Alan Shearer and Micah Richards have agreed that former Newcastle United winger Anthony Gordon was England's best player in Tuesday night's 2-0 Nations League win over Czechia.
The 25-year-old, who joined Barcelona from the Magpies in a £69million deal this summer, scored England's second goal in the victory. He had also found the net in Saturday's 3-2 defeat to Spain at Wembley Stadium.
Gordon's impressive start at Barcelona
Gordon made his competitive debut for Hansi Flick's side in August against Elche, impressing in a 5-2 win. He registered two assists for the La Liga champions, with three more across games against Rayo Vallecano and Valencia.
The winger has quickly become a fan favourite, helping his team win all seven of their league games so far this season. England played against 10 men for much of the Czechia contest after Pavel Sulc's sending off, but Gordon and Harry Kane still impressed with goals to seal a crucial win.
Shearer and Richards' verdict
Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Shearer said: "Gordon impressed me. Trent [Alexander-Arnold], I thought it was a brilliant ball. You know what it's like when you go away to those places, it's tough, you've just got to get in there."
He added: "It would have been a better test if he [Sulc] hadn't been sent off, but by and large, I mean they got caught on the counterattack a couple of times in the 1st 15 minutes or so, England. But I thought Gordon was the pick of the bunch, didn't you?"
Richards replied: "Yeah, I thought he was terrific. I thought he was positive, took his goal really well, a brilliant ball in from Trent. I thought every time he got the ball, I thought he was a threat. The defender didn't know whether he was going to try and cut inside, and a lot of the time he went on the outside. Late in the game, he clipped a lovely ball in, I think it was Morgan Rodgers, that missed a header, so yeah, I thought he was without doubt the pick of the bunch, Anthony Gordon."
Praise for Gordon and Lewis Hall
Richards also praised Newcastle left-back Lewis Hall and his partnership with Gordon for Thomas Tuchel's team. He said: "Gordon, more than his performance, his interviews are absolutely amazing, very smart, very articulate, knows what he wants, he's got a different kind of confidence where he believes in his ability. He talked about how he always thought he would go to Barcelona.
"He believed in himself and the thing is, when you have that confidence, you have to deliver, and that's what he's got into his game now. He's already scoring for England and looks like the player the rest of the guys can rely on, which is a very good sign. They were a threat down there. Him and Lewis Hall obviously know each other and did well with the understanding [they have]."
Gordon and Hall are next in action for England in the Nations League on Saturday against Croatia (5pm) before the Three Lions' final game of the current international break against Czechia again on October 6 (7:45pm).
