Checkmate for Anthony Gordon


 
 
 
 
 
 

Anthony Gordon is proving full of surprises.

Newcastle United fans going on a major journey with the player in ony 17 months.

Fair to say opinions were mixed when the 21 year old raw talent arrived at St James’ Park in January 2023, the player admitting his first job had been to get up to the levels of fitness needed to play for Eddie Howe. Everton having been poor preparation for what was needed.

A steep learning curve as Anthony Gordon learnt the ropes under the Newcastle United boss before then exploding into action in his first full season with NUFC.

Many fans making him Newcastle’s player of the season, with 11 goals and 10 assists just in the Premier League.

As for off the pitch, with every passing interview, we are appreciating a very different Anthony Gordon to what most of us originally thought…

Anthony Gordon  speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live ahead of England’s match against Denmark on Thursday – 18 June 2024:

“I think chess is a life skill because it applies to everything.

“You have always got to think one, two, three moves ahead.

“Chess, I actually taught myself.

“I didn’t have a clue how to play it.

“I just learned by playing.

“I just love it.

“It’s a very peaceful game and it gets my brain working, which I love.”

Anthony Gordon and other England players have spoken openly about manifestation and visualisation, setting out targets that you want to come true:

“Sometimes I do it in the morning and visualise who I want to be for that day.

“It is just about setting your intentions to who you want to be and it allows you to do that a lot easier.

“We are all naturally very emotional and when you are emotional, you tend to make bad decisions.

“It is trying to come away from those emotions and trying to see the bigger picture.

“When you’re emotional and tired, you’re probably going to make worse decisions.

“So if I can set my intentions and visualise them before the game, I can follow a clearer path to my intentions.”

Anthony Gordon’s stellar NUFC form followed on from being named player of the tournament as England won the European Under 21 Championship in July 2023. The Newcastle star says he only writes down short-term goals “as if they have already happened” and a date to achieve them by:

“That gives me no time to debate them and just it’s a clear path to follow.

“I came off a [2022/23] season when I was struggling.

“I had just joined Newcastle and I couldn’t really get in the team.

“I went to the Under 21 Euros and my main goal was to win player of the tournament and to win the tournament, which I did.

“They were two massive goals that have gone on to change my life really, because my trajectory since then has gone upwards.

“My main goal last year was to be Newcastle’s most important player.

“So I’m never coming off, I want the manager to always believe in me, even if we’re struggling, I want him to value me and having me on the pitch.”

Anthony Gordon on boxing:

“I think everyone in Liverpool likes boxing.

“I think every kid just finds themselves in the local boxing club.

“You grow up watching it as well.

“On the pitch, I think it makes me more aggressive, play with more tenacity.

“Before I started boxing, I was down a lot, I would get pushed off the ball a lot.

“And then when I started doing it, it brought out a different side of me, aggression, just wanting to win, more desire in those battles.”

Anthony Gordon on his favourite book, Winning by Tim Grover, about psychology and sport. The author is the former trainer of NBA legends Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant:

“That s an incredible book about mentality and the things you have got to go through to really succeed.

“It is basically saying you can do everything you feel like you can do and still come up short. But you won’t have regrets then.

“He is walking you through high level sport.

“To be at the very top, things we go through every single day are tough and crazy sometimes.

“Not a lot of people would know we go through so many different emotions. Then it’s dealing with them and being composed and we still have to perform regardless of what’s going on.

“He’s giving you ways to deal with that, so it helped me massively.”