Season 2021-22 Opinion Talking Points

Anthony Gordon' indomitable spirit has been a light in Everton' dark season

by Gary McCarty  |   10/05/2022  0 Comments  [Jump to last]

Everyone connected to Everton Football Club will need a long summer holiday when the final whistle sounds on this campaign. Indeed, the 2021/2022 season is one that the Goodison Park faithful have had to endure rather than enjoy but if there is a crumb of comfort, it is that the Toffees look to have secured their Premier League survival. 

At least, the latest football betting odds for the Premier League make a strong case for this outcome with Frank Lampard's men at 15/2 to go down as of the 19th of May. Mercifully and with such reassuring odds so late on in the campaign, this will mean that the struggle this season hasn't been in vain with the Blues doing just enough to get over the line. 

Over the duration of the summer and when the dust settles, fans will inevitably look back on this traumatic run-in in a bid to pinpoint who exactly pulled the club out of the flames when the heat had become unbearable. Of course, there are many credible candidates and some may point to Lampard's management or Pickford's prowess in between the sticks when it mattered most, but there is a compelling argument to be made for Anthony Gordon and the way the left-winger put everything on the line to stave off relegation.

One of the stand-out moments was against Newcastle in March after the Toffees had been reduced to ten men. In reality, coming off the back of a humiliating 5-0 loss to Spurs and a narrow 1-0 defeat at home to Wolves, the writing did, for all intents and purposes, look like it was on the wall for Everton. Only, Gordon raised his own intensity by leading from the front when all hope seemed lost. 

It was a spine-tingling cameo that saw the winger aggressively assert his dominance on the game through fair, yet utterly bone-crunching tackles. Essentially, this approach meant that Eddie Howe's men couldn't drive home the advantage which led to, as we now know, Alex Iwobi slotting home one of the most important goals in Everton's recent history with the clock stuck on 99 minutes. The inescapable reality is that if that goal hadn't been scored and if a "never say die" attitude didn't spread across to the players courtesy of Gordon's point-blank refusal to lose, Everton could well have been kicking off next season in the Championship. 

In truth, it is Gordon's attitude that was so evident at Goodison Park against the Magpies, and indeed every team in the run-in, that will hopefully be reflected upon by the Everton faithful when the time comes to dissect the season.

Indeed, perhaps fans will congregate and look back together over something cold on the Algarve, a sun longer in Ibiza, or somewhere closer to home like one of the fine establishments on the Royal Albert Dock. Wherever it may be, and with the summer sun shining down, remember that it was Anthony Gordon's indomitable spirit that made sure Everton did not go quietly into the night.

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