Anthony Gordon was substituted late in Barcelona’s 2-1 win over Atletico Madrid, prompting visible frustration from manager Hansi Flick and renewed scrutiny of Gordon’s performances and adaptation to Barcelona.
Gordon’s attacking output
Anthony Gordon joined Barcelona from Newcastle in the summer for £70m. He made five assists in his opening four games of the season, but has not contributed any further assists since then and has scored three goals in all competitions.
Lamine Yamal has 25 goal contributions, Raphinha has 22, Fermín López has 15 and Karim Adeyemi has seven, one fewer than Gordon, despite Adeyemi having featured for nearly half as many minutes as Gordon.
Barca Universal wrote: “Anthony Gordon does not do a lot wrong in terms of holding on to the ball and passing it around, but for the nth time, his attacking output was nothing extraordinary.”
Barca Universal also wrote: “The player struggled to take on his man and create any attacking openings of note against Atletico Madrid. Most of his touches were either horizontal or passes played backwards. He did not add much value as a creative option, a pace runner, or even a good ball-striker.”
Substitution in the 86th minute
Mundo Deportivo reported that Gordon was replaced by Karim Adeyemi in the 86th minute of Barcelona’s match against Atletico Madrid.
Mundo Deportivo reported that Hansi Flick brought on Karim Adeyemi in place of Anthony Gordon in the 86th minute. Gordon took longer than Flick expected to leave the pitch, and Flick was visibly displeased with Gordon’s walk to the byline. Mundo Deportivo also reported that Gordon quickened his pace and shook hands with Adeyemi after seeing Flick’s displeasure.
The penalty for delaying a substitution
Mundo Deportivo wrote: “The Barcelona coach’s frustration is understandable. Starting this season, delaying a substitution carries a penalty. To avoid wasting time, the player being substituted must leave the field within 10 seconds of the substitution board being displayed. Otherwise, the team making the substitution is reduced to ten men, and the player who should be coming on must wait a minute off the field before entering the pitch.”
Flick and Gordon on adapting
Barcelona boss Hansi Flick said: “It’s a little bit different I think for him, how we train because it’s totally different than he expected I think.”
Flick said: “I think, because what he said is after the game, normally, they don’t train in Newcastle, so it’s totally different than here, but he’s doing good.”
Flick added: “So I’m very happy about his quality, about his impact he has in our team, and no, he’s a good guy.”
Speaking recently on adjusting to life at Barcelona, Gordon told Sport: “At Everton, I was fighting relegation for two or three years, which was tough. At Newcastle, we were fighting for maybe the Champions League and to push up the table. And now I’m fighting with Barca for every trophy.”
Gordon told Sport: “I’ve had three very different challenges as far as the teams that I’ve played for. I really enjoyed all three because they’ve come with different things. They help you as a person, help you grow. But I think to be competing on every front for every trophy is definitely the most enjoyable.”
