Anthony Gordon is not all to blame for England’s attacking issues, according to ex-Chelsea and Netherlands star Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
Gordon, who completed a big-money move to Barcelona before the World Cup got underway, has started both England games in North America.
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However, the former Newcastle United player has struggled to make his mark in meetings with both Croatia and Ghana.
Gordon was taken off with 20 minutes to go in the 4-2 win over Croatia, with replacement Marcus Rashford among those to get on the scoresheet.
The 25-year-old was a little more involved in the stalemate with Ghana, yet struggled to break down a resolute Black Stars backline.
There have been calls for head coach Thomas Tuchel to take Gordon out of the firing line and bring Rashford into the fold.
Gordon, though, wasn’t helped by a change in partner at left-back in England’s Group L matches.
Nico O’Reilly started the victory over Croatia, yet was dropped to the bench in favour of Djed Spence against Ghana.
Hasselbaink believes that Gordon isn’t solely to blame for his sub-par midweek display and feels that Spence should share the responsibility for a tepid left-side showing.
“A lot of criticism has come for Anthony Gordon starting both games,” Andy Goldstein began on Breakfast on Thursday morning.
“I’m a big fan of Marcus Rashford. I think the difference is incomparable. I think Marcus Rashford is a much better player from start to finish.”
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Goldstein then asked Hasselbaink: “What do you make of Anthony Gordon starting? What have you made of his performances?”
“I think you expect more from Anthony,” Hasselbaink said. “I think he would expect more from himself.
“I think when you are playing these kind of teams, you need your wide players to go on the outside of the full-backs, not inside.
“And the majority of the balls that he was getting, he was coming infield.”
Spence combination didn’t work
The former England coach added that he felt the combination of Gordon and Spence didn’t help the winger, continuing: “You need to take full-backs on the outside and then cross balls or try to get behind that defence.
“He didn’t do that enough. I also don’t think that Spence helped him that much or enough.
“But I understand that Spence had to play because of the counter-attack to stop that.
“But I think the combination of Spence and Gordon, I don’t really see that as well as Spence with somebody else or Gordon with somebody else.
“I understand why Spence was playing. When you are attacking, you have to think about your defence straight away.
“So Spence was there to stop the counter-attack, what he did really, really, really well.
“But he didn’t add to the attacking play for Gordon. So, yeah, you might need a different kind of profile instead of Gordon when you are playing Spence.”
England have all-but secured a spot in the next round of the 2026 World Cup, but will look to progress as group winners.
The Three Lions face Panama on Saturday night to round off their group stage campaign.
Ghana sit level with England on four points in Group L, and take on Croatia this weekend.
