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Ian Wright says Liverpool would have been shocked by Eddie Howe’s decision to substitute Anthony Gordon during Newcastle United’s crushing defeat on Sunday.
Many felt that Trent Alexander-Arnold should have been sent off during the early exchanges of that heavyweight clash, after Anthony Gordon was giving him the run-around.
Wright shared how the former Everton man was ‘ripping Liverpool to shreds’, but then he was taken off after 72 minutes for Harvey Barnes.
The Arsenal legend feels that, when that call was made, it would have resulted in the Liverpool defenders stating ‘thank goodness he is going off’, as he told Premier League Productions (28/08/23 at 2:20 pm).
Gordon had opened the scoring for Newcastle, before the away side went down to ten men in the first half, but by the time Gordon went off, the score was still 1-0.
Many feel that Barnes had an ample chance to kill off the match, but he made the wrong call, as that Gordon sub proved to be costly because Darwin Nunez then channelled his inner David Fairclough.
“You can imagine that roar, this is it, he is there, playing against a top team and he is ripping them to shreds,” said Wright.
“Mentally, for me, you think to yourself ‘what is that about? Why is he taking him about?’ There is no way the Liverpool defenders are not thinking ‘thank goodness he is going off’.
“You know what it does as well, when a good player gets taken off. The players look around each other and think ‘why has he taken him off?’ It has an effect on the team.”
Gordon puts on a strong showing
It had been a slow start to life in Newcastle for the £45 million star (Sky Sports) following his transfer last January.
But that performance against Liverpool, added to his display on the opening day of the new season against Aston Villa, have probably been his two best displays since moving from Merseyside.
It’s not just what he provides with the ball, but that aggression and willingness to get the ball back when he is without it.