GloJo

[LadyRed]

I was speaking to someone over the weekend and they were saying that Johnson played the majority of his last seasom at Portsmouth of the right side of midfield, is this right?

Obviously there's been talk of him playing further up on here anyway, it would make even more sense if this was the case.

 

[Vlads Quiff]

I don't know Anita, but we looked better without him yesterday, at right back and going forward.
I think he needs to be benched while we see if Carra or kelly can do a better job with Maxi given a bit of a run.
He may come back into form. Glens problem is that he was good going forward which compensated for an average ability to defend, so if he is out of form going forward he is pretty useless.

regards

 

[spider-Neil]

johnson has been playing in a system that hasn't been making the most of his strengths. if and when we switch to becoming a more attacking unit no one is going to tell me kelly or carra is going to be a better option than johnson. all the attacking players have struggled with the turgid rubbish they've been bogged down with.

 

[Fabio]

[quote author=spider-neil link=topic=42414.msg1205383#msg1205383 date=1288004117]
johnson has been playing in a system that hasn't been making the most of his strengths. if and when we switch to becoming a more attacking unit no one is going to tell me kelly or carra is going to be a better option than johnson. all the attacking players have struggled with the turgid rubbish they've been bogged down with.
[/quote]

I think we'll concede less without him, and not necessarily score more with him

 

[Jack D Rips]

I think I actually recall seeing him play centre back for Portsmouth but I may be wrong.

 

[spider-Neil]

[quote author=Fabio link=topic=42414.msg1205403#msg1205403 date=1288006645]
[quote author=spider-neil link=topic=42414.msg1205383#msg1205383 date=1288004117]
johnson has been playing in a system that hasn't been making the most of his strengths. if and when we switch to becoming a more attacking unit no one is going to tell me kelly or carra is going to be a better option than johnson. all the attacking players have struggled with the turgid rubbish they've been bogged down with.
[/quote]

I think we'll concede less without him, and not necessarily score more with him
[/quote]

will not write off johnson until he fails in an attacking formation.

 

[Halmeister]

I think they played 3-5-2/5-3-2 with Johnson and Belhadj as wingbacks with 3 central defenders to cover them. I may be wrong like...

I've seen him play centre back too, for Chelsea. God knows how he managed that.

 

[manwithnoname]

Magic was largely excellent for us at the start of last season and is a good player. That's why he shouldn't be written off.

 

[keniget]

He did play at RM for Pompey, yeah. I don't know whether it was for the majority of the season or not, but a few games at least.

 

[Hansern]

It was for a few games, and he wasn't particularly good either. But that can of course be related to the fact that Pompey were shite.

 

[i_rushie]

Everytime I see a post with spider_neil's name on it, "attacking fullbacks" spring to mind, and then that's all I think about when I read his posts. I don't know why.

 

[spider-Neil]

[quote author=Brendan link=topic=42414.msg1205451#msg1205451 date=1288009476]
Magic was largely excellent for us at the start of last season and is a good player. That's why he shouldn't be written off.
[/quote]


^^^



I'd rather see the back of a boring, turgid manager than exciting attacking player (when on form).

 

[spider-Neil]

[quote author=i_rushie link=topic=42414.msg1205498#msg1205498 date=1288013704]
Everytime I see a post with spider_neil's name on it, "attacking fullbacks" spring to mind, and then that's all I think about when I read his posts. I don't know why.
[/quote]

attacking fullbacks is my calling card 😉

 

[Judge Jules]

Come on neil, don't sell yourself short - you have a range of others too, ranging from "Xabi was boss" through "Masher wasn't" to "Hicks is going to refinance". 😉

 

[WhyAlwaysMe?]

He is a fantastic footballer and when on form would get into most top teams. However at the moment he's being cack and needs to knuckle down in training to work his way back into the team.

 

[spider-Neil]

[quote author=Judge Jules link=topic=42414.msg1205504#msg1205504 date=1288014148]
Come on neil, don't sell yourself short - you have a range of others too, ranging from "Xabi was boss" through "Masher wasn't" to "Hicks is going to refinance". 😉
[/quote]

to be fair, I did know you could sell your sell without board approval 😉

 

[mark1975]

[quote author=spider-neil link=topic=42414.msg1205420#msg1205420 date=1288007639]
[quote author=Fabio link=topic=42414.msg1205403#msg1205403 date=1288006645]
[quote author=spider-neil link=topic=42414.msg1205383#msg1205383 date=1288004117]
johnson has been playing in a system that hasn't been making the most of his strengths. if and when we switch to becoming a more attacking unit no one is going to tell me kelly or carra is going to be a better option than johnson. all the attacking players have struggled with the turgid rubbish they've been bogged down with.
[/quote]

I think we'll concede less without him, and not necessarily score more with him
[/quote]

will not write off johnson until he fails in an attacking formation.
[/quote]

Some of our attacking football in the season we finished second was excellent, he joined the following Summer and spin was that he'd help us turn those midseason draws into wins with his ability to pull something out of the hat. As it was, he came into the side and occasionally pulled something out of the hat, but was equally capable of being caught in an attacking position which unbalanced the defence and led to us conceding one way or the other (and Insua didn't help). So the attacking side thing is neither here nor there, it's not our attacking deficiency that's hampering his game, it's his own inability to defend and strike a balance.

Plus it would help if he started turning up to games conscious and a few pounds lighter.

 

[Y1]

If his defence is bad, use him as a right wing then. QED

 

[Vlads Quiff]

[quote author=Brendan link=topic=42414.msg1205451#msg1205451 date=1288009476]
Magic was largely excellent for us at the start of last season and is a good player. That's why he shouldn't be written off.
[/quote]

I agree, he should not be written off,

regards

 

[manwithnoname]

Although I do agree that this season he has looked a bit overweight and half-asleep

 

[Squiggles]

Johnson will bounce back, I'm pretty confident of that, and in the mean time I would like to see him competing for the RW spot along with Maxi

 

[mark1975]

[quote author=Squiggles link=topic=42414.msg1205581#msg1205581 date=1288024150]
Johnson will bounce back, I'm pretty confident of that, and in the mean time I would like to see him competing for the RW spot along with Maxi
[/quote]

The frustrating thing is he's not just a competent player, when on form he looks absolutely top draw as an attacker, or he did early last season anyway. I'd like to see him have a go at the right wing, I just think the defence as a whole suffers from his inclusion because it upsets the balance and gets stretched.

 

[Squiggles]

I still maintain that his defending is erratic rather than just plain shit.

I've seen him do some great individual defensive work at times. Last chance tackles, goal line clearances, crucial interceptions, etc, but there are concerns there, no doubt about it. One problem is he is prone to getting caught of position - not a crime for an attacking fullback - but more significant is the fact that he's poor when defending as part of a unit and you're right, this does unsettle the defence. A decent defence knows what each other are going to do before it happens, and Johnson has never convinced me that he's on the same wave length as Carragher and the other CB's, and he seems to lack the communication/awareness skills to be correcting this.

 

[Judge Jules]

Agree about Magic's defending but I remain to be convinced about putting him at RW. Even if he has played there (which I'm not certain is true BTW) it was a fair time ago and he's certainly not used to the position now. I'm not a big fan of such experiments at the best of times, and these are hardly the best of times.

 

[Squiggles]

I just want to see someone fast, skilful and strong on one of our flanks.

It's been so long, and call me naive, but I don't think it's too difficult for him to grasp or pick up. This sort of thing happens all the time in the league.

 

[spider-Neil]

[quote author=Squiggles link=topic=42414.msg1205612#msg1205612 date=1288026340]
I just want to see someone fast, skilful and strong on one of our flanks.

It's been so long, and call me naive, but I don't think it's too difficult for him to grasp or pick up. This sort of thing happens all the time in the league.
[/quote]

it couldn't hurt to try johnson there, look at the difference playing further up the pitch made to garath bale.

 

[Judge Jules]

Difference is Bale definitely did have experience of playing LM as well.

 

[monsieurdantes]

[quote author=Judge Jules link=topic=42414.msg1205600#msg1205600 date=1288025855]
Agree about Magic's defending but I remain to be convinced about putting him at RW. Even if he has played there (which I'm not certain is true BTW) it was a fair time ago and he's certainly not used to the position now. I'm not a big fan of such experiments at the best of times, and these are hardly the best of times.
[/quote]

you should ask yourself the possible outcomes of the experiment. either it works and you're obivously happy. or it doesn't and our team would have missed out on the chance to play maxi/jovanovic/babel. it's hardly a devestating body blow to our survival hopes is it

 

[localny]

H was so exciting to watch for spells last year though. Loved him going forward. Surely as an attacking wing back, we're not getting enough out of him?

 

[peterhague]

[quote author=monsieurdantes link=topic=42414.msg1205661#msg1205661 date=1288028844]
[quote author=Judge Jules link=topic=42414.msg1205600#msg1205600 date=1288025855]
Agree about Magic's defending but I remain to be convinced about putting him at RW. Even if he has played there (which I'm not certain is true BTW) it was a fair time ago and he's certainly not used to the position now. I'm not a big fan of such experiments at the best of times, and these are hardly the best of times.
[/quote]

you should ask yourself the possible outcomes of the experiment. either it works and you're obivously happy. or it doesn't and our team would have missed out on the chance to play maxi/jovanovic/babel. it's hardly a devestating body blow to our survival hopes is it
[/quote]


hahaha, well said. FWIW i think one of the jobs of a creative manager is making such experiments - analysing players' strengths and weaknesses etc. it worked ok for bob paisley and ray kennedy.