Player Watch Player Watch: Brennan Johnson

[bigfrooj]

They equate expensive with good and get all ahead of themselves in preseason when their club spraying it like a lottery winner in a strip club.

Having a go at the player for costing £50m is a bit strange. Have a go at the recruitment team and the guy who writes the cheques, they’ve agreed the deal. It’s actually disrespectful to the judgment of Ange Postecoglu - he’s the one who wanted the player and gave the green light to paying that amount. I think we all agree Ange deserves better.
If people have to compare Brennan Johnson’s return to that of some of the massive mistakes like Tanguy Ndombele or even a gamble like Bryan Gil, then he’s looking like a very good investment financially at this stage.

 

[Col_M]

Having a go at the player for costing £50m is a bit strange. Have a go at the recruitment team and the guy who writes the cheques, they’ve agreed the deal. It’s actually disrespectful to the judgment of Ange Postecoglu - he’s the one who wanted the player and gave the green light to paying that amount. I think we all agree Ange deserves better.
If people have to compare Brennan Johnson’s return to that of some of the massive mistakes like Tanguy Ndombele or even a gamble like Bryan Gil, then he’s looking like a very good investment financially at this stage.

people were having a go at our other expensive striker signing last season and the start of this season. eventually he got his head straight and his fitness. I wonder how much sooner they would have happened had he had full backing from the crowd.

 

[Fergus]

Funny, I haven't seen anybody really have a go at Brennan Johnson in this thread (everyone gets unwarranted abuse in the matchday thread) but I have seen a lot of comments (mine included) about where he needs to improve. Not the same thing.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

I agree that Johnson has plenty of room for improvement, but here's a bit of context for those who think his end product is lacking:

He's contributed a goal or assist every 152 minutes in the PL this season.
Son, Maddison, Richarlison & Lo Celso have done better on that front, but Kulusevski, Werner, Solomon, Gil and all of our CMs have done worse.

A goal contribution every 152 minutes is a significant improvement on his goal contribution rate in the PL last season with Nottingham Forest (every 267 minutes).
It would be easy to think "267 minutes is poor, so it was easy to improve on", but 'every 267 minutes' is very comparable to Son, Maddison & Richarlison's first seasons in the PL, and they were all a very similar age to Johnson at the time. Of those 3, only Son had a contribution rate better than 'every 267 minutes' in their second season in the PL, so this suggests Johnson is currently developing just fine.

Every 152 minutes is also better than his rate of every 156 minutes in the Championship in 2021-22, when he contributed a very respectable 27 goals and assists.
If we gave him as many minutes this season as he got in that fairly prolific season in the Championship, he'd be expected to contribute 28 goals and assists, which I don't think anyone would argue is anything but fantastic for a 22-year-old winger.

The fact that he's contributing goals and assists at a decent rate despite perceived deficiencies in his decision-making, finishing and final ball, shows that either we're being unfairly critical (i.e. not objective) or he must be getting himself into good positions with very high frequency. If the latter, being in the right place is half the battle, so that bodes well imo.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

Why is it wrong to criticise a player despite him scoring the winner? He was abysmal today and barely did a thing right, the worst of which was almost costing us a goal by leaving Porro to deal with a 1v2 (watch who Porro and Romero have a word with after Fati just puts his shot wide).

Kulusevski was great whilst on today and as others have noted we lost a lot of control when he went off. Not only did he retain possession whenever we got it out to him, but he also rolled Estupinan multiple times and provided the assist for Sarr. Johnson came on and we lost that pressure release on that flank.

I'm happy he's getting the goals and assists but I don't think Johnson could've offered us all that Deki did in that first hour. I also don't think Deki has the legs to make that run and put the ball in at the end of the game. Both players give us something different and I think I prefer seeing Johnson as an impact player where his pace can really make a difference against tired legs.

It's refreshing to see a comment about his overall gameplay, rather than just on his goals / assists.

I think he's offered more than enough in the final third, in the context of his age and where he is in the pecking order, but I do have concerns that his overall contributions are lacking when compared to his direct competition for a starting RW spot - Kulusevski.

As you've pointed out, there's a lot of sense to Kulusevski starting and Johnson being used as an impact sub. We can get the best out of both players that way, while also managing Johnson's development.

 

[allatsea]

Not bashing Johnson because he needs time to settle in, but what Deki gives us in spades is ability to receive the ball under pressure and hold onto it. Johnson, at the moment, is the polar opposite in that the only time he is a threat is when the ball is played into space for him (much the same as Sonny).

Same for Werner.

 

[Styopa]

Funny, I haven't seen anybody really have a go at Brennan Johnson in this thread (everyone gets unwarranted abuse in the matchday thread) but I have seen a lot of comments (mine included) about where he needs to improve. Not the same thing.

I think the idea that people are objecting to Johnson being abused in here is a bit of a straw man. I think what people mostly object to is the harsh way his performances are judged, especially relative to other players.

After nearly every match he is involved in this thread fills up with posts to the effect of needs to improve, not good enough, not sure he’ll ever make it here, too expensive etc etc.

The thread is regularly near the top of new posts in the days following a match, much more regularly than any other player I can think of.

The only player I can think of who has come under similar scrutiny recently was Vicario but probably most of the posts in his thread were defending him.

For example this thread has twice the number of pages as the Sarr and Vicario threads. It has nearly as many pages as the Bentancur thread.

 

[Fergus]

I think he's offered more than enough in the final third, in the context of his age and where he is in the pecking order, but I do have concerns that his overall contributions are lacking when compared to his direct competition

The last time I remember a 22-year-old attacking player joining us from a lower ranked Premier League club, he ran his arse off every game, worked like a maniac and ended the season as our top scorer, yet still worked flat out to improve aspects of his game over the next few years. Robbie Keane, anyone?

 

[Bluto Blutarsky]

Not bashing Johnson because he needs time to settle in, but what Deki gives us in spades is ability to receive the ball under pressure and hold onto it. Johnson, at the moment, is the polar opposite in that the only time he is a threat is when the ball is played into space for him (much the same as Sonny).

This is a fair observation - but funny nonetheless.

Deki gets criticized for not being able to do some of the things Johnson can do, and Johnson gets criticized for not being able to do some of the things Deki does.


A lot depends on the make-up of the other players in a given squad - but both players have strengths and weaknesses that we can exploit/cover for.

I do think that, for now, it probably sets up better to have Kulusevski start, and Johnson come in later, particularly if we need his pace to run at tired legs. But, when we solve the CM set-up - and have more control in that area - that makes Johnson a potentially better fit, since we won't rely on his ball retention as much.

 

[Flobadob]

I think improving his ball striking quality alone would make him a far more dangerous player. He gets into so many good positions consistently, if his end product improves with age, which it should, then he’ll be a really dangerous option for us in the medium to long term. He’s a good player, probably not quite good enough at the moment for where we want to be but the possibility of him developing into that kind of player over the years is 100% there in my opinion.

 

[Guernman]

I have no issues with Johnson with regards the attributes he brings in the attacking third, sure, lots of things to improve, but he will, and he is already clocking up good numbers of contributions,

However, I have a huge issue with his attitude regarding tracking back and supporting defensively. I was screaming at the screen yesterday when he lost the ball in the 75th minute and literally strolled back while Gross and Mitoma doubled up on Porro.

Johnson easily has the pace to have caught up with Gross, which would have allowed Porro to prevent Mitoma from putting an easy cross in which Fati really should have scored from.

That sort of nonchalance really doesn't look good, and is a stark contrast to the likes of Richarlison or Werner who often bust a gut to track back when they lose the ball. It's not like Johnson had already played the full match.

Even when Porro was obviously struggling with a knock, Johnson just wasn't giving him the support he obviously needed.

 

[Bluto Blutarsky]

I have no issues with Johnson with regards the attributes he brings in the attacking third, sure, lots of things to improve, but he will, and he is already clocking up good numbers of contributions,

However, I have a huge issue with his attitude regarding tracking back and supporting defensively. I was screaming at the screen yesterday when he lost the ball in the 75th minute and literally strolled back while Gross and Mitoma doubled up on Porro.

Johnson easily has the pace to have caught up with Gross, which would have allowed Porro to prevent Mitoma from putting an easy cross in which Fati really should have scored from.

That sort of nonchalance really doesn't look good, and is a stark contrast to the likes of Richarlison or Werner who often bust a gut to track back when they lose the ball. It's not like Johnson had already played the full match.

Even when Porro was obviously struggling with a knock, Johnson just wasn't giving him the support he obviously needed.

Legitimate criticism, imo.

But, I am not too worried about it right now. Ange and the coaches will address this, and I think its a coachable issue - not a talent/athleticism issue, or even worse - a poor attitude.

I just like that both Ange and Johnson himself have recently spoken about Johnson's need to work on getting to the back post as a priority - and he now has two goals in 3 games from doing exactly what he has been coached to do.

 

[easley91]

The lad is 22 in a new system, new coach, new city. He still has the scar from his head injury, so wouldn't surprise me if he was still anxious going in for duels. He has plenty of scope and time to improve (along with the rest of the group). He is getting goals and assists despite this, which is a very good sign in my opinion.

I have no problem with legitimate criticism and notes of where he could improve, it's the scape goat nature I see across social media that irks me with this fanbase (like other players have fallen foul of before and still do to some degree).

 

[KirstyG]

Having a go at the player for costing £50m is a bit strange. Have a go at the recruitment team and the guy who writes the cheques, they’ve agreed the deal. It’s actually disrespectful to the judgment of Ange Postecoglu - he’s the one who wanted the player and gave the green light to paying that amount. I think we all agree Ange deserves better.
If people have to compare Brennan Johnson’s return to that of some of the massive mistakes like Tanguy Ndombele or even a gamble like Bryan Gil, then he’s looking like a very good investment financially at this stage.

I was referring to a post about Chelsea thinking that expensive means good.

 

[Japhet]

The lad is 22 in a new system, new coach, new city. He still has the scar from his head injury, so wouldn't surprise me if he was still anxious going in for duels. He has plenty of scope and time to improve (along with the rest of the group). He is getting goals and assists despite this, which is a very good sign in my opinion.

I have no problem with legitimate criticism and notes of where he could improve, it's the scape goat nature I see across social media that irks me with this fanbase (like other players have fallen foul of before and still do to some degree).

He definitely needs to toughen up a bit, put in some tackles and do his work defensively and tracking back. Those are areas that don't need form or confidence, just a bit of courage and extra effort. Those things would get the crowd going and he'd most likely catch that wave and feel better all round.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

The last time I remember a 22-year-old attacking player joining us from a lower ranked Premier League club, he ran his arse off every game, worked like a maniac and ended the season as our top scorer, yet still worked flat out to improve aspects of his game over the next few years. Robbie Keane, anyone?

We were the fourth top-flight club that Keane played for, so it wasn't a comparable situation at all.
1 PL season with Coventry & 2.5 PL seasons with Leeds, with half a season at Inter Milan in the middle of that. He also played in the CL / UEFA Cup with two different clubs prior to joining us.

Also, Keane was a second striker in a 4-4-2, not a winger. When Liverpool tried him on the wing, it really didn't go too well...Johnson has significantly outperformed him there.

 

[Fergus]

it's the scape goat nature I see across social media that irks me with this fanbase

Then please address this on whatever social media you feel he's being scapegoated on. Nobody is scapegoating him in this thread, just commenting on the shortcomings they'd like to see addressed and improvements they'd like to see. Almost all of the "criticism" I've seen in this thread also recognises his positive attributes.

 

[easley91]

Then please address this on whatever social media you feel he's being scapegoated on. Nobody is scapegoating him in this thread, just commenting on the shortcomings they'd like to see addressed and improvements they'd like to see. Almost all of the "criticism" I've seen in this thread also recognises his positive attributes.

I didn't say they were scapegoating him in this thread did I? This is a Brennan Johnson thread so I added my two pence on the subject (on a slight tangent there is scapegoating of other players on this forum but that's another matter entirely).

 

[easley91]

He definitely needs to toughen up a bit, put in some tackles and do his work defensively and tracking back. Those are areas that don't need form or confidence, just a bit of courage and extra effort. Those things would get the crowd going and he'd most likely catch that wave and feel better all round.

And in time I am sure with Ange they will come. People just need to be patient with him.

 

[Fergus]

To paraphrase the late, great Terry Jones,
"He's not the Messiah, but he's quite a promising boy."