It may have been a bit like comparing Newcastle’s Grey’s Monument to the Eiffel Tower. But will Anthony Gordon emerge as a talisman for Eddie Howe as important as Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappé?
“A nice headline, that,” Howe said, though he did not complete the suggestion. In fact, he was still talking about his winger 60 seconds later, here at the Parc des Princes and on the eve of Tuesday night’s must-see group match in the Champions League.
“Anthony has been great for us. When we signed him, we knew he was a player with enormous potential, reliability, speed and technical ability. He is unique. He plays on the edge and is a fierce competitor.
“He has also been robust. That’s something we attach more importance to because those who can play every few days, that’s a skill in itself. The output he gives the team is extremely high every week. He manages to recover and go again.
‘I am happy with his progress this season, he has really grown enormously. The most important thing for him lately has been adding goals and assists.”
Anthony Gordon (left) has drawn parallels with PSG’s talismanic striker Kylian Mbappe (right)
Gordon (right) could play as a central striker for Newcastle on Tuesday evening, just like Mbappé
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With five goals and three assists in the Premier League, the 22-year-old is Newcastle’s top scorer.
On Saturday against Chelsea he faced the rival who kept him out of the last England team, Cole Palmer. Only one of that pair looked like an international footballer during the 4-1 win over Newcastle, and it wasn’t the recent Three Lions debutant.
So it’s a bit of a mystery to those who routinely keep an eye on the Magpies as to how Gordon didn’t gain height before Palmer. The Chelsea winger had scored four goals from five games before his call-up. Four penalties.
By comparison, Gordon has five from open play. And yes, there are shadows of Mbappé in the way he cuts into the infield from the left and finishes with the right. Thierry Henry even.
Howe would want him in the England squad, even though there was relief that his £40million striker was one of just five players to train on Tyneside during the international break given the side’s injury crisis.
“I won’t criticize Gareth (Southgate)’s decisions,” Howe said. ‘Anthony’s rise has been quite rapid this year.
‘He’s started to get those goals and assists in recent months so I’m sure Gareth will be keeping a close eye on him with the summer (Euro 2024) in mind.’
Like Mbappé, Gordon can also play as a central striker and he could start there on Tuesday evening.
Howe (left) believes England boss Gareth Southgate will keep a close eye on Gordon’s progress
Alexander Isak is Howe’s only fit frontman and he may be kept in reserve to make an impact from the bench in a match Newcastle cannot lose if they want to stay in the Champions League.
Barring the 4-1 win over PSG in the reverse fixture, Howe’s side have failed to replicate their Premier League form in Europe. They were sometimes unrecognizable and lacked the intensity of their domestic blitz. Indeed, PSG boss Luis Enrique watched their win at the weekend and, like Chelsea, was blown away.
This city has been plagued by bedbugs in recent months, but Enrique fears Newcastle’s players will swarm his on Tuesday.
“If you saw the game against Chelsea, it was physically unbelievable,” said the Spaniard.
‘Six players exert so much pressure that they can put pressure on eight players at the same time. This intensity in their play and this pressure is something we have to be prepared for.”
Howe all but promised that he would give his players their all in a match that could ultimately change the fortunes of the club for years to come. They need to play in the Champions League to ‘push back the guardrails of Financial Fair Play’, as chief executive Darren Eales often says.
“We have to play on the edge, I think we are at our best that way,” Howe said. ‘I expect that tomorrow we will need every ounce of motivation and energy from the players to achieve a result here.
PSG boss Luis Enrique was a stunned observer of Newcastle’s 4-1 demolition of Chelsea
“This is a defining moment in our Champions League campaign. We know very well where we are in the group (bottom) and know what can happen tomorrow (a defeat and Milan beat Dortmund means Newcastle will finish bottom), so we will do everything we can.
‘Fear of failure is a motivating factor in my career, losing is not pleasant. I don’t think the motivation for us could be greater. We want to stay in the Champions League for as long as possible and that makes tomorrow a big moment in our season.”
There was surprise among some observers when Howe opted not to train in Milan or Dortmund before previous away games. That has changed here and the head coach led a session under the lights on Monday evening.
“It’s a change of routine,” he said. “You never know how it will affect performance, but we are looking to improve on the two away games so far, which is why we came here earlier today. Some players might want that (to change) or need it.”
One player who would have delivered regardless is Gordon. But no matter if he shares the headlines with Mbappe, he must make them his own if Newcastle want to stay in this competition.
