Everton midfielder Anthony Gordon has hit back at critics who have accused him of diving. Gordon was a target for Albania in Tuesday’s win for the Young Lions with Armando Dobra, who plies his trade for Ipswich, sent off for two fouls on the Evertonian. And after the game, Gordon insisted he has been unfairly labelled.
Anthony Gordon said: “People have been calling me a diver of late, I’m not sure why. If you look back at the games, I’m getting kicked quite a lot. I’ll take it as a compliment because I must be doing something well. I know what I bring to the table. I know I’m not a diver, videos prove that. I might go down every now and then but that’s because I’m getting kicked. I don’t know what people want me to do. I’m just going to do my best and keep getting at people. It happens to really good one-v-one players. If someone is good one-v-one they are going to get past a lot of players and hacked down every now and then. I’m not sure the reasons why we get called divers. I spoke to the gaffer [Lampard] after the Liverpool game and he was saying to me ‘I don’t think people understand the speed you are travelling at’. Any touch to me at that speed is going to knock me off balance. Whether it’s a foul or not I’m probably going to end on the floor as I’m travelling at high speed.”
Securing qualification for England, where the Under-21s will hope to avenge their group stage exit at the 2021 Euros, capped a breakthrough season for Gordon after Everton’s survival. Gordon was pleased with his first full campaign as a first-team player, but admitted the pressure did slightly affect him.
Anthony Gordon added: “I did feel like that towards the end. It was weighing me down a lot because I felt I took a lot of responsibility but I’ve always wanted that responsibility so I couldn’t hide from it. I really enjoyed it. At the end it got a bit tough because I’m still young and I’m still learning but it will help me in my career. It’s been a good year for me personally but as a club, it hasn’t been the best. Next year I’m looking to push on and be in a winning side. I don’t want to be doing that every year. It’s not where Everton should be.”
