LIVE: Anthony Gordon laughs off bike fall incident – England vs Slovakia press conference

Anthony Gordon speaks to the press ahead of England’s game with Slovakia in the last 16 of Euro 2024.

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so e e e e for e spe for for for e e e e e e e e for e e e e for for e e e e e for e for for best [Music] good still one [Music] okay good afternoon everyone and welcome to this media conference with Anthony Gordon from blankenheim um as every we can keep it to a minimum of three questions per person so we can get around as many you as possible um and at the end we’ll have a short embargo section till 10:30 p.m. UK time this evening I think when we ready carage you want to get started Anthony first of all uh you look like you got some nasty grazes on your face and also your hands and legs what happened and will this affect how you play at all so we went on a what was meant to be a recovery bike ride um it was a lovely day and I was going down a hill I tried to take a quick video for me family um just to show them what I was doing and then before I knew it I was first into the floor um I’ve got a few grazes yeah but it’s not only a few cutters not not in it painful was it not a case that you used the wrong break or you you pressed the turbo button or something yeah so the electrics are they’re obviously a lot faster uh than normal bikes and in England the front Brak is on the right hand side so here I tried to press the left just to slow like and then next minute it’s it’s not slowed down it’s fully come to the stop and I haven’t I’ve gone 10 ft in the air Chim first and what happened happened next were did you have to go and see the medical team or what was the reaction from the rest of the squad uh I just carried on I just finished the bike rod and then when I got when I got back to the the camp obviously I had to put the stuff on it which absolutely stung us that was the worst be um but to be fair no one see me thankfully and I definitely didn’t press press record so there’s some some positives to come from it are you going to get back on the bike again or are you trying to find some new hobbies no I’ll get back on I’ll never I want to that bother me um it was lovely it’s lovely day I just I ruined it for myself right let’s let’s turn to football now um there’s been lots of debate about um the starting 11 for England games a lot of people think that you should start um if you did start or when you play for England what do you think you bring to the side what qualities I think my main Str are I’m very direct I’m obviously quick um so I know I’m a nightmare for anyone anyone that I play against and I’m I’m positive you know every time I get the ball I always try and make something happen I’m I’m not I’m not a very safe player I’m always going for it I’m always trying to put people on the back foot um I think with the players we’ve got likes of hate you like to drop deep I think I add sort of a different element to to the team and do you feel that their places in the team up for grabs or do you think the manager’s got a set idea of what his starting 11 is and he’ll only use you as an impact substitute I’m not too sure I think that’s probably a better question for the manager and it’s out of I control I can only control sort of what what I can control and that’s giv me best every day and trying to cause as many problems for him when it comes to selection as as I possibly can um and when or if I’m needed I’ll be I’ll be more than ready Henry hi Anthony you’re you won the under 21 EUR last summer were player of the tournament are there similarities between that group and this one yeah I think even the whole setup is like uh it’s very similar I feel feel the same as last year of course it’s bit different that the competition’s much higher I mean we haven’t faced a bad Nation yet um every top every team you come up against is is really good in their own right and I think that’s the that’s the main difference I’ve noticed just more on you coming into the team have you spoken to the manager about what it is you potentially need to do to break into that starting 11 no I’m not that guy to be honest I just like to to give me best and like I said before control the controllables I think if that trained me very very best of my ability and um do the best I can every day that that’s my way of sort of giving him a headache in terms of selection and the rest that I can’t control and Gareth has spoken about the reaction to the team and saying it’s made an unusual environment have you been aware of it do you come off social media during tournaments or is it not something that affects you no to be honest I don’t really care about stuff like that I actually think of it in a positive way as like if people are you know being negative it’s only because they expect a lot from you which you know is is a positive thing so um if we want that to start we just need to perform and and you know give people what they want to see and Anthony hi um can I just throw a couple of Tim Grover sayings at you because I know you’re a big reader of winning I mean one of them was winning requires all of you it’s over and over and over yesterday is irrelevant it’s all about tomorrow how do you maintain that hunger yeah it’s very true um and like I said before we can only control so much so you know as I said in the the past game obviously we went where we want to be but it’s gone it’s in the past and we’ve got to stay present as a team stay focused on what’s ahead of us and that’s saying is is exactly you know what it means because we’ve got a lot coming up we’ve got a lot to look forward to and if we let sort of the past games affect us then we’re not going to perform to the best we can I mean for you personally he also talks about everything starts with doubt I mean you’re you’re obviously very confident the way you talk but there is that is there that doubt that is always there that drives you I think everyone naturally doubts himself to begin with I think the key is noticing that you do doubt yourself and then finding ways to switch it I have zero doubts when when it when it comes to playing football I think it’s more off the pitch and before you get on the pitch where the doubt Creeps in before games you know the butterflies and the nerves anyone who tells you that doesn’t happen is a liar but it’s the best players who can then be self-aware enough to to know the feeling that and change it join the game and just a final one for me pressure is a privilege it defines who you can become yeah I’ve said that a lot actually on on this Camp um to the staff when I’ve spoke about sort of the media surrounding the team I’m reading a book from Dan Carter at the minute and that’s actually quot he uses in the book so that’s been on my mind a lot and like I said before pressure is a privilege because it means people are expecting things from you which in return means they think you got what you do uh hello it’s mirto daily Sports Slovakia in general what do you think about Sunday’s opponent about Slovakia and maybe what’s your message to Martin Dua your teammate he just wrote me that you are a great guy and he looks forward to see you on Sunday yeah the vas V is a top guy um i’ obviously play with him for a year and a half now he’s been really important for Newcastle and he’s again top guy top goalkeeper I hope he loses in the game but um so here a good team you know very organized a lot of threats on a Counterattack they have some direct players and um some very experienced players at this level as well so it’ be a really difficult game um and you know we’re preparing for that thank you thank you uh F and then across the chater nice to see you on Martin Deka actually did did you speak to him before the tournament and kind of did he give you any insight into what the expectations were for Slovakia and what they were trying to achieve no we didn’t speak too much we spoke more more about the tournament in general and you know the excitement of it but not too much about the our two individual teams but you know I think they’ve done so good in the tournament so far the group was really difficult I think it was a lot more difficult than actually looked on paper um so they’ve they’ve done really well and you know they’re in a good place and when we spoke last week you said you were chomping at the bit to get on you got a taste of it the other night how much more has it made you want it yeah I don’t think I needed any uh opportunity to make me want even more I’ll always be ready like I said I can only control so much and that’s that’s every and I do every day and I try and push the lads who are playing as best as I can when I train and then when I get on I’m trying to I’m trying to stay on I’m not trying to come off and the next match I’m obviously I’m playing to basically start the next game that that’s my mindset and you talked about your direct style how much does that help particularly playing against the the teams that do play with such a low block yeah I think it does because it brings a sense of like unpredictability um I win a lot of fouls and stuff and it can it can put teams on the back foot and that’s just the way I play football um that works for me that that’s the way I feel feel best playing and again like I said before I know hard I am to play against I can feel it I know people don’t like playing against me so um it’s work for me and I’m going carry on doing it thanks F Jack pit Brook hi um obviously you’ve been training with the lads for a few weeks now but you got what an hour or so against Iceland and then a few minutes against Slovenia do you feel up to speed yeah I’m very up to speed um as I said before the icing game I had an ankle injury which kept me out for the last week or two of the season but I had some time off for that to recover um in the Iceland game I felt a bit Rusty a bit tired but from then on I felt great in trading um I can say the past week week or two weeks I couldn’t have done any more than than what I’ve done in training I feel like I’m in really good form I’m training really well and you know I run lot training nor game so I never really lose out on Fitness was the Slovenia game what you expected it would it would be like um I don’t think I expected anything I’m just you know you turn up to a game and and you sort of prepared for it you want to go about your business if you go in with expectations to win or lose I think that can be your biggest downfall I thought we controlled the game well like I’ve said before but um just lacked a bit around the final third obviously this is your first time doing a senior International Tournament what have you learned from the whole process since you’ve been in Germany on and off the pitch just the same as in life really just stay stay levelheaded don’t get too high too low um like I said before with the pressure and and things that come with this this type of stage it’s not really real because you can change it in an instance if we go and put a top performance in on in our next game you know everything changes and and that’s that’s a good thing about football thanks ja we go back to Jerry Lawson hi Anthony good luck on on Sunday um just going back to the bike incident um at any point when you were flying through the air 10 ft did you think oh my god what have I done the worst thing about it was because I was on my phone I actually didn’t know I was falling off until I hit the floor cuz I was just focused on on my phone um and like I said when Chim first I think the morel of that story is we probably spend a lot too much time on our phones these days so the the mor of story is just enjoy uh the moment instead of going on your phone what did Gareth say when he saw your face well Fair he laughed at first just like everyone else did it was a bit of a joke um it wasn’t that serious it’s just a few scratches so everyone was just sort of laughing at me and yeah laughing at me pain um can you tell us in seriousness your pride a message for the fans really what was your pride when you first put on that England shirt you’re a very considered guy obviously what did it mean to you and what will playing Tuesday night should the occasion arise sorry Sunday night mean to you it means everything to me this is this is for me the Pinnacle of football to represent your country are our major tournament it doesn’t get much bigger for me um especially us as a nation the players we’ve got um you have to do so well to get to this point but my mindset is like I’m here now and I want to keep going I W to establish myself in a team and be someone that the manager can’t drop so I’m not there yet and I’ve still got like so much to do to get there thank you very much okay I think that ends the live in the live section Pierre y finally pier in the live section and we’ll move on last Sunday hurry Kane says that the criticism of Gary ler could potentially have an impact on the you young player of the squad are not used to this kind of environment so as this is your first tournament I was wondering uh did the arsh criticism of ler has an impact are you or not no not me personally I mean I can’t speak for the other young players but I can speak on their personalities which I see very similar to mine I think the young players You’ got in the squad have got a fearlessness about them now we don’t really care about anything other than just performing and playing football um we performed a high level all year and that’s why we’re here so I think if we start worrying about things like that you know we’re not going to do as well okay and the live section there e e e e for