in mid-January, his last assist 10 days later at Southampton.
At his best, he is a comet of energy, pace and incision. But much like comets, those performances aren’t coming around often enough in the top flight.
‘Look, he’s played very well in the Champions League,’ said Howe. ‘He hasn’t quite hit that form in the Premier League, and that’s his challenge.’
Anthony Gordon, pictured celebrating with assistant coach Graeme Jones after a win over Fulham, has gone 19 Premier League games without a goal or assist
Gordon has been outstanding in the Champions League but has not replicated that form in the top flight
So, what has gone wrong? The counter-argument to such inspection is that, in the Champions League, only Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe have outscored his four goals.
Then there was his goal and man-of-the-match display for England in Latvia last month. But Latvia, Union Saint-Gilloise and Benfica are not as good as West Ham.
You might be tempted to call Champions League and international matches the big occasion, but the Premier League is a truer test of a player’s worth. Even a goal against Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday will feel like a false dawn if Gordon fails to rise to the challenge at Brentford on Sunday.
His Premier League output has not been good enough and, in the 3-1 defeat by West Ham, neither was his general play. His two dribbles and three crosses were unsuccessful, even if he deserves credit for his role in Jacob Murphy’s goal.
But for all of that, there is no panic on the player’s side, nor internally. Rather, there is a feeling that Gordon is in a good place, even allowing for a hip complaint for which he is receiving physiotherapy.
Five goals from 14 starts across all competitions for club and country is seen as a positive return, albeit one that needs to extend to the Premier League.
There is also the mitigation of Gordon starting the season as an emergency striker following the sale of Alexander Isak. He was a nuisance and tireless runner in three matches but, as one source said, Gordon the striker could have done with Gordon the winger to bounce off.
He was sent off in the second game of the season against Liverpool for an over-zealous lunge on Virgil van Dijk and missed more than three weeks, losing his early-season rhythm on the back of a summer in which he trained every day.
Gordon's form isn't as bad as some of his critics say and there are no concerns about his work ethic at Newcastle
Gordon is not panicking and neither are the club despite his lack of Premier League output
Still, Howe has picked Gordon for every Premier League and Champions League game when available, and that speaks to him being sharp and focused on the training ground.
His star-man display in the recent 3-0 win over Benfica - one goal, one assist - was seen by some insiders as among his best for the club.
So, to believe he is horribly out of form is wrong. It is why, were the World Cup to kick off tomorrow, Thomas Tuchel would start him on England’s left.
Keeping hold of that jersey is a huge motivation for the 24-year-old and, at Newcastle, there are no concerns over application and a want to be the best version of himself.
There have, though, been several conversations with Howe in recent weeks. The head coach has always appreciated Gordon’s honesty and desire to do well.
The winger admits that last season he was too inconsistent and that he was affected by the club floating his sale to Liverpool amid their PSR squeeze.
‘I thought I was going to leave at some point in the (2024 summer) window,’ he said. ‘It didn’t happen. I had to get my head around that to begin with (thinking I was going), and then to get my head around it again (when it didn’t happen) was hard. I’m a human being. It was really difficult.’
What Gordon needs to get his head around now is being the same player on a Champions League night under the lights as he is on a weekend away day. It is eight matches without a win on the road in the league.
Gordon, seen in a duel with Ibrahima Konate, needs his numbers to match his ability
Dan Burn was talking to all of his team-mates on Tuesday night when he warned they can’t just turn up in the so-called bigger games, but Gordon would do well to take note of his England colleague.
‘The frustrating thing is we have the Champions League tomorrow and everyone knows we will turn up for that game and the crowd will be buzzing and we'll be buzzing and at it,’ said Burn.
‘It's about replicating those performances away. It's very easy to get up for these games and play in these Champions League nights, but Brentford is the type of game where you really need to earn your money and turn up and perform.’
It feels like time for Gordon to make things personal with himself - and to make it count in the Premier League. Because for a player of his talent, the numbers do not add up right now.
