Liverpool FC 2011-12

[Chris]

I would understand the concern of selling Johnson if we didn't have Kelly and Flanagan at the Club, but we do.

Someone with a history of injury problems and a kid who's played just two career games. Good grief.

[Kenneth]

It would obviously be used for new players - likes of Gary Cahill, A.Young...these kind of players that we're strongly linked with. Among others.

I would understand the concern of selling Johnson if we didn't have Kelly and Flanagan at the Club, but we do.

If we sold him we would need to buy a replacement. I'm not sure Kelly will stay a RB as he develops with his previous time at CB.

[Mostar]

I would understand the concern of selling Johnson if we didn't have Kelly and Flanagan at the Club, but we do.

I was 100% sure you would said that.

Kelly is a good prospect but his injury record in last few years calls for some concerns and young Flanagan is still developing and definitely not ready for the first team football on regular basis just yet.

Think about it Rudo mate. If we want to compete for top 4 we need as good or better RB options than what we have and if Kenny would decide to sell GJ, which I think is extremely unlikely, it would be with intentions of improving the squad not making it weaker.

[Rudo]

I honestly don't think Kenny was too upset to see the back of Torres.

Yes i'm sure the timing of it came as a shock to him, as it was to everyone, and he was a great goalscorer and massive player for us but when it was known to Kenny that the Suarez deal was nearly done, and Carroll could be snapped up then he was more than happy with how it all worked out.

[red g]

I honestly don't think Kenny was too upset to see the back of Torres.

Yes i'm sure the timing of it came as a shock to him, as it was to everyone, and he was a great goalscorer and massive player for us but when it was known to Kenny that the Suarez deal was nearly done, and Carroll could be snapped up then he was more than happy with how it all worked out.

no comparison at all with Johnson though, Torres loooked pissed offf for months and nearly moved in the summer and everything we here since was clearly usettled Johnson has shown no interest in leaving and has always played when fit.

[Mostar]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/liverpool/8468858/Liverpool-full-back-Glen-Johnson-has-no-regrets-on-making-the-move-to-Merseyside.html?

Liverpool full-back Glen Johnson has no regrets on making the move to Merseyside

It is, he explains, simply a pastime. Under the unremitting glare, though, it becomes something it is not.

“The lady from Rosetta Stone, who I got some tapes from, asked me to do a press thing,” Johnson explains. “I knew exactly what would come of it, but I said that if it was just my words and it was for her use and her use only, I’d do it. So I wake up the next morning, and all I read is that Glen’s going Spain, Glen’s going Italy.”

The truth is rather more prosaic, but it is easy to see why it seems an unsatisfactory explanation. “I’ve been learning for a few years,” he says. “When you are fit and everything is going well, you finish about 2pm, and I was wondering what I could do with myself, so I thought I would learn another language. I chose Spanish, and that was that. That was the only reason.”

It is not one, though, that fits the contorted perception of Johnson. His ears studded with diamonds, a tattoo swirling up his arm, the 26 year-old looks every inch the modern footballer – and he has the bad-boy reputation to go with it. It would be easy to imagine he would crave a move to Spain, for the money and the glamour. It is less easy to think he simply fancied an educational stimulus.

That desire for improvement, though, runs through his life. It is, he says, his philosophy, on and off the pitch. “Even if you are right at the top of your game you can improve. That is what I always try to do,” he says.

A good thing, too, Liverpool fans might remark. Before a hamstring injury interrupted his season — he hopes to be fit for the visit of Newcastle next week — the England international was in a rich vein of form at odds with much of his two patchy years on Merseyside.

His fortunes, in that sense, have mirrored those of the club. When Johnson arrived, for £17 million in the summer of 2009, Liverpool were the fiefdom of Rafael Benítez, had just sustained their most convincing Premier League title challenge in two decades and were widely tipped as the team to unseat Manchester United. His signing, in fact, was hailed as the final piece of the jigsaw.

But Johnson is on his third manager and his second set of owners. He has added no trophies to the FA Cup he won at Portsmouth, and remains almost as distant from the Champions League as he was at Fratton Park.

So far has his reputation fallen that the man who was supposed to make it all click has been held up as the totem of all that went wrong with the final year of Benitez’s reign, and he now finds his place under threat from two products of the club’s youth system, Martin Kelly and John Flanagan.

Johnson would be forgiven for regretting choosing Anfield and all its unfulfilled promises ahead of a return to Stamford Bridge or a reunion with Harry Redknapp at Tottenham. “No. Not at all,” he says. “I definitely see my future here. It has never entered my head that I made the wrong choice. I am not the sort of person who, just because things are going badly, would jump ship.

“It was difficult for the club at the start of this season but we are over the hill now and everything is looking bright. The new owners [Fenway Sports Group] coming in was like a cloud being lifted. Everyone feels like we are over the worst of it, we have fantastic owners, a fantastic manager and a fantastic coaching staff. With a few signings this summer, we will be a force.”

Johnson has more reason than most to resist the feel-good factor sweeping through Anfield. He arrived at the club, after all, as a refugee from the financial apocalypse which almost snatched Portsmouth out of existence. His blessing for FSG, and all their new appointments, should count more than most.

“They have spent a lot of money,” he says. “If it was me, I wouldn’t spend that much unless I was dedicated to it. They do not want to be part of the club, they want to take it on. Why else would they buy it? It is exciting times.

“Kenny has brought the smile back to everyone’s faces, and Steve Clarke [the first team coach] has been fantastic.”

Johnson is, in short, at home. “I feel a lot more settled now than I did,” he adds. “I had always lived in London before. It was a big change.”

And he is in the perfect place to practise his Spanish, of course. “There are quite a few lads I can talk to. They are helping me get through.”

How is he getting on? “Muy bien.”

[Fernandinho]

Having read that I realised that I don't think I have ever seen an interview of Johnson at all. Weird...

[RedReet]

Good read that. Nice to see that he doesn't consider playing out of position an issue even worth bringing up.

I have a sneaky feeling he's gonna have an excellent season next year.

[frank the tank]

[yamiedo]

Didn't put up much of a fight though, did he?
At the end of the day, Kenny could have told Chelsea to get ****ed, Torres is staying til the summer at least but he thought we can do without Torres.

Basically, Kenny will get everyone on side, make sure everyone's pulling in the same direction and all that lark, but he'll also be ruthless when required.(and rightly so)

The reason Kenny thought we can do without Torres is because Torres did not want to play for us. You can hardly use that reasoning to suggest Kenny will sell Glen Johnson. Glen clearly wants to play for this team and he is good enough to play for this team so if Kenny sells him id be extremely surprised.

[Mostar]

Good read that. Nice to see that he doesn't consider playing out of position an issue even worth bringing up.

I have a sneaky feeling he's gonna have an excellent season next year.

[DannyMan2006]

Johnson plays for England. Let's not discuss replacing him with Kelly who can't even get a regular game for the U21's and Flanagan, who I don't even think has played for the U19's.

Clearly, Kelly and Flanagan should be in those teams, but they are not yet proven, whilst Glen is.

[Exiled_red]

Johnson plays for England. Let's not discuss replacing him with Kelly who can't even get a regular game for the U21's and Flanagan, who I don't even think has played for the U19's.

Clearly, Kelly and Flanagan should be in those teams, but they are not yet proven, whilst Glen is.

I don't understand all the stick Johnson seems to get, I think he's a good player, sure he has some limitations but all players do. As a fullback you're either going to be critisised for either being caught out of position or for not getting forward enough, it's a tough balance to get right, but Johnson does a good enough job IMO

[CJ]

Having read that I realised that I don't think I have ever seen an interview of Johnson at all. Weird...

so after having read an interview with GJ you thought you hadnt ever seen an interveiw with GJ.

a trip to the docs is needed mate your short term memory is shot.

[DannyMan2006]

Talk of a 22 player turnover this summer in Sundays Telegraph.

When you consider how many are on loan and will not be coming back, it's not as radical as it sounds, especially if some of those coming and going are youth players.