I've tried, that's why he is called the King.
Glen Johnson
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I've tried, that's why he is called the King.
He's 29... you speak as if he's 35 going on 50.
It's every bit for lack of trying in my opinion. He basically is not trying.
He isn't.
Nope, not.
NO! He isn't.
Glenardino does have a nice ring to it.
Or just "Johnson", as in "Anderson" and "Kleberson". Wait... hmm.
I thought Johnson would be one of the main beneficiaries of Rodgers arriving last season, but in my opinion, for whatever reason, he has regressed. I imagined he'd have the same step forward Seamus Coleman has since adapting to Martinez`s expansive methods. Johnson is a better player technically than Coleman, but Coleman currently is a far superior player because he's got a superb work ethic, bombing up and down the right flank supplying options and capable of beating a man or two, whilst defending effectively aswell.
I remember over the summer I was saying on another site that we should sell Glenjo as his value will likely go down in the future before rising, and his form yo-yo's too much for him to be reliable, and got a ton of criticism for it! Something about us not being a selling club, Glenjo being a world class fullback, etc.
(These were the same people that claimed that Agger was world class, Skrtel was a fast ball carrying CB, and Lucas the best Defensive MF in the league, mind. They eventually banned me for pointing out that the paid bloggers couldn't bother spellchecking their articles! Gonazlo Higuain was a transfer target, and Liverpoo FC was on the rise evidently...they were pretty egregious errors.)
Anyways, this has always been my concern with Glenjo. Average at best defensively, quite decent going forward, but the consistency has never quite been there. I'm sure his form will come back, and he'll be a decent option before the season ends, but I think it's time to start looking for a more consistent option. It definitely feels like the academy produces players who are at least fundamentally sound, even if the flair isn't quite there, and I would say Flanno is a good example of that. He might not be amazing at any individual aspect, but he gets forward at the right moments, does well enough defending(at LB too), and has enough ability on the ball(something Cissokho lacks) to at least be a viable option. For this, I think a fairly average Kelly would be a solid option at fullback.
It feels like a lot of our issues come from trying too hard to play the style of game more than the game itself, and having more fundamentally trained players might help us, especially at fullback. It's not a vital enough position to where a lack of true flair and ability will be a hindrance, but an important enough position to where consistency is very important. If you're going to spend 10-15M on a player, I would rather it be on a more active position, as I feel fullbacks are the least vital of the lot. You have to have good midfielders or you get run through, you must have good centerbacks or your back line gets shredded, having good strikers/wingers is a requisite for goal threat, and a top keeper can bail you out big time. Fullbacks just need to be good enough, and while having top options is a huge boost, simply having bodies that don't screw up is way better than having form players.
tl;dr: A bad fullback hurts you a lot more than a good fullback helps you.
(These were the same people that claimed that Agger was world class, Skrtel was a fast ball carrying CB, and Lucas the best Defensive MF in the league, mind. They eventually banned me for pointing out that the paid bloggers couldn't bother spellchecking their articles! Gonazlo Higuain was a transfer target, and Liverpoo FC was on the rise evidently...they were pretty egregious errors.)
Anyways, this has always been my concern with Glenjo. Average at best defensively, quite decent going forward, but the consistency has never quite been there. I'm sure his form will come back, and he'll be a decent option before the season ends, but I think it's time to start looking for a more consistent option. It definitely feels like the academy produces players who are at least fundamentally sound, even if the flair isn't quite there, and I would say Flanno is a good example of that. He might not be amazing at any individual aspect, but he gets forward at the right moments, does well enough defending(at LB too), and has enough ability on the ball(something Cissokho lacks) to at least be a viable option. For this, I think a fairly average Kelly would be a solid option at fullback.
It feels like a lot of our issues come from trying too hard to play the style of game more than the game itself, and having more fundamentally trained players might help us, especially at fullback. It's not a vital enough position to where a lack of true flair and ability will be a hindrance, but an important enough position to where consistency is very important. If you're going to spend 10-15M on a player, I would rather it be on a more active position, as I feel fullbacks are the least vital of the lot. You have to have good midfielders or you get run through, you must have good centerbacks or your back line gets shredded, having good strikers/wingers is a requisite for goal threat, and a top keeper can bail you out big time. Fullbacks just need to be good enough, and while having top options is a huge boost, simply having bodies that don't screw up is way better than having form players.
tl;dr: A bad fullback hurts you a lot more than a good fullback helps you.
He looks docile on the ball, which he often has throughout his career, like he's either not preparing himself well enough or he's a bit dim. I wouldn't put poor concentration, laziness and blatant moments of naivety, not to mention his constant poor positioning, as a symptom of getting older. These are flaws that have always been there, they're just becoming more and more apparent as he's lacking the qualities that once papered over his flaws as a defender. Now he's offering little going forward, what have you got? Oh yeah, a fullback who isn't a very good defender, who now isn't a very good attacker either.
If Johnson had learned over the last decade of being a professional footballer little things like how to defend, how to cross a ball etc he wouldn't be looking so shit now.
Players who rely solely on physical talent tend to have a quicker drop off than those who develop and learn through their career. Owen is a particularly extreme example.
Johnson is exactly the same player as when we signed him, except a bit fatter. So it's not crazy to think his best is already behind him and the next few years might be less than average
I think that bit is a bit over the top. during Kenny's 2nd reign, Magic was put at left back and performed as a very high level week in and week out. How many right backs in the premier league can be asked to play left back week in and week out at a big club and perform well. He did it with applomb - strangely it was probably being out of his comfort zone that forced him to focus his skills. It's strange some of the revisionism going on here, reminds me of the reina thread when he left. He's been with us for almost 5 years, played some great football and now he's probably on the wane. Let's be positive about his contribution, hope he does better but be realistic that his time is probably up and we need a replacement.
Sorry to disappoint you, mate. EA SPORTS Player Performance Index has this information but I have no access to it.
Don't you DARE apologise, you God damn saint
I do miss Arbeloa. 🙁 What a signing he was at £2.6m. Why and how we spent £18 million on a replacement while getting only £4m for his departure is pretty frustrating.
Ta Binny, it was worth a go! You're a legend.
Not really, have a look at our defensive records since.
And our league positions
you're better than that mate. you can't pin point the whole teams weaknesses down to one player, especially since during that time he came 5 and 6 in the Morse player of the years awards for 2009 and 2010 table - not an exact science but it says a lot about how well fans judged him during a whole season. our demise has since then is down to a host of different factors, not becuase we signed Magic.
I think you're both half right. The fact is, as average as Johnson has been, he's not been a priority position up to now. Clearly, we've had more important positions to address. Coming 5th or 6th in our player of the season competition in seasons where we've finished well outside the top four is less than remarkable. The issue is that we've been busy replacing players who featured further down that table than Johnson. The fact that we're now debating Johnson's position is as much an indication of how we've strengthened in other areas as it is of Johnson's inadequacies.
If anyone is still dumb enough to buy him he should be sold immediately. He is better than his current form but he's on the wane and his attitude is atrocious.
Or perhaps the majority are finally coming to the conclusion that Johnson is in fact shite.
I've been consistently on the case (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) of Johnson for some time now and I argued that he is the one first team player we should be looking replace ASAP, even when he was playing generally well. Not sure why his prolonged period of being shit happened now, as opposed to 6 months from now or last year, but basically it's not surprising for me, given the issues I talked about in the links above (read the full threads if you have time – lots of interesting posts there, and some amusingly daft ones too).
I wish we dealt with it in advance, because with a competent (and fit) RB our results this season would almost certainly have been even better. I can recall at least a couple of games where our lack of quality at FB probably affected the result. Also, now that everybody can see Johnson is shit, it would be almost impossible to find a team that will want to pay for him and pay his huge contract. Six months or a year ago would have been the right time to sell him, as I suggested, now we've probably missed the opportunity.
I was also right about mentioning Flanagan as a potentially viable replacement, but unfortunately underestimated the extent of Kelly's fitness problems (yes, it was also "amusingly daft" of me to suggest that we can sell Johnson without bringing in a replacement). To tell you the truth, I am a bit pissed at Kelly at the moment; he really needs to take advantage of the gaping holes we have at RB and LB and he is not even close to doing it.
I wish we dealt with it in advance, because with a competent (and fit) RB our results this season would almost certainly have been even better. I can recall at least a couple of games where our lack of quality at FB probably affected the result. Also, now that everybody can see Johnson is shit, it would be almost impossible to find a team that will want to pay for him and pay his huge contract. Six months or a year ago would have been the right time to sell him, as I suggested, now we've probably missed the opportunity.
I was also right about mentioning Flanagan as a potentially viable replacement, but unfortunately underestimated the extent of Kelly's fitness problems (yes, it was also "amusingly daft" of me to suggest that we can sell Johnson without bringing in a replacement). To tell you the truth, I am a bit pissed at Kelly at the moment; he really needs to take advantage of the gaping holes we have at RB and LB and he is not even close to doing it.
NO chance.
Anyone can see the difference between an aging player struggling for pace and form and an aging player who just couldnt be ARSED.
GlenJo is the latter.
Pity too, I've got a picture with him in Lime Street; unfortunately its in the ex's camera.
Live and learn.
Sorry, just have to post this. No disrespect to Piedro, but this is just funny.
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