Johnson

[Rafael Benítez Maudes]

Hopefully he will develop into a right sided, higher scoring Ashley Cole.

iz it coz he iz blak


is cole not one of the most hated people in britain?

i'd hope johnson doesn't turn into a right proper johnson?

[Assassin]

I just want to say what a fecking signing. I must admit I was the first to question Rafa's decision to fork out so much on him & I was pretty sceptical as he is not the greatest defender in the world & I thought that defensively Arbeloa was better.
But going forward he's given us a whole new dimension AND he's improved his defensive abillities quite considerably.
He just keeps getting better & better every time I see him play and I would officially like to eat my humble pie!
In Rafa I trust! (except when it comes to Lucas...)

Good post until you put in this cheap shot at Lucas

When are you and others going to give Lucas a break. He runs his heart out all game. He makes and wins more tackles than everybodies darlings Mascherano and Stevie G put together. He always available for his team mates to pass too. OK Lucas has committed a few fouls in the wrong areas, however, he is busting a gut to make these tackles rather than standing and watching the opposing players have a free run towards our goal

In short FFS stop making Lucas a scapegoat!!!

[Assassin]

Johnson has been outstanding so far..........the biggest compliment I can give him in 6 words is:







Who the **** is Daniel Alves?

[RedReet]

I think that is a fair comment - although his personal performances have been exceptional so far credit to him. I also think at times attack can be the best form of defense. Hopefully he will develop into a right sided, higher scoring Ashley Cole.

On a related note - I think one of the problems we have had this season has been the demands made on the central midfielders and defenders to cover when our fullbacks push forward. This has exacerbated the problems we have had play making and linking defense/midfield with attack. Rather surprisingly I thought some of our pest play making against Bolton came when Riera and Kuyt were more central. Kuyt in particular seemed more capable of linking the play - possibly we need to look at whether he and Gerarrd (and possibly even whoever is on the left) could be more fluid in the roles they play, especially when Gerrard is being man marked as against Bolton.

I have noticed that whenever we have possession at the back (mostly from goal kicks), Kuyt moves into the centre, Johnson into midfield and Carra at right back, so expect to see a lot more of Kuyt in the middle.

This should be really evident when we’re home to Burnley.

[Marky]

Looked very good so far. But it's only 4 games. If he'd looked **** and people had criticised him, they'd have been told it was only 4 games.

Works both ways.

Good points to be fair.
I admit i didn't expect him to settle in and adapt so quickly.
So far so good, long may his form continue.

[Marky]

Hopefully he will develop into a right sided, higher scoring Ashley Cole.

iz it coz he iz blak


is cole not one of the most hated people in britain?

i'd hope johnson doesn't turn into a right proper johnson?

A.Cole is a proper cunt but in fairness he's top performer. After a bad spell of form a season or two ago he's bounced back and is probably in the prime of his career.
The top 4 has some some blimin quality in the full back areas:
Evra, Cole, Johnson, Sagna, Clichy, Aurelio.

[Rafael Benítez Maudes]

i'd rather have him developing like cafu,no?

[Craig_H]

In short FFS stop making Lucas a scapegoat!!!

Scapegoat for what? We won.



Why does it have to be all this ****e about scapegoats?

Cant people just not rate a player?

[the rev leeroy brown]

was not convinced johnson was worth shelling out 17 mill on but i'm glad he's making me look like a ****. he's been far and away our best performer so far and long may it continue.

[Nicey]

Glen Mother ****ing Johnson !

[Assassin]

Scapegoat for what? We won.



Why does it have to be all this ****e about scapegoats?

Cant people just not rate a player?

Craig, read the thread mate. It is about bigging up Johnson, not the game, but it also had a cheap shot at Lucas at the same time. IMO it is ****ing ridiculous!

[Rafael Benítez Maudes]

Well I mentioned cafu

Now the the daily mirror claim he is the new cafu

[Nick77]

Scapegoat for what? We won.



Why does it have to be all this ****e about scapegoats?

Cant people just not rate a player?

Exactly - I'm not saying Lucas doesn't give 100%, all I'm saying is he's not good enough, end of.

[DannyMan2006]

I said Johnson would be a good signing for us, and I said from the start that I believe Rafa will work on his defensive qualities and sort them out.

But so far Johnson has not had to defend for any extended periods and has of yet not proven either way that he will be able too. It's been the same case for England, when attacking he looks great and runs rampant against teams who England keep pushed back. But when we played Holland and came under the cosh at time he did struggle, hence all the flack he got after the game.

It will be very interesting to see how he copes agaisnt Chelsea when he comes up against Cole. The chavs are slightly similar to us in that all their width comes from the full back positions and the fyll backs who come out on top will have a huge bearing on the result IMO. Insua/Aurelio v Bosingwa will als be interesting.

What ever happens I think Johnson will improve as the season goes on. He was compared to Cole, a player who used to get the same sort of stick, great going forward but weak at the back. It wasn't until he had a fantastic Euro 2004 that the critics finally shut up and realised he was also a top class defender.

For me, Johnson still has it all to prove, but I remain convinced that he will prove the doubters wrong come the seasons end.

[kingfunk]

Its hard to believe that Ian Harte is the top scorer from full back in the prem.