I really hope Hansi Flick addresses this with his players in training: Anthony Gordon receiving the ball just 4 times in the entire first half.
That is a terrible number, especially considering how often Gordon was finding dangerous positions in behind the defense. He made several excellent runs, but the pass simply never came.
Do you guys remember when we had the same issue with Rashford? He would find himself in a good position, make the right run, and still not receive the ball.
It feels like we are seeing the same problem with Gordon now.
Gordon makes those runs whenever he gets the opportunity, but Pedri, Rodri, Fermín, and even Lamine and Raphinha sometimes prefer other options.
Barcelona naturally tend to funnel the game towards the right because of Lamine, while the left side often gets overlooked. And at this point, it doesn’t seem to matter who plays there. The pattern remains the same.
Gordon is making the runs and creating the space.
Flick needs to talk to the players in training and tell them to involve Gordon more in the play. The team just needs to start finding him.