Anthony Gordon believes England should stop trying to reproduce Spain’s possession-heavy football and instead develop a style built around the qualities that already make English players dangerous.
The Barcelona winger has backed England head coach Thomas Tuchel’s argument that controlling matches in the same way as Spain is not naturally embedded in English football, saying the national team may have a better chance of winning major tournaments by leaning into its own strengths.
Speaking at St George’s Park before England’s UEFA Nations League opener against world champions Spain at Wembley, Gordon argued that the difference between the two nations goes deeper than tactics alone.
Having spent the opening months of the season playing in Spain after his summer move from Newcastle United to Barcelona, the 25-year-old believes he now has a clearer understanding of how differently Spanish players interpret possession.
Rather than attempting to become a weaker imitation of Spain, Gordon wants England to find a version of football that better reflects the pace, physicality and transition threat available to Tuchel.
For supporters following the national team, SoccerMatchToday’s England football page provides access to available fixtures and football information, while Gordon’s club season can be followed through the Barcelona team.
Gordon Says England Should Stop Trying to Become Spain
Gordon’s argument is not that England should abandon technical football.
His point is more specific.
England possess technically gifted players, but he does not believe they naturally see or manage possession in exactly the same way as Spain’s best midfielders.
Gordon said England have repeatedly looked towards successful international teams and attempted to reproduce their methods, when the national side might be better served identifying what makes its own players different.
Speaking before Saturday’s meeting with Spain, he said:
“We can’t keep looking at other countries and trying to be like them, because we’re not them.”
He added that England possess strengths Spain do not necessarily have in the same abundance and suggested those qualities should become a bigger part of the national team’s identity.
That could mean playing faster.
It could mean using more aggressive transitions.
It could mean accepting that direct attacking football is sometimes a strength rather than something England need to remove from their game.
For Gordon, the key question is not whether England can learn from Spain.
They clearly can.
It is whether trying to become Spain is the right objective.
Playing for Barcelona Has Changed Gordon’s Perspective
Gordon is in an unusually strong position to discuss the difference.
He left Newcastle United for Barcelona during the summer in a deal reported by the BBC at £69.3 million. Since arriving in Spain, he has trained and played alongside footballers educated within a culture that places enormous value on ball retention, spatial awareness and decision-making in possession.
That experience appears to have strengthened his view that Spain’s style cannot simply be installed into another national team.
Gordon explained that the Spanish approach to keeping possession feels substantially different from anything he previously experienced in England.
He suggested that even when English and Spanish footballers have similar levels of technical training, Spanish players can make unusual decisions on the ball that appear almost instinctive.
That is the element Gordon questions whether England can completely reproduce.
This is not necessarily a criticism of English development.
It is an argument that football cultures produce different strengths.
Spain have traditionally placed extraordinary emphasis on receiving under pressure, positional play and using possession to control the rhythm of matches.
English football has developed a different reputation: greater verticality, more transitions, physical intensity and quicker attacks.
Gordon believes England should not automatically regard those characteristics as weaknesses.
Readers following his first full campaign in Spain can track the wider competition through SoccerMatchToday’s La Liga section.
England’s World Cup Defeat Still Shapes the Debate
The discussion has become particularly relevant because of what happened at the 2026 World Cup.
England reached the semi-finals and faced Argentina with an opportunity to reach only the second World Cup final in the nation’s history.
Gordon put England ahead.
Tuchel then replaced him as part of a tactical adjustment that eventually saw England defend with a back five.
Argentina responded.
Enzo Fernández equalised before Lautaro Martínez scored a stoppage-time winner, sending England out with a 2-1 defeat. England later recovered to defeat France 6-4 in the bronze-medal match and secure their best World Cup finish since winning the competition in 1966.
But the manner of the semi-final defeat created uncomfortable questions.
England had led.
They were close to reaching the final.
Yet when Argentina increased the pressure, England struggled to retain possession and push the game away from their own penalty area.
That familiar pattern revived a long-running debate around the national team:
Why do England sometimes struggle to control major matches once the pressure increases?
Gordon Was Surprised by His World Cup Substitution
Gordon has now admitted he did not expect to be substituted against Argentina.
The winger had scored England’s goal and felt his confidence rising.
He explained that scoring often gives him an additional emotional lift during matches, making the timing of the substitution particularly surprising.
That admission could easily have been interpreted as criticism of Tuchel.
Gordon did not present it that way.
Instead, he defended his manager.
He acknowledged that wingers are regularly substituted because coaches often have quick attacking players available from the bench, and he argued that the England players themselves needed to accept responsibility for what followed.
That distinction is important.
Gordon disagreed with neither the existence of the tactical problem nor Tuchel’s broader assessment of English football.
If anything, his argument places greater responsibility on the players.
Gordon Says England Players Could Have Done More
The Barcelona winger believes England should have managed the final phase against Argentina better regardless of Tuchel’s substitutions.
According to Gordon, England had enough individual quality on the pitch to retain more control.
He said the players “could have done more to take the initiative” rather than allowing Argentina to dominate the closing stages.
That changes the discussion slightly.
Instead of asking exclusively whether Tuchel became too defensive, Gordon is asking whether England’s players recognised what the game required.
Could they have kept possession for longer?
Could they have forced Argentina backwards?
Could they have slowed the match instead of allowing pressure to build?
Could England’s experienced players have changed the rhythm themselves?
Those questions matter because no manager can control every decision once players cross the touchline.
Tuchel Has Already Spoken About England’s Football “DNA”
Gordon’s comments closely reflect Tuchel’s recent thinking.
The England manager has also questioned whether his team should pursue the type of extreme possession control associated with Spain.
Tuchel has spoken about the need to “embrace the chaos” within English football rather than trying to remove every unpredictable element from the national team’s game.
That does not mean Tuchel wants England to surrender possession recklessly.
He still wants better decision-making and greater control in important moments.
But there is a difference between becoming more comfortable with the ball and attempting to recreate Spain’s entire footballing identity.
The emerging approach appears to be about balance.
England should improve their ability to keep possession when required without sacrificing the qualities that can make them extremely difficult to defend against.
What Would a More “English” England Actually Look Like?
Gordon gave some clues.
He spoke about physical football, direct attacks and counterattacking as areas England could potentially exploit more aggressively.
That makes tactical sense when looking at the players available to Tuchel.
England regularly have:
- fast wide forwards capable of attacking space;
- powerful midfield runners;
- defenders comfortable playing aggressively;
- athletic full-backs;
- forwards capable of pressing; and
- Premier League players accustomed to high-tempo transitions.
A team built around those qualities would not necessarily need to dominate possession for 65 or 70 per cent of a match.
It would need to make possession purposeful.
That could mean pressing aggressively after losing the ball, progressing vertically once it is regained and attacking before the opponent has time to reorganise.
Spain frequently controls matches by reducing chaos.
England may ultimately become more dangerous by learning how to use chaos better.
That Does Not Mean England Should Ignore Possession
There is an important caution here.
Saying England should not copy Spain is very different from saying ball retention does not matter.
Major international tournaments repeatedly produce situations where teams need to control possession.
Sometimes England will lead 1-0 with 20 minutes remaining.
Sometimes an opponent will press aggressively.
Sometimes the fastest route towards victory is not launching another transition but keeping the ball for 90 seconds and forcing the opposition to chase it.
England cannot simply dismiss that requirement as culturally incompatible.
Gordon himself acknowledged that the team can improve in this area.
The challenge for Tuchel is therefore not choosing between possession and direct football.
It is deciding when each approach is appropriate.
That may be a more realistic objective than trying to transform England into Spain.
Spain Provide the Perfect Test at Wembley
The timing of Gordon’s comments is particularly interesting because England’s next opponent is Spain.
The two sides meet at Wembley on Saturday, September 26 at 7:45pm BST in their opening UEFA Nations League Group A3 fixture.
Spain arrived as world champions.
England arrived still processing the disappointment of their World Cup semi-final defeat.
The fixture therefore provides an immediate test of the exact issue Gordon is discussing.
Should England attempt to match Spain possession for possession?
Or should they accept that Spain are likely to see more of the ball and concentrate on creating the type of game that suits England’s own strengths?
Gordon clearly favours the second approach.
Spain’s World Cup Final Showed Their Extraordinary Control
Spain’s ability to dominate possession is not merely an aesthetic preference.
It helped them win the World Cup.
In the final against Argentina, Spain controlled approximately 65% of possession and restricted Lionel Messi and his teammates to only two attempts across 120 minutes, neither of which was on target. Spain eventually won 1-0 after extra time.
That performance represented the kind of control England have often struggled to reproduce.
Spain did not simply keep the ball.
They used it to prevent Argentina from attacking.
That is the highest form of possession football.
Gordon’s point is that England may never naturally perform that style quite as well.
If that is correct, attempting to compete with Spain entirely on their terms could be strategically unwise.
Gordon’s Barcelona Experience Could Benefit England
There is another side to the story.
Even if England should not copy Spain, Gordon’s move to Barcelona could still help the national team become better with the ball.
Every week, he is being exposed to different positional principles.
He is learning how teammates move around him.
He is seeing how Spanish defenders and midfielders respond to pressure.
He is experiencing La Liga’s different tempo and tactical rhythms.
Those lessons can still influence England without requiring Tuchel to reconstruct the entire team around Barcelona-style possession.
That is often how international sides evolve.
Players absorb ideas from different club environments and bring elements of those experiences into the national team.
Gordon may eventually become one of England’s most useful bridges between the traditional strengths of English football and the control he is now experiencing in Spain.
Gordon Has Become an Important England Player
The winger is speaking with increasing authority because his role within the national side has grown.
The BBC reports that Gordon has now made 25 senior England appearances and scored four goals.
His World Cup also strengthened his standing.
He started five matches, scored in the semi-final and provided four assists during the tournament.
That is meaningful production.
It also means the discussion around England’s identity is not coming from somebody on the fringes of the squad.
Gordon was directly involved in the moments that shaped England’s World Cup campaign.
His comments reflect experience rather than observation from outside.
England Have a Difficult Nations League Window Ahead
Spain is only the beginning.
England’s extended international window also includes away matches against Czechia on September 29 and Croatia on October 3, followed by another meeting with Czechia at Wembley on October 6.
Those opponents will pose different tactical challenges.
Spain may dominate the ball.
Czechia could offer more physical resistance.
Croatia remains technically accomplished and experienced in managing international matches.
That makes the Nations League useful for Tuchel.
Rather than building England to play only one type of opponent, he can test whether the team is capable of switching approaches while retaining a consistent identity.
Supporters following English players throughout the domestic season can also use SoccerMatchToday’s Premier League hub for fixtures, results and competition information.
England’s Problem May Be Identity Rather Than Ability
This may ultimately be the most interesting part of Gordon’s comments.
Nobody seriously questions the individual quality available to England.
The squad contains players performing for major clubs across England and Europe.
The unresolved issue is how those qualities should combine.
For years, England has alternated between different aspirations.
At times they wanted to dominate possession.
At others they prioritised defensive structure.
Sometimes they tried to play aggressively in transition.
The best international teams normally possess something clearer.
Spain understands what Spain is.
Argentina understands how they want competitive matches to feel.
Gordon appears to believe England needs the same clarity.
Not Spain’s identity.
Their own.
Gordon’s Message Is About Playing to England’s Strengths
The headline version of Gordon’s argument is simple: England should stop copying Spain.
The fuller message is more thoughtful.
He is not saying England should reject technical development.
He is not arguing that keeping possession is unnecessary.
And he is not suggesting Spain’s football is overrated.
Having moved to Barcelona, Gordon actually appears more impressed by Spanish football than before.
What that experience has taught him is how difficult it is to reproduce.
Spain’s possession culture has developed over generations.
English football has developed differently.
Rather than viewing those differences entirely as shortcomings, Gordon believes England should turn them into an advantage.
The World Cup defeat to Argentina remains painful, but he believes that experience can become useful if England learn from it rather than allowing it to define them.
Saturday’s Nations League meeting with Spain therefore arrives at an ideal time.
England will face perhaps the clearest possible example of the football Gordon says they should stop trying to imitate.
The challenge for Tuchel is now to demonstrate what England can offer instead.
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