2021/22 Anthony Gordon

[catcherintherye]

He might get better. I hope he does, and there are some promising signs, but it amazes me that despite people having said that about a dozen young players in recent years who very much haven't got better, it's still said as if it's a fact that you just magically get better as you get older and nothing can ever prevent it.

I give this a fair bit of thought. Logically you should get better as players tend to peak in their mid/late 20's. I do wonder how much of it is improvement, and how much of it is consistency though.

For whatever reason though, we seem to really struggle to improve players from say 19-23/4 for me. I'd say there is a lot of reasons for that, some more complex than others. But it does seem an issue. From the outside it looks like we get players who start well, and then never really kick on. I suspect a mixture of us not being an elite team means players coast, and that we tend to introduce them earlier and look a bit more favourably at them initially, before probably growing overly frustrated with people when they don't hit those heights.

Sort of the Mason Holgate syndrone, who has probably maintained performance level, but gone from being the next John Stones, to being someone who's worse than the championship in some eyes. We probably over speculate and then get frustrated when they don't hit those heights. I accept I probably overhype at times too, not that I think my words hold any weight!

As for Gordon, he is sort of different as he didn't really burst onto the scene. He looked discarded 12 months ago and has really come on. We do have to accept though, that improvement is not linear, and he may be riding a bit of a wave currently, and come back down to earth a bit. He may re-discover this form again, which is decent if he was 26, but it's not wildly better than say Leon Osman.

My hope is that he can become more clinical and Lampard will be a great manager for him.

 

[Lanolin]

I give this a fair bit of thought. Logically you should get better as players tend to peak in their mid/late 20's. I do wonder how much of it is improvement, and how much of it is consistency though.

For whatever reason though, we seem to really struggle to improve players from say 19-23/4 for me. I'd say there is a lot of reasons for that, some more complex than others. But it does seem an issue. From the outside it looks like we get players who start well, and then never really kick on. I suspect a mixture of us not being an elite team means players coast, and that we tend to introduce them earlier and look a bit more favourably at them initially, before probably growing overly frustrated with people when they don't hit those heights.

Sort of the Mason Holgate syndrone, who has probably maintained performance level, but gone from being the next John Stones, to being someone who's worse than the championship in some eyes. We probably over speculate and then get frustrated when they don't hit those heights. I accept I probably overhype at times too, not that I think my words hold any weight!

As for Gordon, he is sort of different as he didn't really burst onto the scene. He looked discarded 12 months ago and has really come on. We do have to accept though, that improvement is not linear, and he may be riding a bit of a wave currently, and come back down to earth a bit. He may re-discover this form again, which is decent if he was 26, but it's not wildly better than say Leon Osman.

My hope is that he can become more clinical and Lampard will be a great manager for him.

I think you've hit the nail on the head with a lot of it there. Some of the players have improved between 19 and 23, even quite significantly, but because they were being so wildly overrated to begin with people don't notice the improvement. Holgate is the perfect example, I've never seen a player be as overrated as he was 4 or 5 years ago, it was genuinely bizarre. He's better now than he was then in my opinion, but he still has all the issues that it always looked like he would have at this level. Kenny is another one that I remember people insisting was going to be an England regular when all you needed was eyes to see that he was too slow and weak to ever get to that point.

Gordon has the natural ability to go a long way in the game, but it's worth remembering that 21 isn't that young for a player like him. It's certainly young enough for him to have more improvement in him but it's not uncommon for players of his type to be at the top level at his age, and there are plenty of them who've never really pushed on much more after that age. Again, that doesn't mean he won't improve but it is strange how people just continually claim all young players will inevitably get better, when there is an abundance of evidence (and just common sense) that tells you it isn't the case.

 

[HSWR]

Top scorer for Udinese this season.
I know he's like marmite but i liked him. He had that thing that he could do something off the cuff.

I must agree with you because i thought that season he arrived that he would become a world beater. He is the example of a bums off seats sort of player and it always felt watching him that if he could fix other areas of his game that he would go on to be a world class player. I do remember a game he played against west brom where he ran into their grock of a centre half over and over like he couldn't figure out how to beat a man any other way. That derby game though where we finished 3-3 i honestly thought we were watching the next superstar in the making.

 

[Nyhus]

He might get better. I hope he does, and there are some promising signs, but it amazes me that despite people having said that about a dozen young players in recent years who very much haven't got better, it's still said as if it's a fact that you just magically get better as you get older and nothing can ever prevent it.

Thats true. I think the big difference between someone like Gordon and Barkley is the will to work. Gordon is working his ass off every game, Barkley didnt. I dont see Gordon having the grace and talent of the players who become really, really good, but if he keeps working and improving he can become an important player for us in the future. Much more of an Aaron Lennon than a James Rodriguez, but a team needs both types.

 

[Goat]

Thats true. I think the big difference between someone like Gordon and Barkley is the will to work. Gordon is working his ass off every game, Barkley didnt. I dont see Gordon having the grace and talent of the players who become really, really good, but if he keeps working and improving he can become an important player for us in the future. Much more of an Aaron Lennon than a James Rodriguez, but a team needs both types.

I dunno, I think when Ross broke through he put the work in.

Not as much as Gordon, but he has a different style, for me Barkley was 3 times the player Gordon is.

But we all know how Barkleys career has gone.

 

[Nyhus]

I dunno, I think when Ross broke through he put the work in.

Not as much as Gordon, but he has a different style, for me Barkley was 3 times the player Gordon is.

But we all know how Barkleys career has gone.

I dont like the rat, but when he broke through he looked like he could become a special player. I dont see that in Gordon at all.

 

[Goat]

I dont like the rat, but when he broke through he looked like he could become a special player. I dont see that in Gordon at all.

I think with Gordon people see the basics and are hoping he can add more, he very well might, the lad is still very young, hes learning daily.

 

[GoldenToffee]

He's dangerous and is our most direct threat to the opposition simple due to his pace. That said, his final ball, general decision making and set pieces are very, very average and undo a lot of his brilliant work. I cannot believe the club doesn't have another player who is capable of putting in a decent corner. To have a 21-year-old lad exclusively taking all offensive set pieces, even though he's awful at them, is appalling.

 

[Toffeepot]

He's dangerous and is our most direct threat to the opposition simple due to his pace. That said, his final ball, general decision making and set pieces are very, very average and undo a lot of his brilliant work. I cannot believe the club doesn't have another player who is capable of putting in a decent corner. To have a 21-year-old lad exclusively taking all offensive set pieces, even though he's awful at them, is appalling.

It could be as simple as Gordon standing up and being counted, taking on the responsibility and Lampard wanting to encourage that kind of attitude in the squad. I think Gordon is proving very important in terms of team spirit and fan spirit of late, and a bad day at the office on set pieces doesn't mean he never sends in a good one, I've seen a few good'uns

 

[Zatara]

Thats true. I think the big difference between someone like Gordon and Barkley is the will to work. Gordon is working his ass off every game, Barkley didnt. I dont see Gordon having the grace and talent of the players who become really, really good, but if he keeps working and improving he can become an important player for us in the future. Much more of an Aaron Lennon than a James Rodriguez, but a team needs both types.

Gordon lacks the final ball and decision making in certain situations.

At 21 he's got time on his side to develop those two attributes. Not much else lacking.

 

[buddy]

The thing i like him is he moves forward and takes us up the field at speed,and dares anybody to tackle him we have no but him that can do that .

 

[DualityNSNO]

Shame he's already got a reputation for being a diver though, as that means he's never getting any call against him.

Also shocking that it has taken nothing for this to happen. Lad's been snapped in half several times and no fouls as well.

 

[Nyhus]

Gordon lacks the final ball and decision making in certain situations.

At 21 he's got time on his side to develop those two attributes. Not much else lacking.

A bit of foresight would help a lot, but thats something im 100% certain will come with experience.

 

[Toffeepot]

I dont like the rat, but when he broke through he looked like he could become a special player. I dont see that in Gordon at all.

Maybe that's a good thing then, because we were all wrong the first time about Barkley
Maybe he shone too brightly at first

 

[atypicalusername]

I dunno, I think when Ross broke through he put the work in.

Not as much as Gordon, but he has a different style, for me Barkley was 3 times the player Gordon is.

But we all know how Barkleys career has gone.

If we look at yards gained in possession I'm pretty confident they would be comparable. Perhaps more towards Gordon.