Anthony Gordon had a night to forget as England lost 2-1 to Greece at Wembley.
The Newcastle United attacker was named in the Three Lions’ staring lineup for the third game running, having excelled during the previous international break.
Gordon impressed Lee Carsley with his performance against Republic Of Ireland, while the 23-year-old was also dangerous during the win over Finland.
But it was a different story on Thursday night, as an uninspiring England team fell to a 2-1 defeat to Greece. That is despite the fact that England had Anthony Gordon, Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden, Cole Palmer and Bukayo Saka all starting.
Carsley tried to get all of his attacking players into the England XI, whilst also attempting to find a way to score goals in the absence of Harry Kane.
Rather than call upon Dominic Solanke or Ollie Watkins, Carsley opted to deploy Bellingham as a false nine. It did not work at all, with England’s flair players failing to shine.
Alan Shearer explains why Anthony Gordon struggled, but does not defend Newcastle United star’s performance
One of those players was Gordon, with Newcastle’s number 10 failing to have a major impact on the left of attack. It was a similar story for Saka, who started on the opposite flank.
They both had poor games, and Alan Shearer has explained to Gary Lineker and Micah Richards on The Rest Is Football podcast why they struggled so much against Greece.
Shearer: “Gordon had a poor game, as did a few.”
Lineker: “I wonder what Gareth Southgate thought watching that game. Everyone was going ‘Gordon’s got to play on the left in the Euros’. I mean, it’s a totally different style of football.”
Shearer: “What didn’t help Saka and Gordon is a lot of the times when they get the ball, they go at their wingers. I was thinking ‘go on, get at them’ but then I thought if you’ve got no one in the box anyway as there’s no forward anyway. That’s not defending them because I don’t think either of them had a good game.”
Newcastle United fans will be fearful after Lee Carsley’s tactical blunder
While Shearer is right not to defend Gordon’s underwhelming performance, his reasoning for the Scouser struggling makes sense.
During the Euros, England needed proper wingers to support Harry Kane. Now England have got proper wingers, but no striker. Instead, Bellingham was the most advanced, but did not play as a conventional forward.
It was a risky decision by Carsley to try and shoehorn so many creative players into his side, and it backfired.
That will alarm Newcastle United fans, who are hoping that Carsley gets the England job on a permanent basis ahead of Eddie Howe. The Newcastle United manager is a contender for the role, but Carsley has looked like the favourite in recent weeks.
Simon Jordan recently said that Carsley has the job in the bag, but England’s display against Greece suggests that claims like that might be premature.
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