Player Watch Player Watch: Brennan Johnson

[Nick-TopSpursMan]

Personally I think our wide options are very good with room to develop further. I think centre forward is the main issue to knit it all together. Next season I would be looking for a new 9 with Son on the left again. I would have loved a front 3 of Son, Kane and Johnson. A bit like Dele, Son and Kane with Maddison more central rather than Eriksen in off the wing and Dele central. If we can get a young prospect as the long term Son replacement to develop that would be the perfect balance. Someone low cost and preferably who can become homegrown with us. Werner bridges the gap between him and Son.

I just don't think Son is suited at all to the wide role. He's got 1 open play goal and 3 assists from LW all season and he's played there for 10 matches in the PL so it's a good sample size. He's been actively abysmal there aside from a 20 minute spell against the horrendous Trippier.

He isn't very good when he starts that wide. Also he is going to be 32 years old and his endurance and explosiveness are both in decline now. Playing wide will make this far more noticeable and burn him out quicker.

We are absolutely desperate for at least 1 player with some real 1v1 magic in their boots to come in to our team. We've seen what happens when a limited player like Werner has a decent spell. Now imagine a proper quality player out there. It would also make Johnson more dangerous on the opposite flank as it will stretch teams more.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

Personally I think our wide options are very good with room to develop further. I think centre forward is the main issue to knit it all together. Next season I would be looking for a new 9 with Son on the left again. I would have loved a front 3 of Son, Kane and Johnson. A bit like Dele, Son and Kane with Maddison more central rather than Eriksen in off the wing and Dele central. If we can get a young prospect as the long term Son replacement to develop that would be the perfect balance. Someone low cost and preferably who can become homegrown with us. Werner bridges the gap between him and Son.

Just to challenge you a bit here mate I wouldn't agree that our wide options are 'very good', I think Son is becoming a bit past it as a LW and is more of a ST now apart from against low blocks, Werner is ok but can be quite wasteful and not a hugely consistent goal threat, Johnson is playing at a good level and yes room to develop further, Kulu for me is not a RW in this system and is pretty ineffective, Solomon has been ok when he played and can improve but has been injured a lot and not sure he's anything more than a squad filler who we got on the cheap tbh, Gil will be sold.

Johnson certainly has a big ceiling imo and I've always said to everyone to be patient with him and that there is a serious player there in this system as he is starting to show but overall I think the wide/attacking areas are actually our weakest area and I'd say they're good at best not really 'very good' and certainly not where we need them to be if we want to challenge for titles under Ange from next season onwards.

I do however agree that if we can sign a top class striker and move Son back left for some games that will help, for me I think we need to sign a top class striker and top class winger who can play both sides, those 2 signings could elevate us to the next level like when Liverpool signed Allison & VVD.

 

[mil1lion]

Just to challenge you a bit here mate I wouldn't agree that our wide options are 'very good', I think Son is becoming a bit past it as a LW and is more of a ST now apart from against low blocks, Werner is ok but can be quite wasteful and not a hugely consistent goal threat, Johnson is playing at a good level and yes room to develop further, Kulu for me is not a RW in this system and is pretty ineffective, Solomon has been ok when he played and can improve but has been injured a lot and not sure he's anything more than a squad filler who we got on the cheap tbh, Gil will be sold.

Johnson certainly has a big ceiling imo and I've always said to everyone to be patient with him and that there is a serious player there in this system as he is starting to show but overall I think the wide/attacking areas are actually our weakest area and I'd say they're good at best not really 'very good' and certainly not where we need them to be if we want to challenge for titles under Ange from next season onwards.

I do however agree that if we can sign a top class striker and move Son back left for some games that will help, for me I think we need to sign a top class striker and top class winger who can play both sides, those 2 signings could elevate us to the next level like when Liverpool signed Allison & VVD.

If we can afford both then that would be amazing but also for me also need a top number 6. I just feel that given the goal involvement from the wide players I think they are very good. However a top number 9 would make them even better. For example the times they put a ball in and there's no centre forward because Son is more one to drift so comes across as a waste of an attack. Or imagine the balls Kane would pick out for the wide players especially Werner and Johnsons pace. I don't see them being as lacking in quality as has been suggested. We don't however have a 20 goal capable centre forward which makes a world of difference. All of a sudden those chances we squander get put away and the wide players get even more assists to their names.

Personally I would gladly sign Werner and spend a majority of funds on a 6 and a 9. If we can stretch to a Werner upgrade then that's a bonus.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

If we can afford both then that would be amazing but also for me also need a top number 6. I just feel that given the goal involvement from the wide players I think they are very good. However a top number 9 would make them even better. For example the times they put a ball in and there's no centre forward because Son is more one to drift so comes across as a waste of an attack. Or imagine the balls Kane would pick out for the wide players especially Werner and Johnsons pace. I don't see them being as lacking in quality as has been suggested. We don't however have a 20 goal capable centre forward which makes a world of difference. All of a sudden those chances we squander get put away and the wide players get even more assists to their names.

Personally I would gladly sign Werner and spend a majority of funds on a 6 and a 9. If we can stretch to a Werner upgrade then that's a bonus.

Probably for the summer tfer thread but I think a ST and top class winger are more of a priority than a 6. We have the Swedish youngster coming in at CM and will likely sign an 8 in the Gallagher mould to replace PEH and/or Skipp, Biss and Bentancur will cover 6 imo.

 

[Frozen_Waffles]

We are missing a left winger, a proper dribbler. Doku would have been perfect and we went in for Diaz a while back as well. It's clearly the position we've been looking at.

We got Werner as (maybe) a stop gap. It's hard to see who we can buy that's better than him.

Johnson and Kulusevski (excluding current form) are fine for the right.

As for up top I'm not writing off Richarlison yet, he's recovered really well this season, Son is still a better CF than a winger and we have Veliz as well. So I'm not certain that's the area we should be focusing on.

For me it's another attacking midfielder like Maddison, for me Eze is the one. Spend big on Eze and a proper dribbling left winger (if one can be found).

Johnson is going to be special, next season will be a big year for him.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

For me it's another attacking midfielder like Maddison, for me Eze is the one. Spend big on Eze and a proper dribbling left winger (if one can be found).

I agree with a lot of what you’ve said, and I do like Eze.

The issue there though is that in reality, it feels like we’d be improving the squad, but not the first XI.

He’d be directly competing with Maddison, or alternatively, we’d be playing one of them out of position to accommodate the other

 

[mil1lion]

I just feel we already have a lot of runners as it were. What we don't have is a proper number 9 to link with and be a presence in both boxes. Even the youngsters are all small runners like Scarlett and Devine. What Johnson has shown is to give time to youngsters and they can come good. Maybe Veliz can be that prospect as a 9 instead and we sign a top wide attacker. What is certain is we do need a quality forward of some form this summer. If we have the space keep Soloman and sign Werner then a 9 gives us a bit of everything. We started the season with Perisic so Werner replaces him and offload Gil to make another space for 1 more attacker.

 

[spurs9]

More of a general question re Johnson. I’m curious to know what the SC hive mind thinks on this.

For the last few months most of us have been saying we need an upgrade on both wings and that Johnson, whilst talented, should be the rotation option for the time being rather a starter in our strongest line up for next season. Do people still feel the same in that regard or would people be happy to go into next season with him being our starting RW option?

I ask more because obviously that will affect what sort of profile we look at for the wings. I think everyone knows we need at least one if not two wingers, one for each side, but I think being realistic we aren’t going to be buying two top end WF’s. It’s just not going to happen. With that in mind you would think that one would ether be a younger prospect player OR a player who can play in multiple positions. I guess the question is, which side of attack (LW or RW) do we put most of our cash. I know a lot of the options we will be looking at such as Neto and Williams can play ether side but every player tends to have a stronger wing regardless how ambipedal they are. Obviously how we view Johnson in this equation will somewhat answer this question.

I really like Johnson but for me, I think he is a great rotation option and a fantastic option off the bench rather than a nailed on starter. So far this season, he has come off the bench 10 times, scoring 2 and getting 4 assists compared to 3 goals and 3 assists in 14 starts.

Personally, I think definitely bring in a RW capable of starting for us and then the bigger question is where do we play Son and depending on that answer, bring in either a LW or Strcker capable of starting.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

I really like Johnson but for me, I think he is a great rotation option and a fantastic option off the bench rather than a nailed on starter. So far this season, he has come off the bench 10 times, scoring 2 and getting 4 assists compared to 3 goals and 3 assists in 14 starts.

Personally, I think definitely bring in a RW capable of starting for us and then the bigger question is where do we play Son and depending on that answer, bring in either a LW or Strcker capable of starting.

With that in mind. Hypothetically if Son was kept at striker would you look to put more money into a LW or RW or just adapt to who was available in the market?

 

[spurs9]

I just don't think Son is suited at all to the wide role. He's got 1 open play goal and 3 assists from LW all season and he's played there for 10 matches in the PL so it's a good sample size. He's been actively abysmal there aside from a 20 minute spell against the horrendous Trippier.

He isn't very good when he starts that wide. Also he is going to be 32 years old and his endurance and explosiveness are both in decline now. Playing wide will make this far more noticeable and burn him out quicker.

We are absolutely desperate for at least 1 player with some real 1v1 magic in their boots to come in to our team. We've seen what happens when a limited player like Werner has a decent spell. Now imagine a proper quality player out there. It would also make Johnson more dangerous on the opposite flank as it will stretch teams more.

He has 2 open play goals from LW (Everton & Borunemoth).

Lets not forget that the first 3 games he was getting used to the system and in one of the other 7 he came on as a sub, so he basically has 2 goals and 3 assists in 6 starts plus 1 sub apps...... that isn't bad. For reference, that is only 1 goals and 6 assist less than Nico Williams has managed in 22 starts and 2 sub appearances.

 

[spurs9]

With that in mind. Hypothetically if Son was kept at striker would you look to put more money into a LW or RW or just adapt to who was available in the market?

Adapt to the market, both would be of equal importance IMO, so I would pay more for the better opportunity which ever side that was.

 

[Nick-TopSpursMan]

He has 2 open play goals from LW (Everton & Borunemoth).

Lets not forget that the first 3 games he was getting used to the system and in one of the other 7 he came on as a sub, so he basically has 2 goals and 3 assists in 6 starts plus 1 sub apps...... that isn't bad. For reference, that is only 1 goals and 6 assist less than Nico Williams has managed in 22 starts and 2 sub appearances.

The goal against Everton came from a set piece, where he was in the box to finish.

The only goal he’s actually scored playing LW in proper open play is home to Bournemouth.

To me it’s clear as day he doesn’t suit the role and his output is significantly worse in that position in this system than when he is striker.

 

[mil1lion]

Isn't that the Kane impact though? Son and Kane linked so well and a lot of Sons goals came from Kane. That's why I think a 9 is key. I don't think Son and Richarlison link that well and far from the link with Kane. The same could even be said of Johnson, he has a few goals and he's probably even doing better than Son in his first season. When Son blew up it was with Kane up top so that's kind of why I'm thinking a top 9 would bring more goals from the likes of Johnson as well as getting Son back firing on the left.

 

[JUSTINSIGNAL]

Isn't that the Kane impact though? Son and Kane linked so well and a lot of Sons goals came from Kane. That's why I think a 9 is key. I don't think Son and Richarlison link that well and far from the link with Kane. The same could even be said of Johnson, he has a few goals and he's probably even doing better than Son in his first season. When Son blew up it was with Kane up top so that's kind of why I'm thinking a top 9 would bring more goals from the likes of Johnson as well as getting Son back firing on the left.

I get what you're saying but I think Ange's style of football relies less on a traditional number 9 to hold up the ball and bring others into play. Our attacking play is focused more on the wing play and cut backs, meaning the striker needs to be more of a poacher than a target man.

 

[Nick-TopSpursMan]

Isn't that the Kane impact though? Son and Kane linked so well and a lot of Sons goals came from Kane. That's why I think a 9 is key. I don't think Son and Richarlison link that well and far from the link with Kane. The same could even be said of Johnson, he has a few goals and he's probably even doing better than Son in his first season. When Son blew up it was with Kane up top so that's kind of why I'm thinking a top 9 would bring more goals from the likes of Johnson as well as getting Son back firing on the left.

Not for me. It's because the system is different.

Son used to play as an inside forward, partnering with an overlapping fullback and playing primarily in narrower areas, making diagonal runs off the shoulder etc.

In this system now the attackers hold the width, the fullbacks and 8s play in the narrow pockets.

This reversal doesn't suit Son at all. His strengths as a wing forward lie in making inside runs and using the overlapping FB as a way of driving inside for shots, link up etc.

In this system he is expected to hold the width in build up, something that doesn't suit him at all.

For sure a 9 who can link play better would help a bit but the primary issue here is the role of a wide player in Ange system is fundamentally different to the role Son has thrived in for us (inside forward).

For Ange, Son is best utilised as a striker and then as an impact player in games where we need a more physical presence up top.

Look at Werner, a much inferior player to Son but actually better suited to the wide role in Ange system.

 

[mil1lion]

I get what you're saying but I think Ange's style of football relies less on a traditional number 9 to hold up the ball and bring others into play. Our attacking play is focused more on the wing play and cut backs, meaning the striker needs to be more of a poacher than a target man.

The trouble with that is you can't always play that way. We're already finding out that when teams set up to defend the spaces to cut back are not there. I think a target man adds a new dimension to our attack. These tight games against low blocks are the ones I'm feeling we miss Kane the most. There's no question we would have been better with Kane under Ange. We might not get another Kane but we can at least get someone as close as possible. This league is much tougher than Ange has played before so he does need to add more physicality like Pep had too. Stick a Rodri and a Haaland in the team and we win titles. Well really it will be a Rodri light and a Haaland light on a budget so who knows.

 

[mil1lion]

Not for me. It's because the system is different.

Son used to play as an inside forward, partnering with an overlapping fullback and playing primarily in narrower areas, making diagonal runs off the shoulder etc.

In this system now the attackers hold the width, the fullbacks and 8s play in the narrow pockets.

This reversal doesn't suit Son at all. His strengths as a wing forward lie in making inside runs and using the overlapping FB as a way of driving inside for shots, link up etc.

In this system he is expected to hold the width in build up, something that doesn't suit him at all.

For sure a 9 who can link play better would help a bit but the primary issue here is the role of a wide player in Ange system is fundamentally different to the role Son has thrived in for us (inside forward).

For Ange, Son is best utilised as a striker and then as an impact player in games where we need a more physical presence up top.

Look at Werner, a much inferior player to Son but actually better suited to the wide role in Ange system.

This is where I think we need to mix the front 3 up though. 1 wide forward with fullback underrlapping and the other inside forward and fullback overlapping. Teams have adjusted a bit now to our inside fullbacks. With Kulusevski and Son (probably Soloman too really) you have inside forwards, with Johnson and Werner outside forwards. If you mix it up and switch sides in games it makes it far more difficult for teams to adjust especially mid game. The other issue with having wide forwards and Son up top is you lose the crossing option because he can't head. He also floats a fair bit as well which is better done from wide attack because up top we get into positions when there's no fox in the box. That's one area we can use replacing Kane as an advantage and get someone who is more of a 9 than a hybrid 10 like Kane who isn't always in the box either.

 

[tevezito]

It's a very complicated puzzle, isn't it, and I'm glad Ange is the man whose job it is to solve it.

First of all, what to do with Son? I agree he's not brilliant out on the wing, and he's not brilliant at striker against teams who play a low block, so let's hope he's on fire in our tough run against the better teams coming up. Somebody mentioned somewhere that probably his best role going forward is as a horses for courses Stamboulian or LW depending on the opposition and gamete within the squad.

And then, Brennan-wise, are we sure he's better on the right than the left? He's been super effective on the left even though recently he's been coming into his own on the right. I',m more convinced he's a starter for us than I am on which side suits him best.

And as for Richy? Starting centre forward? On a league title-challenging team? I'd love it to be the case, but I don't think any of us are convinced yet, are we? And if Ange isn't, would he try and get rid of him? I can't see him going to Saudi, because of the type of person he is, so who could we realistically sell him to? And if not, can we afford to buy a new ST/CF that supplants him in the team and leaves him as a back up (maybe to LW as well?).

Werner, I think most of us would prefer to see as a back-up option, as long as he would accept wages that fit that role in the team. He could back-up all three positions after all. And if we do take up his option, does that allow us the luxury of giving Manor another year to show what he's got in his locker if he can stay injury free?

Bryan - you're out of here.

Alejo - living in Argentina, I'd love to see you have an amazing break out year next year and make the No.9 position your own, but I imagine a year long loan is more realistic and we'll break out in season 25-26.

I can see an ideal world where we'd buy a whole new front line:

New LW / Werner
New CF / Richy
New RW / Johnson
Sonny floating

But that's obviously never going to happen. So does Ange have a conviction about any of the above? Or does he have a conviction about a possible incoming? I think these are the two key questions which will sort out the moving parts. But I'd be very surprised, to be honest, if Son, Richy, Brennan and Timo don't all get significant playing time up front next season. But if they do, apart from Brennan, and maybe Sonny, I can't see any of them leading us to a title.

 

[FuturistiC123]

The problem with the current front 3 is their lack of ability in terms of playing with their back to goal, which is why opponents are able to win the ball and counter quickly. Johnson is poor defensively, and none of them press consistently or effectively. If Sonny gets challenged from behind he often goes to ground and hopes to win a free kick. We need a centre forward. In regard to Kulu his best football came when he had Doc supporting him, the pair played well together. Kulu could switch inside onto his left foot, or use his left to spread the ball wide to Doc. At the moment there is no extra width, if Porro gets forward he is often in front of Kulu, consequently the latter comes inside. We are making it easy for teams who play a low block. Once we get a lead, its not so bad, but that is happening infrequently. Our lack of real width is leaving less space for Madders to play in the hole.

 

[Nick-TopSpursMan]

The problem with the current front 3 is their lack of ability in terms of playing with their back to goal, which is why opponents are able to win the ball and counter quickly. Johnson is poor defensively, and none of them press consistently or effectively. If Sonny gets challenged from behind he often goes to ground and hopes to win a free kick. We need a centre forward. In regard to Kulu his best football came when he had Doc supporting him, the pair played well together. Kulu could switch inside onto his left foot, or use his left to spread the ball wide to Doc. At the moment there is no extra width, if Porro gets forward he is often in front of Kulu, consequently the latter comes inside. We are making it easy for teams who play a low block. Once we get a lead, its not so bad, but that is happening infrequently. Our lack of real width is leaving less space for Madders to play in the hole.

Some good points here but can’t agree with you about pressing. We are statistically one of the strongest pressing teams in the league.

We do however need some signings in attack who are stronger technically with the ball and can retain possession and go past opponents too.