Glen Johnson
- Thread starter Fabio
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Johnson's a decent player. Not a great, not a duffer.
The problem, like most of our signings, is that he cost a fuckin fortune which he will never be able to justify coz he ain't that good.
The problem, like most of our signings, is that he cost a fuckin fortune which he will never be able to justify coz he ain't that good.
Yeah, but who is?
I'm thinking through the RBs that play for all the top teams and I'm struggling to think of anyone that's genuinely top class. Dani Alves looks great for Barca but would get exposed defensively if he played for us. Maicon is past it. Rafael isn't very good. Sagna is good but not great. Arbeloa again is solid but not spectacular. Azpilicueta has potential but that's all it is right now. Zabaleta at City is a really dependable guy and he's loved over there but often his best qualities are the same ones Kuyt used to get lauded for. And so on, and so on.
If Johnson played for another team he'd probably be much more highly rated. As it happens he gets slated because he looks suspect sometimes in defence (ignoring the many times he gets back to make very timely blocks, interceptions and covering runs). Which other attacking RB doesn't? Johnson is asked to push further forward because he can be dangerous in attack. As a result it's not his fault always that he's caught out of position and it's not his fault always that generally speaking our overrated defence requires a lot of protection to stop leaking goals every game.
I meant he's not 17M good. Which he isn't. He is a decent player though.
Yeah but Keni, the 'getting back and putting in good blocks' should be the fundamental basics for a defender, and of course the mistakes are going to be highlighted, particularly if they happen frequently, which they do.
Like I've said to death on this subject, he's a good 'player', has improved tremendously as a defender but still has concentration and occasional positional issues which don't go away. I think that's fair enough, no one's saying he's garbage, he's a good attacking fullback who's sometimes a bit suspect when defending and while clearly he's worked to become better at it, the problems are more down to intelligence than ability.
I don't have any problem with mistakes being pointed out. The problem I have is when people lambast Johnson for being a shit defender and exaggerate his deficiencies. He's never been quite as bad as he's been made out to be.
It's all well and good to say he's a defender first and foremost, but he wasn't brought here because he's a defender first and foremost. He was bought because he can be dangerous in attack and because Rafa wanted more attacking capability from the fullbacks. So we should judge him on that basis and if you compare him to his peers he doesn't hold up too badly. Better than most.
As for bread and butter defending, Kelly, Skrtel and others get praised for it. Johnson rarely does.
It's all well and good to say he's a defender first and foremost, but he wasn't brought here because he's a defender first and foremost. He was bought because he can be dangerous in attack and because Rafa wanted more attacking capability from the fullbacks. So we should judge him on that basis and if you compare him to his peers he doesn't hold up too badly. Better than most.
As for bread and butter defending, Kelly, Skrtel and others get praised for it. Johnson rarely does.
Anyone who can't see his quality needs their eyes testing. I seem to remember a lot of calls for Kelly to replace him when he first came back from some injury problems. For me he's one of the best right backs in Europe, let alone England. How he didn't get man of the match in the International the other day, beggars belief.
Thank you - for the above, you all know my feelings on the matter. But Keni - what you have said in the first paragraph comparing all the other people in his position in world football - our Glen Jo does stand out. Think he is really good.
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