Player Watch Player Watch: Brennan Johnson

[ethanedwards]

Merits? Its all critical....and its fucking boring listening to the same people moan about him over and over again.

And yes its way too early to have this volume of negativity around

Apologies if you find this boring.
Its not all critical, I find it bizarre that some posters are trying to shut down any discussion.

 

[Mr Pink]

Apologies if you find this boring.
Its not all critical, I find it bizarre that some posters are trying to shut down any discussion.

For all the critical posts, show me where they're balanced with some positive points.

 

[Houdini]

Johnson will be a success, we had similar negative comments about Bale & Son.
My concern is Mr Richarlison.

 

[RuskyM]

Scarlett showed far more for the ball and displayed more intent and desire to make something happen in 10 mins of action.

I dont buy the but he is young argument. He is in the same age bracket as Deki, Mickey, Sarr, Destiny. He must have talent, to keep getting in the first team, so he is showing something in training and when we scouted him, but frankly he needs to show up soon and cant just keep hiding.

Dane Scarlett touched the ball three times in the four minutes he was on and all three times were in the right back position.

 

[Impspur1]

Merits? Its all critical....and its fucking boring listening to the same people moan about him over and over again.

And yes its way too early to have this volume of negativity around him already

Wish I could winner this more than once! Anyway Johnson’s just keeping Werner’s place warm as I’m sure he’s going to be next. I was recently banging the drum for Ange to start some of our academy lads but I’m not so sure now, if they don’t turn into prime messi within 2 months they are toast!

 

[Impspur1]

Apologies if you find this boring.
It’s not all critical, I find it bizarre that some posters are trying to shut down any discussion.

I don’t think they are, just asking for balance and patience no?

 

[Bluto Blutarsky]

Johnson will be a success, we had similar negative comments about Bale & Son.
My concern is Mr Richarlison.

Most goals in PL since Dec 1: Richarlison

 

[Impspur1]

Most goals in PL since Dec 1: Richarlison

And worked his balls off last night, again like Johnson and Werner fed on scraps

 

[joey55]

Johnson will be a success, we had similar negative comments about Bale & Son.
My concern is Mr Richarlison.

I'm not criticizing you here, but you've struck on a pet peeve of mine here, which bugs the shit out of me. I can't remember what Son's initial reception was, but the Bale thing is a total myth, perpetuated by the media and non Spurs fans, which Spurs fans themselves have come to accept for some bizarre reason. The whole thing about him being a total flop to start with has been told ad nauseam to the point it's become seen as a fact, when it's complete nonsense.

Despite the urban myth that our fans didn't rate him, Bale was praised by our fans when he first arrived. I remember his debut and he was our MOTM. He played on the LW against Utd and Nani scored a wonder goal for them to win it. He scored 3 goals in his first 8 games, including an FK against Arsenal, when he was just 18! We loved him. Can you imagine our fan base not being super excited by an 18 year old who scored 3 goals in 8 appearances? We got excited when Phil Ifil put in a 4/10 performance against Liverpool under Santini.

What happened with Bale, was that after a flying start, he got an injury that was meant to be short term, but actually ended his season. He came back the next season, but had a knee injury so it was total stop/start and mainly sub appearances. He just couldn't get fit. But for some reason, most Spurs fans seem to accept this false narrative that Bale was a flop when he first came because he wasn't on the winning side for 20 odd games. It's just total BS. He was one of the few really positive things at the start of the 2007/8 season and then had some really bad injuries which really hampered his progress. There were some concerns that he was going to be a perma crock and whether he was good enough defensively to be a LB, but this was all during the period in which he was trying to come back from injury and a good 18 months after he joined us. It was nothing like how the story is portrayed thesedsays and not similar to Johnson at all. In fact it was the total opposite to Johnson, much more in the Sarr, Udogie, VDV camp.

I found the two oldest Bale threads on the forum which are both in the weeks after his season ending injury. There isn't a single negative comment in any of them, it's all positive as he was seriously good.

"Yes I agree, he's been a real shining light so far this season."

"I'm chuffed about how well he is doing - hope he is raring to go asap."

"we are a far better team with him on the left."

Bales's injury.

Couldn't see a thread about this. Does anyone have any idea how long he will be out for because he and Keane seem like the only ones that give a toss about us at the moment. And we are a far better team with him on the left.

spurscommunity.co.uk

"Looking forward to having him back in the team soon. Think he is a great player. Will give us another dimension at set pieces."

"I think for the time being he has to use him as a left winger as he is by far our best option there. Though Malbranque has been decent, Bale is a big step up"

"i think with our defensive frailties atm it is best to use Bale at LW. he has been brilliant in that position all season so i think Juande will use him there. Great player and he is only going to get better."

"a welcome addition"

Again, I want to stress I'm not having a dig at you, as virtually everyone says the same thing and it's written into football folk law. But it's interesting to see what our fans were really saying at the time, compared to how the story is now told!

Gareth Bale

Looking forward to having him back in the team soon. Think he is a great player. Will give us another dimension at set pieces. What is the general consenus - do you think Ramos will use him as a left winger? He is a big user of outright wingers and i think that Bale is our best option for the...

spurscommunity.co.uk

 

[spurs9]

I do wonder if the online abuse has knocked his confidence a bit.

Personally, beyond the last half of the season, mainly due to injuries and Son being at the Asian Cup, I don't see room in the squad for Werner and Johnson, which is a shame, as Werner is available at a bargain price.

You can't successfully play with 2 wide players who can get in behind with pace but can't progress the ball from deep with dribbling.

We currently have 4 players that can play wide that fif that description (Johnson, Werner, Son and Richarlison) luckily, 2 can also play striker.

We only have 1 player that can progress the ball from deep through dribbling (Solomon) and he has had major injury issues the last 18 months. Then we have Kulusevski, who offers a skillset different to 99% of wingers, which is great IMO.

Nusa coming in would be great long term, but he isn't even a regular starter for Brugge yet, do short term expectations should be tempered.

In addition to Nusa, I still think we need a winger that can progress the ball from deep through dribbling and in an ideal scenario, replace Richy (as much as I love him) with a striker that can do what he does but also hold up the ball v challenges and out perform their xG regularly.

 

[spurmin]

I'm not criticizing you here, but you've struck on a pet peeve of mine here, which bugs the shit out of me. I can't remember what Son's initial reception was, but the Bale thing is a total myth, perpetuated by the media and non Spurs fans, which Spurs fans themselves have come to accept for some bizarre reason. The whole thing about him being a total flop to start with has been told ad nauseam to the point it's become seen as a fact, when it's complete nonsense.

Despite the urban myth that our fans didn't rate him, Bale was praised by our fans when he first arrived. I remember his debut and he was our MOTM. He played on the LW against Utd and Nani scored a wonder goal for them to win it. He scored 3 goals in his first 8 games, including an FK against Arsenal, when he was just 18! We loved him. Can you imagine our fan base not being super excited by an 18 year old who scored 3 goals in 8 appearances? We got excited when Phil Ifil put in a 4/10 performance against Liverpool under Santini.

What happened with Bale, was that after a flying start, he got an injury that was meant to be short term, but actually ended his season. He came back the next season, but had a knee injury so it was total stop/start and mainly sub appearances. He just couldn't get fit. But for some reason, most Spurs fans seem to accept this false narrative that Bale was a flop when he first came because he wasn't on the winning side for 20 odd games. It's just total BS. He was one of the few really positive things at the start of the 2007/8 season and then had some really bad injuries which really hampered his progress. There were some concerns that he was going to be a perma crock and whether he was good enough defensively to be a LB, but this was all during the period in which he was trying to come back from injury and a good 18 months after he joined us. It was nothing like how the story is portrayed thesedsays and not similar to Johnson at all. In fact it was the total opposite to Johnson, much more in the Sarr, Udogie, VDV camp.

I found the two oldest Bale threads on the forum which are both in the weeks after his season ending injury. There isn't a single negative comment in any of them, it's all positive as he was seriously good.

"Yes I agree, he's been a real shining light so far this season."

"I'm chuffed about how well he is doing - hope he is raring to go asap."

"we are a far better team with him on the left."

Bales's injury.

Couldn't see a thread about this. Does anyone have any idea how long he will be out for because he and Keane seem like the only ones that give a toss about us at the moment. And we are a far better team with him on the left.

spurscommunity.co.uk

"Looking forward to having him back in the team soon. Think he is a great player. Will give us another dimension at set pieces."

"I think for the time being he has to use him as a left winger as he is by far our best option there. Though Malbranque has been decent, Bale is a big step up"

"i think with our defensive frailties atm it is best to use Bale at LW. he has been brilliant in that position all season so i think Juande will use him there. Great player and he is only going to get better."

"a welcome addition"

Again, I want to stress I'm not having a dig at you, as virtually everyone says the same thing and it's written into football folk law. But it's interesting to see what our fans were really saying at the time, compared to how the story is now told!

Gareth Bale

Looking forward to having him back in the team soon. Think he is a great player. Will give us another dimension at set pieces. What is the general consenus - do you think Ramos will use him as a left winger? He is a big user of outright wingers and i think that Bale is our best option for the...

spurscommunity.co.uk

Blimey did you go through every comment.

 

[joey55]

Blimey did you go through every comment.

It's a Saturday night, what the hell do you think us cool kids get up to?

 

[spurmin]

It's a Saturday night, what the hell do you think us cool kids get up to?

I’m off to bed

 

[dagraham]

I'm not criticizing you here, but you've struck on a pet peeve of mine here, which bugs the shit out of me. I can't remember what Son's initial reception was, but the Bale thing is a total myth, perpetuated by the media and non Spurs fans, which Spurs fans themselves have come to accept for some bizarre reason. The whole thing about him being a total flop to start with has been told ad nauseam to the point it's become seen as a fact, when it's complete nonsense.

Despite the urban myth that our fans didn't rate him, Bale was praised by our fans when he first arrived. I remember his debut and he was our MOTM. He played on the LW against Utd and Nani scored a wonder goal for them to win it. He scored 3 goals in his first 8 games, including an FK against Arsenal, when he was just 18! We loved him. Can you imagine our fan base not being super excited by an 18 year old who scored 3 goals in 8 appearances? We got excited when Phil Ifil put in a 4/10 performance against Liverpool under Santini.

What happened with Bale, was that after a flying start, he got an injury that was meant to be short term, but actually ended his season. He came back the next season, but had a knee injury so it was total stop/start and mainly sub appearances. He just couldn't get fit. But for some reason, most Spurs fans seem to accept this false narrative that Bale was a flop when he first came because he wasn't on the winning side for 20 odd games. It's just total BS. He was one of the few really positive things at the start of the 2007/8 season and then had some really bad injuries which really hampered his progress. There were some concerns that he was going to be a perma crock and whether he was good enough defensively to be a LB, but this was all during the period in which he was trying to come back from injury and a good 18 months after he joined us. It was nothing like how the story is portrayed thesedsays and not similar to Johnson at all. In fact it was the total opposite to Johnson, much more in the Sarr, Udogie, VDV camp.

I found the two oldest Bale threads on the forum which are both in the weeks after his season ending injury. There isn't a single negative comment in any of them, it's all positive as he was seriously good.

"Yes I agree, he's been a real shining light so far this season."

"I'm chuffed about how well he is doing - hope he is raring to go asap."

"we are a far better team with him on the left."

Bales's injury.

Couldn't see a thread about this. Does anyone have any idea how long he will be out for because he and Keane seem like the only ones that give a toss about us at the moment. And we are a far better team with him on the left.

spurscommunity.co.uk

"Looking forward to having him back in the team soon. Think he is a great player. Will give us another dimension at set pieces."

"I think for the time being he has to use him as a left winger as he is by far our best option there. Though Malbranque has been decent, Bale is a big step up"

"i think with our defensive frailties atm it is best to use Bale at LW. he has been brilliant in that position all season so i think Juande will use him there. Great player and he is only going to get better."

"a welcome addition"

Again, I want to stress I'm not having a dig at you, as virtually everyone says the same thing and it's written into football folk law. But it's interesting to see what our fans were really saying at the time, compared to how the story is now told!

Gareth Bale

Looking forward to having him back in the team soon. Think he is a great player. Will give us another dimension at set pieces. What is the general consenus - do you think Ramos will use him as a left winger? He is a big user of outright wingers and i think that Bale is our best option for the...

spurscommunity.co.uk

Glad someone else has brought this up.

You are spot on about the myth that’s been created about Bale taking time to make an impression. His quality was there for all to see right from the off. He just lost his way for a bit after those early injuries and that freak stat of us not winning when he played.

 

[ButchCassidy]

I do wonder if the online abuse has knocked his confidence a bit.

Personally, beyond the last half of the season, mainly due to injuries and Son being at the Asian Cup, I don't see room in the squad for Werner and Johnson, which is a shame, as Werner is available at a bargain price.

You can't successfully play with 2 wide players who can get in behind with pace but can't progress the ball from deep with dribbling.

We currently have 4 players that can play wide that fif that description (Johnson, Werner, Son and Richarlison) luckily, 2 can also play striker.

We only have 1 player that can progress the ball from deep through dribbling (Solomon) and he has had major injury issues the last 18 months. Then we have Kulusevski, who offers a skillset different to 99% of wingers, which is great IMO.

Nusa coming in would be great long term, but he isn't even a regular starter for Brugge yet, do short term expectations should be tempered.

In addition to Nusa, I still think we need a winger that can progress the ball from deep through dribbling and in an ideal scenario, replace Richy (as much as I love him) with a striker that can do what he does but also hold up the ball v challenges and out perform their xG regularly.

Agree that Werner and Johnson have some similarities and that having them on the pitch together can make us too easy to defend against, especially when we don’t have Maddison or Lo Celso to pick out their runs. Disagree that there isn’t room in the squad, I don’t think the plan is to play them at the same time, we’re just in an unfortunate situation at the moment with a lack of bodies. Any of Kulusevski/Solomon/Son and one of Werner/Johnson would be a more balanced pairing, one winger to progress the ball and one to make darting runs in behind and provide cutbacks for Richi/Son in the box. If anything, this season has surely shown that it’s important to have several players that can cover similar roles, especially as we’re trying to add Europe and a cup run or two next season.

 

[spurs9]

Agree that Werner and Johnson have some similarities and that having them on the pitch together can make us too easy to defend against, especially when we don’t have Maddison or Lo Celso to pick out their runs. Disagree that there isn’t room in the squad, I don’t think the plan is to play them at the same time, we’re just in an unfortunate situation at the moment with a lack of bodies. Any of Kulusevski/Solomon/Son and one of Werner/Johnson would be a more balanced pairing, one winger to progress the ball and one to make darting runs in behind and provide cutbacks for Richi/Son in the box. If anything, this season has surely shown that it’s important to have several players that can cover similar roles, especially as we’re trying to add Europe and a cup run or two next season.

I guess the difference is I don't consider Son as a "progress the ball from deep" player (I don't think he has the close dribbling ability) but more as an "run in behind".

 

[ultimateloner]

The club likely recognizes that BJ's the weakest link in the front-3/4 position. Now that we have a good shout for European football we bring in someone better in the short term, in the form of Timo. It's good management.

 

[dontcallme]

While I obviously don’t condone online abuse, players in the modern world will need to mentally deal with online criticism when things aren’t going well.

I’m not sure if his confidence is connected to this anyway.

I think we need to stop looking at what his weaknesses are and see what he could bring to the team.

I see a player with pace, who gets in good goal scoring positions and is a good finisher.

Once he feels settled his attributes can be a benefit to any team.

 

[NEVILLEB]

I went to the City game and Johnson was very poor.

The balancing argument would be that he’s still young and only just joined.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

Aye. He's played almost every game for the last four seasons, and I think the trajectory is telling. League One playoffs in 20/21, Championship playoffs 21/22, PL relegation battle 22/23, with us this season. Not bad for a player who's apparently soft and weak.

Like, three years ago this weekend he was playing against Northampton. Two years ago he was on the winning side that went to fucking Millwall. A year ago he'd just come back from Qatar and was in a relegation battle against Bournemouth. Now he's being lambasted for not playing well at Old Trafford for a team that's a few points off the top of the league. That is some ascent. The kid deserves a break.

Great post