2021/22 Anthony Gordon

[BlueToff]

There's been great examples of him being able to cross a ball in, but equally if you look recently there's been many poor examples of his crossing.

As @BlueToff rightly mentioned, he's blowing out of his arse, which for me will play a part. We shouldn't be relying on a player of his age, but that's the situation.

I think he needs a good break over the summer and hopefully in a more capable squad, which isn't in this position, he can work on the weaker areas of his game.

I think what's most telling is all the non-blues I speak to speak highly based on what they've seen. We mustn't put too much pressure on him and let him develop.

aye, he's very frustrating atm but think that's more down to Gray and Gordon playing in the same team doing exactly the same things.

Their work off the ball v Chelsea and Leicester was fantastic, but when the onus is on Everton to have the ball then both of them on the pitch just goes stale. They want to do the same thing.

 

[argietoffee]

I think Clement is taking it seriously, which is good. Barry from Chelsea specialises too, so would like to see him come on board.

Wonder could we poach him off Belgium once they get eliminated early from the Qatar pre Christmas friendly tournament?

 

[royvernon39]

Frank said that they were working on dead ball tactics but I see no progress. Gordon is a prospect no doubt
but his deliveries are often crap. Gray's corners were better but not much better. 14 corners or so against Watford
and no real threat.

Posters on this thread talk about the lack of goals from our forwards and that is true. What is also true is that in the final third the team lacks
invention and talent. It makes me think of Benitez and Digne and Rodriguez. James Rodriguez was an occasional goal scorer and although
not a runner could win a match in a second; Digne was the best crosser of the ball at the club. Agent Rafael....!

 

[Tel001]

This is the type of thing I was talking about though, it can’t be his first season and only half a season. He played a bit of first team football 2 years ago, then a bit more last year, then more again this year. Will next year be his first ‘full’ season and we have to factor that into things aswell?

Again, this genuinely isn’t meant as a criticism of him. He has some real talent and he’s put a proper shift in this season but we have to be honest and say one goal involvement in his last 12 starts is a pretty major reason we are where we are.

The season after next will be his “first season not being surrounded by crap players”

I like Gordon but he is a 33% of a front 3 that literally cannot pass to eachother or create anything.

Our chances come from mistakes from other teams. That is a recipe for disaster , need to stay up and address it asap

 

[Tel001]

We were one of the best sides at set plays last year, and are one of the worst this season. Although we have got slightly better in recent weeks.

We had Sigurddsson and Rodriguez last season and there deliveries were consistently pretty decent. This year it's a lot more hit and miss, and I don't think Gordon is good enough at them to be our number 1 option.

James , that is the sole reason for it. I can’t fathom how hard it appears to be , to find a human being that is paid 80k a week to kick footballs , and they can’t kick a dead ball .

 

[kenada_blue]

There's been great examples of him being able to cross a ball in, but equally if you look recently there's been many poor examples of his crossing.

As @BlueToff rightly mentioned, he's blowing out of his arse, which for me will play a part. We shouldn't be relying on a player of his age, but that's the situation.

I think he needs a good break over the summer and hopefully in a more capable squad, which isn't in this position, he can work on the weaker areas of his game.

I think what's most telling is all the non-blues I speak to speak highly based on what they've seen. We mustn't put too much pressure on him and let him develop.

His recovery from sprints is shocking. Compared to Iwobi who looks like a sprint is a jog to him.

Shades of Del

 

[Billy Dean]

Im not sure what the issue is, it seems weird tbh. I know at Spurs there was a lot about him getting too entrenched in the whole London lifestyle thing and wanting to be a bit of a celeb and football and become a bit 2nd nature to him.

IMO it's because he's not the best at off the ball work. Unless I'm mistaken his last involvement was coming on in the derby where he switched off for one of their goals. Gray and Gordon are getting through large amounts of work off the ball which is important for what the manager is trying to do at the moment.

 

[Billy Dean]

Ah come on, he is absolutely not being slaughtered and nobody is expecting him to score every week. This farcical defensiveness over certain players ever receiving the slightest bit of criticism doesn’t do anyone any favours.

The fact is he’s in the ‘done well for an academy graduate’ category of performance rather than the ‘best young player in the world’ category that some people want to put him in. That’s fine, he and we should be pleased with that, but it’s not helpful to pretend that it’s unreasonable to say 1 heavily deflected goal and no assists in the last 3 months isn’t really enough from a player in his position.

Conversely I don't think anyone is putting him in the best player in the world category. Despite all his shortcomings (namely final ball, finishing and dead ball delivery) he's still been one of our best players this season. Despite lack of goals and assists he's provided a lot of "intangible" contributions, like defensive work he's got through, territorial gains through carrying the ball, etc.

I just think generally it's a little unfair to criticise recent academy graduates in the same way as a player with 5-10 years experience. It should be obvious that a 21 year-old from the academy is going to have weaknesses to their game that need working on.

 

[Lanolin]

Conversely I don't think anyone is putting him in the best player in the world category. Despite all his shortcomings (namely final ball, finishing and dead ball delivery) he's still been one of our best players this season. Despite lack of goals and assists he's provided a lot of "intangible" contributions, like defensive work he's got through, territorial gains through carrying the ball, etc.

I just think generally it's a little unfair to criticise recent academy graduates in the same way as a player with 5-10 years experience. It should be obvious that a 21 year-old from the academy is going to have weaknesses to their game that need working on.

Personally I take the view that any player in the team on merit should be held to the same standard as anybody else. If you're an academy graduate pressed into action before you're ready because of an injury crisis or whatever then that's obviously different, but if you're being picked ahead of more senior players then (fairly self evidently I'd have thought) there has to be an expectation that you will perform at least as well, if not better, than the people you're keeping out of the team. Gordon is picked on merit, he is a bona fide first teamer who's been part of the first team set up for 3 seasons now and is on a first team contract. I don't really see the benefit in treating him as if he's a 17 year old kid that we've shoved into the limelight, he's 21 and at that age it's very common for players to be key members of the team.

I'm not sure how many times I need to stress that i'm not slating him or saying I don't appreciate his qualities or effort. He has done well for us, he has scope to improve, and his attitude has been excellent. I really like the lad, in a lot of ways he's a breath of fresh air. None of that takes away from the fact that we need him to actually contribute to us scoring goals though, and he hasn't done enough of that.

 

[Billy Dean]

Personally I take the view that any player in the team on merit should be held to the same standard as anybody else. If you're an academy graduate pressed into action before you're ready because of an injury crisis or whatever then that's obviously different, but if you're being picked ahead of more senior players then (fairly self evidently I'd have thought) there has to be an expectation that you will perform at least as well, if not better, than the people you're keeping out of the team. Gordon is picked on merit, he is a bona fide first teamer who's been part of the first team set up for 3 seasons now and is on a first team contract. I don't really see the benefit in treating him as if he's a 17 year old kid that we've shoved into the limelight, he's 21 and at that age it's very common for players to be key members of the team.

I'm not sure how many times I need to stress that i'm not slating him or saying I don't appreciate his qualities or effort. He has done well for us, he has scope to improve, and his attitude has been excellent. I really like the lad, in a lot of ways he's a breath of fresh air. None of that takes away from the fact that we need him to actually contribute to us scoring goals though, and he hasn't done enough of that.

Yes fair enough. Re the bold part, he is doing that though clearly.

 

[Dixieslaces]

aye, he's very frustrating atm but think that's more down to Gray and Gordon playing in the same team doing exactly the same things.

Their work off the ball v Chelsea and Leicester was fantastic, but when the onus is on Everton to have the ball then both of them on the pitch just goes stale. They want to do the same thing.

Difficult thing with him at the moment is, i reckon, he is perhaps trying too hard? Trying to be everywhere and do all things to get the team performing, he will realise I hope that when the better players eventually come in, he doesn't have to run around like a blue assed fly and can concentrate on his own game.

I think he could be a great asset to us, massive talent, just needs refinement, which will come.

His crosses have been a bit off tho and I do think at his age he could have more "stamina" but again, when he is covering like he does, hes gonna tire.

 

[liamefc91]

Lad is running on empty. Hopefully one more win and we can tell him to go on holiday.

 

[BlueToff]

Difficult thing with him at the moment is, i reckon, he is perhaps trying too hard? Trying to be everywhere and do all things to get the team performing, he will realise I hope that when the better players eventually come in, he doesn't have to run around like a blue assed fly and can concentrate on his own game.

I think he could be a great asset to us, massive talent, just needs refinement, which will come.

His crosses have been a bit off tho and I do think at his age he could have more "stamina" but again, when he is covering like he does, hes gonna tire.

Maybe an element of that but his decision-making/execution is far too often just very poor mate

Like in the Leicester game when Iwobi had made a 60-yard run and just needed a simple pass from Gordon who somehow underhit it.

He just lacks that side of his game.

 

[marekb]

He's made huge progress this season. He's gone from playing micky mouse football to adapting and competing with men week in week out, and it looks like it hasn't phased him one bit. We need to manage him correctly next season, give him time to play, but also time to learn and develop with the coaches simplifying the parts of his game that needs improvement.

 

[sheedys left foot]

He runs a lot and has some nice touches but won’t be the star player that some think he might be.