Brennan Johnson

[Bishop]

The problem is, if he was more aggressive and had the confidence to rinse his man more, he could be doing so much more.

He massively under uses his pace, and far too often, the game passes him by.

He could and should be doing a whole lot more to behonest.

If we don't think he can be doing more ie. actually contributing during play then our standards are incredibly low. I get the argument that he scored, but if he could control a ball and move with it maybe he helps us not get so dominated.

Lies, damned lies and statistics...

Combined goals and assists pr 90 in the league so far:
-Richarlison 1.00
-Maddison 0.84
-Werner 0.81
-Son 0.77
-Solanke 0.61
-Johnson 0.55
-Kulusevski 0.46

Play more games and his per game numbers would plummet.

He's very good at arriving in the box and getting on the end of crosses, but he could be so much more.
Very much agree with Harry Brooks' view of him. He needs to work on being more involved.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1863246249744351277

This is very much my view. He's too much of a passenger in general play. Goals are great but he's not scoring enough to mask everything else he isn't providing for the team imo.

 

[markysimmo]

He really really annoyed me yesterday, literally did nothing apart from scoring
Does not help defensively at all either

 

[braineclipse]

He really really annoyed me yesterday, literally did nothing apart from scoring
Does not help defensively at all either

I think he does alright defensively overall, but right now is running on fumes a bit.

His lack of involvement against Fulham wasn't good, but it was also a result of those around him.

Perh overstating my point a little bit, but very little actual creativity (not end product, creativity in terms of doing the unexpected and moving from average possession into a more dangerous situation) from all of our midfielders and forwards with the exception of Maddison.

Even "just" a different profile in one of those positions to me makes a difference, even if Johnson for example doesn't do much differently individually.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

I think he does alright defensively overall, but right now is running on fumes a bit.

His lack of involvement against Fulham wasn't good, but it was also a result of those around him.

Perh overstating my point a little bit, but very little actual creativity (not end product, creativity in terms of doing the unexpected and moving from average possession into a more dangerous situation) from all of our midfielders and forwards with the exception of Maddison.

Even "just" a different profile in one of those positions to me makes a difference, even if Johnson for example doesn't do much differently individually.

His lack of involvement may be because the midfield and CF didn’t keep the ball at all and his right back was broken (Porto lost the ball more than any player on the pitch)
Add in that Johnson is likely knackered and is definitely carrying a knock and it’s an accumulation of issues

 

[Finney Is Back]

His lack of involvement may be because the midfield and CF didn’t keep the ball at all and his right back was broken (Porto lost the ball more than any player on the pitch)
Add in that Johnson is likely knackered and is definitely carrying a knock and it’s an accumulation of issues

Yes but remember that a few people on here made up their minds early that they didn't like him and him scoring of the goals that he is scoring is ruining their commentary so they have to try to hold him solely accountable when we fail to win games.

 

[braineclipse]

His lack of involvement may be because the midfield and CF didn’t keep the ball at all and his right back was broken (Porto lost the ball more than any player on the pitch)
Add in that Johnson is likely knackered and is definitely carrying a knock and it’s an accumulation of issues

Fully agreed. And not just keep possession, but progress the ball to a point where we can give useful service to players who thrive on running in behind.

I think we have been trying to go more direct and in behind. Ange reportedly shouting at Johnson to push up more to be a target for that kind of pass. Dragusin in particular going for quite a few direct long balls iirc.

But we'll often end up losing the ball in those situations. If we then also lose it quickly or fail to progress the ball when playing shorter we get really transitional and open games that don't suit our tired legs.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Fully agreed. And not just keep possession, but progress the ball to a point where we can give useful service to players who thrive on running in behind.

I think we have been trying to go more direct and in behind. Ange reportedly shouting at Johnson to push up more to be a target for that kind of pass. Dragusin in particular going for quite a few direct long balls iirc.

But we'll often end up losing the ball in those situations. If we then also lose it quickly or fail to progress the ball when playing shorter we get really transitional and open games that don't suit our tired legs.

That’s why you need a CF who as a minimum holds it up and presses
It was so so bad seeing sin run around like a butter but so ineffeciently
I’ve seen lankshear play live and he would have been miles better at the weekend and would have saved the legs of sonny

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Yes but remember that a few people on here made up their minds early that they didn't like him and him scoring of the goals that he is scoring is ruining their commentary so they have to try to hold him solely accountable when we fail to win games.

Just a bit IMO
The guy isn’t perfect but is the least of the issues I saw at the weekend
I heard at least 10 people blame him for their goal

 

[braineclipse]

That’s why you need a CF who as a minimum holds it up and presses
It was so so bad seeing sin run around like a butter but so ineffeciently
I’ve seen lankshear play live and he would have been miles better at the weekend and would have saved the legs of sonny

You need it somewhere in the front line at least. And if not physically holding the ball up holding it up and linking play through skill.

Lankshear could have started and played a shocker and ultimately been not much less effective than Son ended up being.

 

[Jurgen the German]

Yes but remember that a few people on here made up their minds early that they didn't like him and him scoring of the goals that he is scoring is ruining their commentary so they have to try to hold him solely accountable when we fail to win games.

The only thing I would hold him accountable for is his general play going forward. I’d like to see him create more, be more involved and try and beat defenders. Someone on here compared him to Alli recently and it’s not like for like but I see some similarities, the issue was Alli never improved his general play and once the goals dried up he didn’t really offer much threat to the opposition.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

You need it somewhere in the front line at least. And if not physically holding the ball up holding it up and linking play through skill.

Lankshear could have started and played a shocker and ultimately been not much less effective than Son ended up being.

He could have
But he would have kept their Cbs in check
Sonny has the physical presence of a puddle
He avoids the physical side and retreats into midfield
Lankshear is the polar opposite
He works them like a striker should

 

[Bedfordspurs]

The only thing I would hold him accountable for is his general play going forward. I’d like to see him create more, be more involved and try and beat defenders. Someone on here compared him to Alli recently and it’s not like for like but I see some similarities, the issue was Alli never improved his general play and once the goals dried up he didn’t really offer much threat to the opposition.T

That’s fair especially as his assist numbers have dropped but if he missed the chance Sonny did in the first 30 seconds the abuse he would have got (or Werner) would have been massive
It’s odd to me
People want more but won’t look at the other players for a contrast who are offering less

 

[braineclipse]

That’s fair especially as his assist numbers have dropped but if he missed the chance Sonny did in the first 30 seconds the abuse he would have got (or Werner) would have been massive
It’s odd to me
People want more but won’t look at the other players for a contrast who are offering less

Pretty much agreed.

According to understat Son has 1 goal and 4 assists playing on the left this season in 644 minutes.

Werner has 0 goals and 3 assists in 325 minutes. (A few of those minutes him having no idea how to play on the right as a sub, but underscore doesn't give positions for sub appearances).

Johnson has 6 goals and 0 assists in 996 minutes (some minutes on the left, but same problem as for Werner).

Their end product numbers, looking at goals and assists combined, are fairly similar. Yet Werner is woefully ineffective and Johnson only does one thing.

For me all three of them are fairly limited in overall play, but offer different and good end product if set up well. But the balance is somewhat off with two of them wide and totally off with all three playing up front.

Werner to me perhaps offers the most in overall play, but his shocking finishing still is a big issue that can't be overlooked. Johnson is the youngest and the one with the most potential to develop. Son is fading and needs his minutes managed.

If we had Odobert, Richarlison and Moore fit we'd have a lot and different types of options. Of the four obviously starting level players that are clearly wide players primarily (Johnson, Son, Werner and Odobert) I kinda think Odobert is the one we don't have a profile option for and in some ways miss the most if/when injured. Though had it been someone else missing for so long I may have thought differently.

 

[90291Spur]

He [imo] get a lot of unfair stick from some fans, he is 23 and will/should improve as he get older.

And he has a specific skill set. The elite athletes in our fan base who slag him off clearly think he should play the way they want him to. He’s not going to do that. He has his strengths, and they need to be appreciated.

 

[K.D.D.D.D.Soc]

Fully agreed. And not just keep possession, but progress the ball to a point where we can give useful service to players who thrive on running in behind.

I think we have been trying to go more direct and in behind. Ange reportedly shouting at Johnson to push up more to be a target for that kind of pass. Dragusin in particular going for quite a few direct long balls iirc.

But we'll often end up losing the ball in those situations. If we then also lose it quickly or fail to progress the ball when playing shorter we get really transitional and open games that don't suit our tired legs.

I think our opening goal against City is a perfect example of what you wrote, Deki wins the duel for that long ball and I don't think Johnson would have. His goals are a bonus and despite his overall performances need to improve that goal threat forces our opponents to worry about him, he's not the finished article but I think he'll get there.

 

[SteveAWOL]

The only thing I would hold him accountable for is his general play going forward. I’d like to see him create more, be more involved and try and beat defenders. Someone on here compared him to Alli recently and it’s not like for like but I see some similarities, the issue was Alli never improved his general play and once the goals dried up he didn’t really offer much threat to the opposition.

Hopefully he’ll be posting these kind of numbers in years to come…

https://twitter.com/x/status/1863969945039831488