'I understand them' – Anthony Gordon responds to England teammate Harry Kane calling out Premier League dropouts

Today at 07:37 AM

England star Anthony Gordon ‘can understand’ the mass dropouts from the squad amid the latest club versus country controversy.

Three Lions skipper Harry Kaneignited the discussion when he conceded he wasn’t a fan of several stars withdrawing from camp ahead of crunch Nations League fixtures against Greece and Ireland.

Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Cole Palmer, Levi Colwill, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Aaron Ramsdale and Jarrad Branthwaite have all pulled out.

Speaking to ITV on Wednesday, Kane said: “It’s a shame this week.

“Obviously I think it’s a tough period of the season and maybe that’s been taken advantage of that a little bit.

“I don’t really like it if I’m totally honest. Like I said there, England comes before anything.”

But Gordon, who came off before full-time in Newcastle’s 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest to avoid further damage to a hip injury, could empathise with those nine stars who pulled out of international duty.

He also pointed to the concern of fixture congestion as another key reason behind the mass withdrawals.

“That’s his opinion of the situation,” Gordon told talkSPORT

“I can’t speak for the lads who aren’t here, but I will say this sort of winter period, November, December-time, people do struggle with injuries and knocks. And it can get really challenging at times, especially for the lads who are playing three games a week.

“I’ve been there last year and I played with so many injuries, so I can understand how they’re feeling. They might just want to take a breather and look after themselves.

“Even mentally, playing so much football can overwhelm you sometimes. So I’m understanding of the situation and hopefully they’re all well.”

Three-time England international Gabriel Agbonlahor also weighed in on the debate.

The former Aston Villa star was understanding of Kane’s perspective, but believed club duties came first.

“It’d be club for me,” Agbonlahor told talkSPORT.

“It’s a huge honour to play for your country, of course it is. But first of all, your club is paying your wages. If you weren’t playing well for your club, you wouldn’t be getting in those England squads anyway.”

Agbonlahor also believed managers are getting into their stars’ ears and reminding them of what’s at stake for their clubs instead of Nations League matches.

“You look at the players that are pulling out of squads,” Agbonlahor said.

“It’s normally the players that are fighting at the top of the table. Big games, you come back from this international break now, there’s no international break until March. The schedule is relentless, especially in December. You’ve got little knocks, you’re looking at the games, you’re not even in the top level of the Nations League.

“So managers are probably getting into players’ ears and saying, ‘Why don’t you stay, let’s get you wrapped up, can have a nice three or four days off and get your treatment. So I can see why players do decide to pull out.”

However, 78-cap England international Stuart Pearce leapt to Kane’s defence and felt the captain’s felt Kane’s comments were ‘very refreshing’.

But Pearce did feel some of the players forced to pull out should not face criticism given they went off injured in their final club games before the international break.

“I thought, ‘Fair play to you, you’re the England captain, you’re proud to represent your country,'” Pearce said.

“He was asked a question, he’s a little bit disappointed at one or two of the players.

“When you talk about nine players pulling out, don’t point the finger at all nine and suggest all of them have pulled out cheaply. A lot of them left the pitch before 90 minutes was up at their clubs. So there is a different situation there.”

In the interview, Kane spoke of his delight at the culture set in the national set-up by former England boss Gareth Southgate.

Kane believed Southgate brought the ‘joy to play for England’ back as players ‘were excited to come’ to camp.

It is something Pearce was a big fan of and, like Kane, hoped it doesn’t get lost once Thomas Tuchel’s era as Three Lions boss commences in January.

“He also alluded to the culture that was set over the last eight years by Gareth [Southgate] and the pride you should have in representing,” Pearce said.

“The one thing I really liked from the outside of watching this group of England players over the best part of eight years was the fact they looked as though they really enjoyed each other’s company and really enjoyed playing for England.

“I’ll be really disappointed if we lose that in any way shape or form.”

Pearce added: “We haven’t had to talk about this in the last eight years about players potentially not turning up, which is a massive bonus.

“So that for me is a massive step in the right direction for what we want.”

England’s international break kicks off against Greece on Thursday, live on talkSPORT, as they look to take a giant stride towards returning to the top division of the Nations League.