Topic: Roy Hodgson tells Glen Johnson to get his act together

[AJ4Seven]

Not surprising from the man who thought Pistone was a better full-back than Roberto Carlos.

[Lush is the best medicine...]

Good full backs are often boring bastards, largely unnoticed apart from when they make a decisive tackle, but their value is in denying space and options to forwards so that the ball doesnt get played  to the opposition wide man in the first place. that is where i think his play has been weak because he is too often out of position.

that was true for the 70s, not so much now where you need the threat from the FB coming forward more than anything, esp against park the bus teams

[superbakat]

Well done Roy.

[bleedsred1978]

He's a wing back Roy. Not a right full.

[the good half]

Rubbish. Cafu was winning trophies for years playing as an attacking full back.

Im in no way saying that 'attacking full back' is not a position of itself.
What I am saying that Cafu, Carlos et al all the way back to Kennedy and Neal were primarily defenders first.
Cafu is a very decent defender.
If he was told to be rooted to that position he'd be excellent.

My point was - be able to defend first, if you profess to be a full back.

[llcooljoel]

Not surprising from the man who thought Pistone was a better full-back than Roberto Carlos.

He is if your criteria consists of "solid and unadventurous". Which in fairness to Uncle Roy it did 35 years ago.

[Mad Men]

Not surprising from the man who thought Pistone was a better full-back than Roberto Carlos.

[Breitner]

18 pages? Blimey.

Glen isn't a defender that can be in a "Two banks of four" style of play.

For Glen to be his best, he needs alot of space infront of him, and we need to be dictating the play not trying to pick teams off on the counter attack.

This is down to Roys tactics, not Glens lack of effort.

So what was his excuse last season then?

Playing to his strengths, i.e. not defending doesn't suddenly exempt him from basic defensive duties.

[subroc]

Look at this website :-

http://yourfootballfix.com/2010/10/premiership-highlights-liverpool-v-blackpool-highlights-03-10-2010/3305

For the first goal, it shows that Varney was allowed to run at Johnson alone without any support from the right flank midfielder (Meireiles). I cannot see the earlier action but from the clip there is no player remotely near Johnson to help him against Varney. There was a huge empty spacde there without a single Liverpool player except Johnson. Poulsen meanwhile was miles away and was not fast enough to arrive in time to prevent Varney from getting into the box and drawing the foul. What if Kuyt was there instead of Meireles? What if we had a faster DM than Poulsen?

[Mad Men]

Can anyone say Johnson has been good since he joined?

Give me Arby back anyday.

£18 million too. Fucking joke.

While you're at it, don't forget to get the FA to change the homegrown/english player's ruling ok?

[Dr Abismo]

It looks to me like Johnson is already suffering a lack of confidence, and of course has been struggling for fitness. He's been playing in makeshift and varying back fours, and with varying players in front of him (Kuyt, Meireles, Maxi, Cole).

When your position requires covering a lot of ground up and down the wing, you are inevitably going to find yourself stranded a few times in a game, when the opposition break forward. It requires the other players you play with (Kuyt is good at it) covering and exchanging places with you, or else like Johnson you are the obvious scapegoat the guy out of position. But Maicon and Ashley Cole (viz the 2 goals we scored against Chelsea last week) are also often caught hih up the pitch and not defending. Nobody slags them, because they play for successful, well-organized sides that have been winning their leagues the last few years.

Johnson is a decent player. He needs encouragement, and the team to gel with him.

And Hodgson needs to stop slagging his own players in public. That is not - to coin a well-worn phrase - the Liverpool way.

[DUGlish]

Why doesn't Roy get his own act together?

Cheeky twat.

[Mad Men]

You know what vic mate, I posted it about a year ago, honestly, and some one slapped me down because we'd paid £17m for him as a RB. I think he'd contribute brilliantly to our attacking style as a RW.

I've tried searching for the culprit but can't find it.

Don't worry. There will be more by the end of today.

[Mad Men]

Back theManager for fucks sakes.

If Rafa did this, people would praise him.

Johnson has been shit since he joined.

The issue isn't about if Rafa did this or Rafa did that. The issue is that the current manager has seen fit to criticize an injured player about his form this season but conviently forgets his own contribution to the worst start in 30 years for the club. He blames everyone but himself.

He pick's the team, trains the team, and decides the tactics.

But thus far, I have yet to see him EVEN ONCE take the blame for the poor start.

[The G in Gerrard]

Why isn't he playing on right midfield or given the opportunity to?

[Mad Men]

Yep, I'd agree with that.  The organisation of the whole defence has been shocking this season, Roy can't just scapegoat individual defenders for that.

Organization of the whole defence has been shocking for two seasons.

[vicgill]

So has Emile Heskey been, doesn't say much really does it?

So has Emile Heskey been, doesn't say much really does it?

The comment I was answering, was what i thought was an undeserved swipe at the lad (Johnson). he has not played "crap" ever since he came to LFC. In my opinion (if you will allow me that) he is a very good player.

I think this post says a lot about how he is used at the moment, when fit

I had an idea from my last post and checked the formation for the Blackpool match - the one that someone on this thread was blaming Johnson for us losing it.

According to Guardian:-

"Without an orthodox left-back against Blackpool, Roy Hodgson selected Jamie Carragher in that position. This wasn't a huge problem in itself – Carragher has played at full-back many times, and got up and down the line well. However, it did mean that Liverpool were playing two right-footed players on that side with Joe Cole playing on the left of midfield. This resulted in an extremely lopsided system, where those two players always looked for a short pass inside, rather than getting down the line and putting crosses into the box. Therefore, Liverpool's attacks almost always ended up on the right, becoming predictable and easy to defend against – especially as the right-back Glen Johnson only completed one of 10 attempted crosses, and the right-sided midfielder Raul Meireles is plainly not a winger. Note how the crosses from the right-hand side generally come from a position level with the penalty area but those from the left are hit in from deeper and more central positions after Cole, Carragher, Dirk Kuyt and Milan Jovanovic checked inside on to their stronger foot."

If this is the same formation that Hodgson has been using, Johnson has been left exposed on the right flank because Meireles has been put there instead of Kuyt. Could it be that the reason why Johnson had such a bad match was because he was not supported when he was being attacked down that flank?

[west_london_red]

Can anyone say Johnson has been good since he joined?

Give me Arby back anyday.

£18 million too. Fucking joke.

This.

Rafas best buy was Arbeloa, less then £3 million for a rock solid right back who now is a regular at Real Madrid.

His worst buy was Johnson, over priced, lacks the ability to defend and has lost concentration at too many vital times.

[Giono]

The evidence is that we may have a wing back, rather than a full back , on our hands, suited to a flexible 5-3-2/3-5-2 formation. Whether a Liverpool manager will play that is another matter ( Rijkaard would). Or do you say that he is a good player who doesnt suit the system and flog him on? i don't know.

I think that Rafa's plan when we got him was exactly this kind of set-up. it was the thinking behind Dossena's transfer too.

I think we saw with Insua being cast adrift this summer that Roy has no plans to play with attacking wingbacks.

Is Johnson disappointing this season? Yes. Does he have a platform to excel in? No.

[Rohit]

Anyone who watches barcelona or even watched the last word after our match last week would know why johnson was bought, its the same reason why chelsea leave  cole and bosingwa higher up the pitch than there centre backs. The reason is clear and simple when we are on the attack mascherano if was still here would drop back in the centre back position playing as a sweeper, cole and bosingwa and in our case johnson would join the midfield leave kuyt and the left sided player closer to torres so wed end up playing rather one uptop to 3 uptop. Therefore kuyt would tuck in allow johnson to go past him or have the ability to play 1-2s which are lethal against most teams especially teams that park the bus. Therefore johnson was vital to our old system and to say he is a shit player is pretty shocking. Under hodgson even cole/alves would look shit and roberto carlos would the media flame them too, i doubt it.

[llcooljoel]

Im in no way saying that 'attacking full back' is not a position of itself.
What I am saying that Cafu, Carlos et al all the way back to Kennedy and Neal were primarily defenders first.
Cafu is a very decent defender.
If he was told to be rooted to that position he'd be excellent.

My point was - be able to defend first, if you profess to be a full back.

I disagree. AC are my second team since the early nineties and Cafu was anything but a solid defender hence why Desailly/Albertini etc. were needed to cover/support him. Neither Cafu nor Carlos were primarily defenders first, they just had certain attributes which meant that to get the best out of them, you had to give them a large area to run down hence why neither were played on the wing and hence why Johnson shouldn't be either. Look at how Dani Alves plays.

[AJ4Seven]

Im in no way saying that 'attacking full back' is not a position of itself.
What I am saying that Cafu, Carlos et al all the way back to Kennedy and Neal were primarily defenders first.
Cafu is a very decent defender.
If he was told to be rooted to that position he'd be excellent.

My point was - be able to defend first, if you profess to be a full back.

Carlos wasn't the greatest defender, if he played in a team that played as deep as we do, he would be getting caught out of position too.

[bleedsred1978]

This.

Rafas best buy was Arbeloa, less then £3 million for a rock solid right back who now is a regular at Real Madrid.

His worst buy was Johnson, over priced, lacks the ability to defend and has lost concentration at too many vital times.

I dont think we would ever have gotten paid by Pompey if that deal wasnt done.

[Bob Loblaw]

One of our most naturally gifted players. Short sighted in the extreme if he's forced out of the club by dear old uncle Roy.

I love the revisionism that goes on over Arbeloa too. Like he was some sort of Maldini-esque defensive rock. He wasn't. He can't get into the Real side ahead of Ramos or Marcelo either. Ramos is as defensively flawed as Johnson is, Marcelo much even moreso. But good managers find ways around that. Mainly that Ramos and Marcelo do more attacking than defending. And when they defend, they defend as a unit and don't let their fullbacks get isolated.

Where is it people think Glen will be going if he leaves Liverpool? Because it won't be a downwards that's for sure.

[Dr Abismo]

Anyone who watches barcelona or even watched the last word after our match last week would know why johnson was bought, its the same reason why chelsea leave  cole and bosingwa higher up the pitch than there centre backs. The reason is clear and simple when we are on the attack mascherano if was still here would drop back in the centre back position playing as a sweeper, cole and bosingwa and in our case johnson would join the midfield leave kuyt and the left sided player closer to torres so wed end up playing rather one uptop to 3 uptop. Therefore kuyt would tuck in allow johnson to go past him or have the ability to play 1-2s which are lethal against most teams especially teams that park the bus. Therefore johnson was vital to our old system and to say he is a shit player is pretty shocking. Under hodgson even cole/alves would look shit and roberto carlos would the media flame them too, i doubt it.

Yeh. Echo that.

[Wiggles]

Can anyone say Johnson has been good since he joined?

Give me Arby back anyday.

£18 million too. Fucking joke.

Bloody hell, talk about going in circles.  The first 16 pages of this thread are about Arby having asked to leave so there's no point going on about why swap one for the other. 

Yes, I think he's been good when he has played in a system that suits attacking fullbacks.  Not £18m good, but seeing as Chelsea spent £16m on Bosingwa and £17m on Ferreira, we didn't pay far off the going rate for any regular international RB.

[bleedsred1978]

Look at this website :-

http://yourfootballfix.com/2010/10/premiership-highlights-liverpool-v-blackpool-highlights-03-10-2010/3305

For the first goal, it shows that Varney was allowed to run at Johnson alone without any support from the right flank midfielder (Meireiles). I cannot see the earlier action but from the clip there is no player remotely near Johnson to help him against Varney. There was a huge empty spacde there without a single Liverpool player except Johnson. Poulsen meanwhile was miles away and was not fast enough to arrive in time to prevent Varney from getting into the box and drawing the foul. What if Kuyt was there instead of Meireles? What if we had a faster DM than Poulsen?

Or stopped playing a cm in rm.

[llcooljoel]

Bloody hell, talk about going in circles.  The first 16 pages of this thread are about Arby having asked to leave so there's no point going on about why swap one for the other. 

Yes, I think he's been good when he has played in a system that suits attacking fullbacks.  Not £18m good, but seeing as Chelsea spent £16m on Bosingwa and £17m on Ferreira, we didn't pay far off the going rate for any regular international RB.

Absolutely. Especially considering he's English. Alves cost £24m+ including add-ons and I'd take Johnson over him; bigger, stronger, better in the air.

[subroc]

http://yourfootballfix.com/2010/10/premiership-highlights-liverpool-v-blackpool-highlights-03-10-2010/3305

Look at the second goal conceded against Blackpool which Johnson was blamed for as well.

When the through pass goes in through the centre, notice how two Blackpool players peel off to run for the ball - like a converging X. Johnson was the only Liverpool defender to track the run of one of the Blackpool players - the other one was unmarked (though he may have been off-side - still, Johnson could not have known that since he was facing the ither way when the pass was released). At the vital moment, the other Blackpool player seems to obstruct Johnson, causing the other Blackpool player to run through, free of Johnson. He goes on to score off Reina.

From what it looks like to me, I fail to see how Johnson can be blamed for that goal.

1. The other Blackpool player was unmarked and the defender who should have covered him failed to track his run.
2. Johnson was the only Liverpool player to react to the pass by tracking the run of the Blackpool player.
3. Johnson was either obstructed or he was left in two minds as he did not know which Blackpool player to track who would take up the ball.

[lookieman]

Can anyone say Johnson has been good since he joined?

Give me Arby back anyday.

£18 million too. Fucking joke.

Don't see him slating Poulsen, who frankly has played far, far worse than what Glen has.Also says a lot about timing. Why criticise someone while he's injured? What good does that do?

[CHOPPER]

Anyone who watches barcelona or even watched the last word after our match last week would know why johnson was bought, its the same reason why chelsea leave  cole and bosingwa higher up the pitch than there centre backs. The reason is clear and simple when we are on the attack mascherano if was still here would drop back in the centre back position playing as a sweeper, cole and bosingwa and in our case johnson would join the midfield leave kuyt and the left sided player closer to torres so wed end up playing rather one uptop to 3 uptop. Therefore kuyt would tuck in allow johnson to go past him or have the ability to play 1-2s which are lethal against most teams especially teams that park the bus. Therefore johnson was vital to our old system and to say he is a shit player is pretty shocking. Under hodgson even cole/alves would look shit and roberto carlos would the media flame them too, i doubt it.

So the crux of your argument is, is that it's all down to Hodgson?

[llcooljoel]

It's comical how fickle the fans are sometimes. When Arbeloa was here it was all "he's not good enough going forward"....

[Trada]

I don't know why Hodgson is publicly having a go at Johnson before this match because he is still out injured.

It not like he is playing today and can say to himself "Right I will show that old fucker how good I can play"

There seems no point to this attack at this time.

[subroc]

Anyone who watches barcelona or even watched the last word after our match last week would know why johnson was bought, its the same reason why chelsea leave  cole and bosingwa higher up the pitch than there centre backs. The reason is clear and simple when we are on the attack mascherano if was still here would drop back in the centre back position playing as a sweeper, cole and bosingwa and in our case johnson would join the midfield leave kuyt and the left sided player closer to torres so wed end up playing rather one uptop to 3 uptop. Therefore kuyt would tuck in allow johnson to go past him or have the ability to play 1-2s which are lethal against most teams especially teams that park the bus. Therefore johnson was vital to our old system and to say he is a shit player is pretty shocking. Under hodgson even cole/alves would look shit and roberto carlos would the media flame them too, i doubt it.

Great post.

[Wiggles]

It's comical how fickle the fans are sometimes. When Arbeloa was here it was all "he's not good enough going forward"....

The grass is always greener... I wonder how this thread would be going if Luke Young was first choice.

[amoh]

How about he employs a system of football that incorporates Johnson's best assets, let him push up the pitch contributing to the attack and defending aggressively instead of camping on the edge of our own box inviting pressure.

As for the criticism - he should take a look at the fella he brought in to play on the opposite flank.  There's a fullback who should never be allowed anywhere near a club such as Liverpool.  Used correctly, our right hand side wouldn't be a problem, Johnson can strike up a good relationship with either Maxi or Kuyt, his assets compliment theirs and vice-versa.  Our left hand side of Chas and Dave is what he wants to be focusing on.

[Rouge]

The issue isn't about if Rafa did this or Rafa did that. The issue is that the current manager has seen fit to criticize an injured player about his form this season but conviently forgets his own contribution to the worst start in 30 years for the club. He blames everyone but himself.

He pick's the team, trains the team, and decides the tactics.

But thus far, I have yet to see him EVEN ONCE take the blame for the poor start.

This, This, This and This!!!!  Pls sir can I have my club who play FOOTBALL back!

[Aristotle]

It's comical how fickle the fans are sometimes. When Arbeloa was here it was all "he's not good enough going forward"....

The reason for that was we had the ball for extended periods of time. Arbeloa's lack of attack skills wouldn't be an issue with Roy, as the opportunity to go forward would never come. One can only imagine what we could've done with Johnson's attacking abilities and Xabi setting him on endless runs with Mascherano covering for him

[Rohit]

Yup and a lack of fitness, and confidence. But i was just explaining why he was bought and other fullbacks considered world class make many defensive mistake but they dont get highlighted becuase they play in teams that are successful. You can ask any chelsea fan the best signing theyve made in the last few years was bosingwa becuase when on form he was on of there most important players and he cost around the same amount that we payed for johnson.

[HarryLabrador]

It's comical how fickle the fans are sometimes. When Arbeloa was here it was all "he's not good enough going forward"....

Exactly. Short memories. The bottom line is always Hodgson. Since he arrived here his insecurities are splashed every where, everyday. He plays the Blame game. It's everyone's fault, especially Rafa's. He has not criticised a single player brought in by him. Who's next?