Anthony Gordon has opened up on the secrets of his successful season at Newcastle and has revealed how he has followed the example of Mohamed Salah.
Gordon has scored 10 goals and laid on eight assists in the Premier League this season, performances which earned the winger his first caps for England during March’s international break.
The 23-year-old is pushing for a place on the plane for Euro 2024 this summer, but first is hoping to help Newcastle to European qualification, ahead of this weekend’s clash with Sheffield United at St James’ Park.
Speaking to Gary Neville on The Overlap, Gordon opened up on how he practices meditation and visualisation, citing Liverpool winger Mohamed Salah as an example he has followed in a bid to improve.
“Meditating is more of a coping mechanism to help with pressures of playing and just allows me to react from a higher place than my own emotions as playing emotionally doesn’t help me,” said Gordon.
“My preparation starts two days before the game. I do a lot of meditation and visualisation, so if a chance comes to me in the game, it’s like I already lived it. It helps me trust in my ability, so when the opportunity comes in the game I don’t overthink it.
“My confidence comes from my preparation. I don’t know where it comes from as no-one around me is like that, I love learning stuff and I took a liking to psychology. Some footballers like to play instinctively, but I love the mindset of getting myself into that space before getting into that position.
“I have seen seen [Mohamed] Salah talk about it and that’s where I took more of an interest in it, as he is a machine and a winner and you wouldn’t go wrong following what he does.”
