Player Watch Player Watch: Brennan Johnson

[Hertsspur10]

Can anyone who has seen him play a lot compare him to another player? Most people are saying he's a very quick wing/forward who finishes well but isn't a tricky/1v1 winger. Sounds like Walcott?

Stylistically I'd compare to Gnabry when he was Johnsons age.

Wrote a post a few pages back where in the championship where forest played on the front foot and he isolated full backs 1v1 he was superb in beating them. He won't always use the same flashy skills to beat his man as some wingers but he is very effective. In his time with forest the year they got promoted he performed lots of brilliant 1-2 moves around the box with our own Djed Spence to help penetrate low block defences.

 

[amathews3416]

Buying depth players to replace depth players in an already bloated squad isn't how to improve, and is exactly how we got into this mess in the first place.

We should either be signing players who genuinely provide an upgrade on the starting XI, or players who are young and aren't at that stage yet but have very high ceilings.

Orban and Nico Williams would fit into the second category, for instance. The likes of Brennan Johnson and (unfortunately, Solomon) don't fit either category and shouldn't be getting signed just because they're HG and/or cheap.

Uh....you realize Brennan Johnson is 22 and Nico Williams is 21? Around the same age category. Furthermore, Johnson has better goals/assists in a more difficult league than Nico Williams. So why does Nico Williams fit into your second category but not Brennan Johnson?

 

[KingNick]

Stylistically I'd compare to Gnabry when he was Johnsons age.

Wrote a post a few pages back where in the championship where forest played on the front foot and he isolated full backs 1v1 he was superb in beating them. He won't use the same flashy skills to beat his man as some wingers but he is very effective. In his time with forest the year they got promoted he performed lots of brilliant 1-2 moves around the box with our own Djed Spence to help penetrate low block defences.

Good summary.
Although, he can pull out the flashy skills - a fair few nutmegs - and not just for show, he used them effectively.

 

[SpartanSpur]

This is a 22 year old kid that ripped up the championship and then posted 8 goals and 3 assists in the PL for a relegation battling side. Feel people are being overly harsh here.

Plenty of scope to improve as he matures, especially under a proper coach like Ange.

Most of the talk right now is £40m with us trying to bring it down, so the £50m being thrown around feels unfair. Also the star players people think you can get for £50m are now £70-80m+ since Boehly arrived at Chelsea. The real deal is £100m+. If Nico Williams clause is truly 40m then some club would have signed him by now. I suspect he wants to stay loyal to his club so is a pointless point of comparison.

Transfermarkt has Johnson's value at 38m Euros, so £40m is hardly even super inflated considering him being HG and at a PL side.

I'd love us to chuck £120m down on Kvara or Mitoma as much as the next guy, but I don't see how that compares to signing this lad, especially if we move 1-2 players in the other direction for a decent price. As ITK confirmed he is a long term target not just an opportunistic move.

Just feels like a weird move for people to make such a big fuss over, especially with the HG deficiencies in our squad. I guess it's the opportunity cost of not going all out for a bonafide starter (albeit I think Johnson will be a potential starter himself).

 

[DogsOfWar]

My views on Johnson are similar to when we were looking at VdV.
Does he have the required attributes in Ange's system that the current starter doesn't?
In VdV's case he needed to be quicker and better in the air than Davies. That wasn't particularly difficult so he has come in and looks like the real deal.
Johnson needs more pace than Kulu and needs to be happy going down the outside so he's already ticked those boxes to provide an alternative.

It's whether he's worth the money over a possibly better alternative?
If it's deadwood and £15-20 million then it's a yes from me.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

Tottenham Hotspur are still some way off agreeing a fee for Brennan Johnson, as Nottingham Forest are completely unmoving from £40m basic price for the forward. The stand-off could yet see Chelsea in late on, as they retain an interest in the 22-year-old.

With a lot of the major clubs still looking at attacking signings in terms of wide players and No.9s, Johnson is seen as a player whose versatility and pace up front are of huge value and Ange Postecoglou is hugely keen.

Personal terms will not be a problem and Johnson is willing to go to Spurs, but negotiations between the London club and Forest are understood to have been hugely frustrating.

Chelsea are nowhere near so advanced, and haven't got to that stage, as they survey potential attackers. The club are prioritising an out-and-out centre-forward but there are not too many obvious choices available, and there is a belief in the market they will move for Johnson late on in the window if his future is not yet agreed.

It is therefore a deal that could go to the very last hours of the window.

Across the summer regarding the striker options at each club, Spurs sold Harry Kane to Bayern Munich while Chelsea are still looking to offload Romelu Lukaku. Forest signed Chris Wood on a permanent deal from Newcastle, having had him on loan last season

 

[Nick-TopSpursMan]

May be you should read up on Forest season in Championship. They were not a possession heavy side. they were not a pressing side. They relied on defensive stability at back and fast counters, with their counters lead by Johnson running behind. Their possession was 50% avg even in Championship

They still averaged more possession than 14 other teams so would have had quite a lot of games where they had more of the ball. Certainly enough of the ball for him to do more against lower blocks, not just counters.

That probably explains it then. Terrible sources that are very superficial and provide no context and don't allow an assessment of every action taken by a player in a game. The obvious example of a stat that is terrible in isolation is the one that refers to actions leading to a shot - which is obviously wholly dependent on whether the play receiving the ball even bothered to have a shot regardless of how good the opportunity created was.

I can't share the content from Wyscout and Scout7 as its a breach of licence but it doesn't take much searching of Youtube videos to see that a lot of what you have said is just not borne out. Plenty of non-counter-attacking, edge of the area, tricky wing play of the kind you say he doesn't exhibit. Plenty of goals from non-counter attacks. and this cuts across his whole career, including academy, L1, Championship and PL.

I have watched him and my eyes back up the data. Most of the good work I've seen him do is in transitions, not against set defences.

If we sign him and he proves to be much more well rounded and effective as a player, I'll be delighted.

 

[Tucker]

I will just add to this I have my reservations it's the one Ange truly wants(doesn't mean he doesn't want him), but I do find it an incredible coincidence Forrest have shown the most interest in some of those we are trying to shift.

Is this info or opinion? Because before you know it, people will be talking like it’s a fact Johnson has been pushed on Ange by Levy.

 

[arunspurs]

They still averaged more possession than 14 other teams so would have had quite a lot of games where they had more of the ball. Certainly enough of the ball for him to do more against lower blocks, not just counters.



I have watched him and my eyes back up the data. Most of the good work I've seen him do is in transitions, not against set defences.

If we sign him and he proves to be much more well rounded and effective as a player, I'll be delighted.

Ofcourse, by default they had more possession than PL league. But Forest have been a counter attacking side with Cooper. Here is a PL site preview of Forest when they came into PL last season, which amply shows their tactics.

Promoted clubs: Forest counters can cause problems

Adrian Clarke looks at how Steve Cooper's side can outpace opponents on their return

www.premierleague.com

End of the day, all that matters is, he did score 16 goals & 9 assists , including good performances in big playoff games.

Fact still remains, he has never played in a possession heavy side. So, IF we buy him, he will have to go through some learning period and work with players & staffs to get his best.

 

[Trix]

Is this info or opinion? Because before you know it, people will be talking like it’s a fact Johnson has been pushed on Ange by Levy.

Read my Signature.

 

[jpascavitz]

The more and more I watch and read on him, the more I think that he is being primarily brought in to compete with Richy in the 9 position. I know he can cover at RWF, however to me it seems Ange (if he has said yes to Johnson) would see him as a HG similar player to Kyogo who he had at Celtic.

Pacey, good with both feet, will stretch the backline.

The last is important IMO as we want our advanced 8s to have the spaces to get on the ball and create shots.

It's also been well documented that the ST position in Ange system usually has the least amount of touches in the side. We need someone who is active in the box, can finish with both feet, AND creates half chances/ugly goals out of nothing.

 

[Wick3d]

Read my Signature.

I have Signatures turned off; it clutters the page for me. Any chance of allowing me to be lazy and tell me what it says?

 

[Tucker]

I have Signatures turned off; it clutters the page for me. Any chance of allowing me to be lazy and tell me what it says?

He’s not going to answer basically. Edit. He’s changed it since I last looked at it, basically he only posts opinion in the main forum now.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

I’ve seen it mentioned somewhere that Forrest have some ffp issues, does anyone know if that’s true? I only ask as if the above article re struggling to agree a few is true then they may well prefer a full fee rather then a partial swap deal.

 

[Trix]

I have Signatures turned off; it clutters the page for me. Any chance of allowing me to be lazy and tell me what it says?

Everything I post right now should be taken as opinion only. I'm not posting anything from sources on the main forum until further notice. If I do I'll specifically say so but I doubt I will during this window.

 

[Nick-TopSpursMan]

I’ve seen it mentioned somewhere that Forrest have some ffp issues, does anyone know if that’s true? I only ask as if the above article re struggling to agree a few is true then they may well prefer a full fee rather then a partial swap deal.

I've seen this too but couldn't give you an exact source. Seen it said a lot though.

 

[hughy]

I've had signatures turned off for so long I forgot they even existed.

 

[SpartanSpur]

I've seen this too but couldn't give you an exact source. Seen it said a lot though.

Think it was from comments on a Forest forum.

 

[Tucker]

I've seen this too but couldn't give you an exact source. Seen it said a lot though.

Think it’s speculation on their part. I went and had a nose at their forum, was only a quick scan though, so might have missed a source etc.

 

[SambaSpurs]

A lot of talk about how he will play against a low block and in tight spaces. I think we have to realise that probably half of our league games this year aren’t going to be against sides low blocking us. City, Arsenal, Liverpool, United, Chelsea, Brighton, Newcastle and possibly Villa will not just camp 10 men behind the ball.

Perhaps Johnson can be more of a threat than Kulu in these types of games? Maybe against the low block Kulu’s creativity will see we him starting - many want him tried as a creative 8.

It’s a squad game and we should think holistically about it. At the moment the ST/RW spots lack pace and goal threat - Johnson has shown he can provide this to a certain degree. Maybe he can step up his game in a better team and as he matures, he’s only just turned 22.