Thomas Tuchel’s decision to leave Jude Bellingham out of his England squad sent out a message that no-one has an automatic right to be selected but Anthony Gordon believes the Real Madrid star is a special case
Anthony Gordon has dismissed speculation that Jude Bellingham’s international future is not secure under Thomas Tuchel. The England manager caused a stir last Friday when he left Bellingham out of his latest squad despite the Real Madrid midfielder being back to full fitness.
Tuchel’s decision to leave out the recently-voted England Player of the Year was widely seen as a message that no-one is undroppable in the relatively new regime. But Gordon reckons Bellingham should be an automatic choice for any England manager, saying: “I think we all know that if he is playing week in, week out for Real Madrid, he is going to be in the England team.”
And Gordon admits it feels slightly strange not to have Bellingham in the England camp, even though he is fit to play. The Newcastle United attacker explained: “You definitely notice when he is not here because he is such a big presence, such a big player.
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“But he has been injured, he has had a tough couple of months and it’s probably done him some good to be honest because he has played so much football for his age. He’s younger than me, like.
“It’s crazy. He’s played so much football – this has just given him time to build a rhythm up and start playing again.”
Gordon played a key role in the 5-0 win over Serbia in Belgrade, easily the most impressive performance of the Tuchel era. And the 24-year-old scouser has promised England fans there is a lot more to come from him, declaring: “One performance is not enough.
“I think I’ve probably been at 50 per cent in an England shirt, to be honest. I’m nowhere near where I can get to.
“But I’m feeling more comfortable every time I play. I’m looking forward to performing like that more often.
“That said, I probably should have been putting in those performances a little bit earlier. But I felt I played really well against Serbia and I’m looking forward to kicking on from there.”
Gordon says he is some way from making the left-sided attacking spot his own. But the Newcastle man does believe he can strike up a prosperous relationship with skipper Harry Kane, in the same way he hopes to form a rapport with club team-mate Nick Woltemade.
Gordon said: “They play a very similar style of football, in terms of they want to almost be the quarterback. They want to come in and create – they don’t just want to finish the chances like a typical striker would do.
“The amount of assists that Harry has got in the last couple of years is outstanding. It helps me because my style suits playing with that style of striker.
“If defenders want to go and engage with them, I can run off the back of them. I think it’s really positive for me and I really enjoy it.”
And Gordon, who has scored only once in 14 England appearances, revealed he has been badgering Kane for tips on how to improve his goal output, admitting: “I probably do his head in most of the time. But I try and just pick anything I can from him because he’s a genius.
“He’s playing at the very, very highest level a footballer can play. So I just try to annoy him and pick his brains, asking him as many questions as I can.”