Anthony Gordon Says Premier League Grind Explains England's Argentina Collapse

Some losses linger longer than usual, and England's defeat to Argentina in the World Cup semifinal seems to be one of them. So much so that Anthony Gordon is still turning it over, and not just in his head: he wrote it down, page after page, in a personal journal he's kept for some time now.

But before getting to that, Gordon laid out a theory that's already been making the rounds on England's coaching staff: the Premier League grinds down its players more than any other league in the world, and that bill comes due when the business end of major summer tournaments arrives.

"I think that would probably be a fact," the forward said when asked whether the pace of the Premier League takes a physical toll in decisive moments. You don't need to be a statistician to see his point: there's no such thing as a "quiet" game in the English league.

I'm not saying there's an easy game in other leagues, but every game is as tough as the next one. Playing Arsenal is the same as playing a newly promoted team. That's the difficulty of the Premier League. Every game is so intense that anyone can win.Anthony Gordon

And to back up his point, he didn't have to look far: he pointed to Hull, a newly promoted side that stayed unbeaten until they ran into Newcastle. For Gordon, that perfectly sums up the weekly demands placed on an English footballer, so different from those in other leagues.

Manager Tuchel had already pointed in that direction after the elimination, noting that fatigue played its part in the team's collapse. That's no small matter given the road traveled: an exhausting extra-time battle in the quarterfinal against Norway, played in the heat of Miami, on top of wins against the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mexico that left their own emotional scars.

The Substitution Still Fueling Debate

Within that match against Argentina, there's one moment that still hasn't been settled in the public debate: Gordon's substitution just 16 minutes after putting his team up 1-0, replaced by a defender, no less. England's grip on the game slipped soon after that change.

So when it came time to sit down and write, Gordon admitted he wasn't quite sure where to start. "It was more than a page, I can tell you that," he said of his personal journal, a habit he's kept up for a while now and one he says helps him clear his head and, eventually, share with his children.

The game against Argentina was probably the most memorable one I've had, because I honestly didn't know what to write. I just wrote down pure emotion, what I was feeling. Obviously I'm not going to go into those details, but it was several pages, I can tell you that.Anthony Gordon

Between the tactical analysis and the personal venting, the loss to Argentina left plenty of homework for everyone involved: for Tuchel, who is already thinking about how to bring his team closer to the ball-control style of national teams like Spain, and for players like Gordon, still processing what happened in their own way.