Brennan Johnson

[Yiddo]

I don't understand why we don't have the full backs overlapping and the likes of Maddison and Kulu playing the wing role but coming inside and doing what the full backs do now. A lot more creative than Udogie and Porro in those central positions and the full backs and cross all game to Solanke.

 

[Yiddo]

He honestly comes across as a bit of a coward, and incredibly weak. Someone put a cross-field ball to him in the first half and as soon as he saw the defender approaching he totally backed out of it, with the ball going out for a throw to them. That kind of thing happens constantly.

I posted this in the OMT where Bergvall had the ball and was looking for someone to pass to. Rather than moving out wide giving Bergvall an option, Johnson jogged in a straight line toward three defenders, offering absolutely nothing.

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I can get behind players with lesser skill who work their gonads off and show commitment. But I can't do that for someone who is either lazy, incompetent or a coward.

In that situation Johnson should be moving out wide, Solanke should be coming over to the left more to pull out number 4 and then Kulu picks up the the space between Johnson and Bergval. Also if the full backs overlapped then we can allow the fowards to come inside like they are doing, look at all that space down the right, you can bet your bottom dollar the likes of Trent, Walker etc would be bombing up that wing in this situation.

 

[Lemonade Money]

I see glory glory’s favourite Sc@pe goat is getting it again!

The Levy thread is that way.

 

[Mrs Vert]

From what I saw at Forest I thought he would be great for us, he is just too passive too often to be a great RW for us. One for the bench longer term

I know not his fault but good spend of 50mil. Whenever new man comes in, he teaches him how to defend and go past players

 

[metalgear]

johnson needs some personal training if he is ever going to fulfil his potential. i don't know what our coaches tell him but it seems like he can only do a few things well and has become very predictable with opponents who can adjust their tactics to clamp down our winger's threats

 

[Finney Is Back]

James Maddison has the same amount of goals as Johnson but from CM, a deeper position on the pitch. Would you say he’s playing well also because the conventional wisdom seems to be that he’s not been good enough and he’s too inconsistent? Again, what’s the difference between him Son? Son actually gets better numbers in assists and chances created btw. If Johnson doesn’t score, then his average performance is about a 4/10.

I think Maddison has been one of our best players this season.

 

[Finney Is Back]

He is a bit cowardly on the tackles, completely agree, but he does try to get back in position. Johnson doesn’t most of the time IMO.

I see the opposite. Son sometimes ignores the opponent’s right back pushing up, Johnson goes with the opponent’s left back when he pushes forward. If the full back doesn’t join the attack then the winger doesn’t come back to defend. That is clearly the instruction from the manager.

At the game yesterday a bloke behind me was constantly berating Johnson (was it you Bishop? ) for not defending when it was Joelinton pulling across to try to cause the numerical overload on Porro.

There was an occasion yesterday only 2 minutes after Son had come on when Son’s direct opponent joined the attack and Son stood there for a few seconds before casually jogging back. He either doesn’t know who he is supposed to be defending against or doesn’t care.

 

[Muttley]

within 2 mins of coming on, Son was back in our box helping to defend

Johnson barely comes back into our own half

it's either laziness, and he's a clam, or tactical, and Ange is

lol - so the 50 times this season when he should have dropped in and didn't weren't noticed at all. The moment he actually does what he's supposed to, you notice.

Over a season, I would think BJ has been back in our box about 10 times more than our captain.

Saying that, I do think BJ needs to improve on his defensive output. He is starting to resemble Son who has never learnt the art.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

I see the opposite. Son sometimes ignores the opponent’s right back pushing up, Johnson goes with the opponent’s left back when he pushes forward. If the full back doesn’t join the attack then the winger doesn’t come back to defend. That is clearly the instruction from the manager.

At the game yesterday a bloke behind me was constantly berating Johnson (was it you Bishop? ) for not defending when it was Joelinton pulling across to try to cause the numerical overload on Porro.

There was an occasion yesterday only 2 minutes after Son had come on when Son’s direct opponent joined the attack and Son stood there for a few seconds before casually jogging back. He either doesn’t know who he is supposed to be defending against or doesn’t care.

He doesn’t know
He tries
But he is just so clueless in this set up
Then add in his loss of pace which is quite startling
Will be interesting to see where he ends up in the summer now
He won’t sign the contract we’re offering him

 

[Finney Is Back]

He doesn’t know
He tries
But he is just so clueless in this set up
Then add in his loss of pace which is quite startling
Will be interesting to see where he ends up in the summer now
He won’t sign the contract we’re offering him

The thing that concerns me most is how often he leaves the ball behind when dribbling these days. Even yesterday he was in on goal and either going to end up with a one on one with their keeper or fouled for a penalty or free kick with them going down to 10 men and he then left the ball behind him.

 

[Bishop]

I see the opposite. Son sometimes ignores the opponent’s right back pushing up, Johnson goes with the opponent’s left back when he pushes forward. If the full back doesn’t join the attack then the winger doesn’t come back to defend. That is clearly the instruction from the manager.

At the game yesterday a bloke behind me was constantly berating Johnson (was it you Bishop? ) for not defending when it was Joelinton pulling across to try to cause the numerical overload on Porro.

There was an occasion yesterday only 2 minutes after Son had come on when Son’s direct opponent joined the attack and Son stood there for a few seconds before casually jogging back. He either doesn’t know who he is supposed to be defending against or doesn’t care.

Possibly.

Honestly though bro I don't rate any of our wing options minus the young (Moore & Odobert). We just need better than what all of them provide.

 

[Muttley]

Possibly.

Honestly though bro I don't rate any of our wing options minus the young (Moore & Odobert). We just need better than what all of them provide.

But do you rate our wing tactical system?

It has definitely occurred to me that we're constraining Johnson. I'm sure I saw more of a free spirit before he joined us. He was almost talismanic for Forest, and Wales don't park him on the wing. I think he has a bit of that false number nine about him, and I also think he is not a forward that wants to run in the straight, wide lines. He has more to him than that. He is a right forward, but not a right winger.

I'm wondering whether Ange is waiting for him to feel confident to be a bit more expansive in his play. We've seen glimpses.

 

[Bishop]

But do you rate our wing tactical system?

It has definitely occurred to me that we're constraining Johnson. I'm sure I saw more of a free spirit before he joined us. He was almost talismanic for Forest, and Wales don't park him on the wing. I think he has a bit of that false number nine about him, and I also think he is not a forward that wants to run in the straight, wide lines. He has more to him than that. He is a right forward, but not a right winger.

I'm wondering whether Ange is waiting for him to feel confident to be a bit more expansive in his play. We've seen glimpses.

Hmm a good question. I do and I don't. I rate the idea, but not the implementation I do think it's incompatible with the forwards we posses. We attempt to play this really intricate possessional system with lots of short and neat passing triangles in and around the final third. That just doesn't suit Johnson or Son. Neither are particular good in tight spaces, moving with the ball at their feet while under pressure is specifically a weakness for both of them yet the system we implement will directly require this of them.

I think Johnson in a different longer passing system could work very well. When he's in space with the ball he's dangerous, he has that great low shot across the box into the opposite corner but we don't play that way. If we could play some longer raking passes that would isolate Johnson in space and create real danger, balls into space for him to run on to would make him a lot more dangerous generally speaking and would stop teams being able to push up on us completely. We are fairly easy to press in largely in part because we have no possessional strong escape route on either wing. We play much shorter and slower and by the time the ball gets to him the opposition defence is settled and then a different set of skills are required, skills he doesn't have.

So essentially I think Ange either needs to adjust his system by playing more long passes (something we don't really have in midfield) or he needs to adjust the players he plays on the wings. You could say that maybe that's what he's already trying with the addition of Odobert and Yang, both of whom do appear to be good in a dribbly sense and good in tight space, but we will have to see with them over time.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

The thing that concerns me most is how often he leaves the ball behind when dribbling these days. Even yesterday he was in on goal and either going to end up with a one on one with their keeper or fouled for a penalty or free kick with them going down to 10 men and he then left the ball behind him.

Yep
It’s a really big drop in his level
Some fans don’t see it which I find mad

 

[Muttley]

Hmm a good question. I do and I don't. I rate the idea, but not the implementation I do think it's incompatible with the forwards we posses. We attempt to play this really intricate possessional system with lots of short and neat passing triangles in and around the final third. That just doesn't suit Johnson or Son. Neither are particular good in tight spaces, moving with the ball at their feet while under pressure is specifically a weakness for both of them yet the system we implement will directly require this of them.

I think Johnson in a different longer passing system could work very well. When he's in space with the ball he's dangerous, he has that great low shot across the box into the opposite corner but we don't play that way. If we could play some longer raking passes that would isolate Johnson in space and create real danger, balls into space for him to run on to would make him a lot more dangerous generally speaking and would stop teams being able to push up on us completely. We are fairly easy to press in largely in part because we have no possessional strong escape route on either wing. We play much shorter and slower and by the time the ball gets to him the opposition defence is settled and then a different set of skills are required, skills he doesn't have.

So essentially I think Ange either needs to adjust his system by playing more long passes (something we don't really have in midfield) or he needs to adjust the players he plays on the wings. You could say that maybe that's what he's already trying with the addition of Odobert and Yang, both of whom do appear to be good in a dribbly sense and good in tight space, but we will have to see with them over time.

It's a great articulation of what we're seeing, and I think adds to the question marks on our manager's longevity at the club. I just wish we could move beyond this injury / fatigue phase so we get to find out what optimal looks like under Ange.

 

[fernadez]

It's a great articulation of what we're seeing, and I think adds to the question marks on our manager's longevity at the club. I just wish we could move beyond this injury / fatigue phase so we get to find out what optimal looks like under Ange.

Concern for me is that any time we've adapted has been when we're at the bare bones and fatigued.

When we're at full strength it's Plan A till we die, which is where my issue with him lies.

 

[afsoc4life]

He doesn’t know
He tries
But he is just so clueless in this set up
Then add in his loss of pace which is quite startling
Will be interesting to see where he ends up in the summer now
He won’t sign the contract we’re offering him

I now recall when Poch played Son at LB vs. Chelsea where he tackled Victor Moses in the box .. In a semi final if i recall correctly

 

[Bishop]

Yep
It’s a really big drop in his level
Some fans don’t see it which I find mad

Some of us saw it last season and some of us didn't.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

I now recall when Poch played Son at LB vs. Chelsea where he tackled Victor Moses in the box .. In a semi final if i recall correctly

Masterful defending

 

[Jurgen the German]

Yep
It’s a really big drop in his level
Some fans don’t see it which I find mad

Yeah, similar to you not seeing Johnson’s limited ability and the amount of goals we concede largely being part of the system we play.