Newcastle United have the welcome distraction of the Champions League in midweek.
In Europe’s elite competition, the Magpies are two wins from three, with eight goals under their belt. In stark contrast, Eddie Howe’s men are struggling badly in the Premier League.
Their horrendous run of form has seen them secure only three victories from ten, leading to Toon icon Alan Shearer labelling the situation at the moment as “rotten.”
While they may now be without Alexander Isak, a number of their key established players are yet to really fire, including the out-of-sorts Anthony Gordon.
Why Anthony Gordon is becoming an issue for Newcastle
Gordon’s topsy-turvy form sums up Newcastle’s current predicament in a nutshell.
Indeed, the England international has hammered home four Champions League strikes this season and has looked at ease on the biggest of club stages. Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel has even selected him to start on a regular basis this term.
That said, domestically, he has been in a horror run of form that stretches back into 2024/25. To date, he has zero goals and assists next to his name from seven Premier League outings. He has also created just two big chances across those fixtures.
Usually so creative, so dynamic and so free-flowing, the winger’s form has totally deserted him in the top-flight.
There is a stale feel in the air regarding Newcastle’s stalwarts, such as the ex-Everton attacker, as they continue to underperform, with Howe perhaps now ready to look at the youth starlets rising through the ranks at St James’ Park to fix a number of his issues.
How Newcastle could solve their Gordon problem
So far this season, Howe has chucked Lewis Miley into the first team mix here and there to freshen things up centrally, with the homegrown prodigy still only 19 years of age.
This surely bodes well for the likes of Sean Neave, who continues to rip up the Premier League 2 with his goalscoring prowess. The Newcastle-born teenager has bagged 29 goals across many different youth teams, yet a senior shot still evades him.
Alfie Harrison – who was previously on the books of Manchester City – will also be hopeful of a senior opportunity shortly, with the tricky 19-year-old maverick already up to four assists for the season in Premier League 2 action, as he continues to stick out as a vibrant Gordon-like talent.
Yet, another youngster is catching Howe’s eye who could really trouble Gordon’s first team security, with the 18-year-old in question even being wildly compared to Kylian Mbappe.
Indeed, the time now feels right to introduce the hotly-tipped Seung Soo-Park to first-team football.
Having joined the Magpies academy ranks from South Korean side Suwon Bluewings earlier this year, with lots of hype attached to his name, he looks ready and raring to make an impact under Howe’s wing.
Park would become the youngest player in the history of Korean league football when he made his senior debut for Suwon, with one goal and two assists coming his way in Korean League 2 action even resulting in his Suwon head coach Byun Sung-hwan lauding him as having the “ability to go to the very top” with his front-foot approach down the left wing.
Further hailed as being “similar to Kylian Mbappe” by Asian football expert John Duerden for his speed and skilful approach down the flanks, the hope will be that Park can explode onto the senior scene much like the world-class Frenchman managed, with promising displays coming his way for Howe and Co in pre-season.
Up against Espanyol, Park ended his bright 63-minute stint with three out of four of his dribbles coming off, leading further to journalist Charlie Bennett lauding him as a “real find” from South Korea.
While Park continues to impress behind the scenes – with two assists also next to his name in the Magpies youth set-up this season – Gordon is deep in a moment of crisis in the Premier League, with his lacklustre showing against West Ham culminating in Howe bringing him off at the half-time mark.
Minutes played
45
Goals scored
0
Assists
0
Touches
28
Shots
1
Accurate passes
14/16 (88%)
Accurate crosses
0/3
Successful dribbles
0/2
The previously mentioned Bennett even said at the close of the Hammers’ defeat that Gordon is “not undroppable” – and with Anthony Elanga still without a goal or assist himself in league action after a bumper £55m move – Park might well be the outside-of-the-box answer to their troubling woes.
Gordon may well be in possession of the number 10 shirt right now but this budding Newcastle prodigy looks ready to start his ascent to stardom and swipe it away from him in the coming years.
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