Anthony Gordon urges England to stop copying Spain ahead of Wembley clash

Anthony Gordon was speaking at St George's Park and said England should stop trying to replicate Spain as the squad prepare to face world champions Spain at Wembley on Saturday.

Gordon has made 25 appearances for England and scored four goals. England lost their World Cup semi-final 2-1 to Argentina before beating France 6-4 in the bronze medal match, their best World Cup finish since 1966. The semi-final defeat attracted criticism after head coach Thomas Tuchel substituted Gordon and switched to a back five, a change that invited pressure and allowed Enzo Fernandez to equalise before Lautaro Martinez scored a stoppage-time winner. Gordon said he had "never felt worse" after the game and added, "[The] scar doesn't have to be a negative one because it might lead us to victory in the next tournaments."

Gordon moved to Barcelona from Newcastle for £69.3m in the summer and says his experience in La Liga has shown him how different Spain's approach to possession football is. "I'm speaking from a point of view where I feel like we are trying to replicate Spain," Gordon said. "Because I'm in Spain, I know we have just as good players, but they have different qualities, so why are you trying to make those players the same as the Spanish players? Because the Spanish players lack the things that we have and vice versa."

The winger started five of England's World Cup games, provided four assists and scored in the semi-final. He was substituted 17 minutes after putting England ahead and said he was surprised to be taken off. Describing his mindset after scoring, Gordon said he plays "off adrenaline" and "goes into an untouchable mode of confidence."

England had battled to a 3-2 win over Mexico in the Azteca Stadium, where they played with 10 men for over 35 minutes after Jarell Quansah's red card; Gordon said the manner of that last-16 victory affected the players' thinking in the Argentina game. He suggested the squad did not reproduce the performances they produced in training and said they "would have dominated everyone" if they had. Those comments formed part of his wider view that the team needed to assume more responsibility on the pitch.

Gordon defended Tuchel's decision to adopt what he described as a "more safe and more defensive" approach despite external criticism and reported in-camp disappointment. He said: "We shouldn't try and blame one man who's obviously trying his best and trying to win the cup for us all," and added that "as players, we could have done more to take the initiative to control the [Argentina] game." He also stated: "For me, we had the best team, we had the best players on the pitch in that semi-final, and in the last 20 minutes we didn't play the best football."

England will face world champions Spain at Wembley on Saturday. Gordon said: "We can't keep looking at other countries and trying to be like them, because we're not them - we're English and we have our own strengths which they don't have, so maybe we start playing the way we're good at."