16 Sept 2012

'He's not a good defender!' - Reds hero slams LFC star. Sell in Jan...?

Against Sunderland yesterday, Liverpool 'defender' Glen Johnson added another error to his ever growing history of defensive mistakes, and Liverpool legend Ian St. John has called for the England International to improve his defensive game.

Analysing Liverpool's 1-1 draw with Sunderland, St.John - who won three league titles with Liverpool during the Bill Shankly era - praised Johnson's 'great' attacking ability, but expressed his frustration over his poor defensive play, which led to Sunderland's goal. He said:

"He [Johnson] is not a good defender.

"If you you look at their [Sunderland's] goal, the guy went past him as if he wasn't there!

"It's a pity he got caught out for the goal. He needs to work on his defensive stuff. The rest of his game is great".


As I've argued repeatedly over the last three years, Johnson is a defensive liability, and the one thing you can guarantee with him every season is mistakes that lead to opposition goals. This season is only four games old but Johnson has already made vital mistakes:

* West Brom: Left Lukaku unmarked at the back post, which allowed him a free head to score the third goal. Johnson backed off towards the post, which was already being covered by another LFC player.

* Arsenal: Slow to react to Lukas Podolski's run, and by the time he'd realised it, it was too late, and the German scored.

* Arsenal: Whatever way you look at it, Johnson is partly culpable for Cazorla's goal. Didn't put any pressure on Podolski, who was then able to put in the through ball. Also didn't track Cazorla's run into the box.

That's three goals Johnson has cost the club this season; four if you include Cazorla's strike. He's averaging a major goal-producing defensive mistake per game, yet he's seemingly an automatic starter every time.

Yes, Johnson provides an attacking threat, but be that as it may, where's the end product? If he was scoring goals or providing assists I could understand his continued presence in the team, but that's not the case.

Whether it's Johnson, Reina, Gerrard or Skrtel making mistakes, Liverpool's forward progress is constantly being undone by the club's most experienced players, and this needs to stop.

The solution is simple: Keep Martin Kelly at right back, use Jose Enrique and Jack Robinson to cover left back, and use Johnson (occasionally) on the right of a front three. This will never happen though, and in the meantime, Liverpool will continue to leak goals as a result of Johnson's defensive frailty.

Of course, my preference is to sell Johnson to the highest bidder. Due to the fact he's inexplicably England's first choice right back, he'd probably command a decent fee, and the club could use the money for other signings.

Why not sell him? Exactly what specific, measurable positive impact does Johnson have on the team...?

The brutal truth is that Liverpool's entire back line needs to be overhauled. Reina, Johnson, and Skrtel need to be phased out over the next two years, and replaced with more reliable players.

Jaimie Kanwar


60 comments:

  1. Johnson should have been sold last season time to get rid of him and bring in a more defensively adequate player.

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  2. Play him on the wing.

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  3. her lies the problem when we dont have players to score goals, the defenders are villified for daring to let one in

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  4. you say enrique is not offensive enough you say johnsonn is not defensiv enough ... just becuase skrtel made one misstake against mancity you ask for dropping him ? remember he made the 1:0 with a really nice header and he was votet for tjhe best lfc player last sesson, johnson did so well in EM 12 and you want to drop them ? i agree with the idea to let johnson play more offensive at another position, but i think reina just needs some concurence another class keeper could be very good for reina, he never had a reason to fight for a first team place thats his problem.
    we shouldnt drop any of them just give johnson a place with an attacking role and let kelly play on his position and lets buy another keeper! wheres doni btw ? i think a 3 4 3 could be a nicce solution reina - agger, coates\skrtel, skrtel\kelly, left midfield (i dont know who :O - once again downing?) , allen, sahin, johnson, + a better solution of 3 attackers ( dont let borini play every game 90 minutes, try out gerrard as a striker ma,be ? try out assaidi let suarez play as a winger if borini is on the field(BORINI =STRIKER) , and give colq a chance, i know hes not the fastest any more but hes technically strong worked with some other top clubs (much experience) and the tiki taka could fit him perfectly!! )

    what do you think about this jamie ?

    YNWA from austria !

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  5. One? Johnson has been costing Liverpool goals for years, and this season it's four so far. It's not just one.

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  6. Play Johnson upfront... Then Kelly rightback.... Problem solved.

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  7. "YNWA from Austria!"

    I can't think why not, unless it was for charity or the airlines, railways, coaches etc had stopped operating!

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  8. None of this would be an issue if we were scoring..... No team is 100% perfect. Once we are playing without the shackles of pressure, unrealistic expectations etc then the squad may be able to play with some freedom and fluidity. At the end of the day if we had bought strikers and we were scoring, then persecuting an individual player like this wouldn't be necessary... I'm not happy with a lot of things on the pitch but the 11 guys out there are a team. You defend from the front in my opinion and attack as a unit. Just support the team. They are good players and changing a clubs footballing philosophy will take at least 6 months for sure as it is a completely different way of playing.

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  9. According to me, along with Agger he is the best defender in our team.

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  10. Jamie, 100% accurate and self evident.

    The backline needs to be bolstered to look to competing against the best. And starting with Johnson, heads need to roll...

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  11. How can a player who has cost Liverpool 4 goals in 4 games (as a result of defensive mistakes/concentration lapses) be considered the best in the team?

    Using that logic, I guess you thought Stewart Downing was LFC's best attacking player last season...?

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  12. What about your pop at Stevie ? Did you forget ?

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  13. We should keep him but play him in an attacking role. Although he made mistakes defensively, he was still our best attacking option apart from Sterling. It's shocking to think a player playing out of his position and at Left back can be our most potent attacker. FAR bigger problems at present than Johnson.

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  14. You guys are pathetic really, the team cant get goals from anywhere and Johnson is having to come from the back to try due to everyone else being pants, every match hes cutting into the place where the wingers should be because they aren't doing their job right, funny if that attempt that hit the crossbar went in it would have been a different article all together.

    Also im guessing Assadi is Crap, how long we had him now and hes not shown even a glimmer of being played, how bad must he be when were losing a game to put downing on in front of him. So the extra few mil we paid for him could have funded the Dempsey sale

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  15. Just sickening.......I feel angry than ever....Poor Poor Poor.....Bring in Yesil or Suso....We can observe Sterling's impact..He made the goal 4 Suarez...Bring in youngsters till January and try signing strikers like Huntelaar,Lewandowski etc....Clinical finishers in what we need....Start Coates...He's really good...

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  16. your far too negative, the team played well overall, we were unlucky against wba and man city, arseanl were the better team and I personally mark them to win the title this season, johnson is a bit frail at the back but if we control games like yesterday and the fact is that was there only shot then johnson is perfect for the team if ur not really defending

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  17. Yesterday's goal is not GJ's mistake at all. It happens when you plat wrong/right footed player at Left back. Again its BR's fault. GJ almost scored couple of goals for us but he was unlucky. If Jose Enrique can make upto the bench, why can't he play? we also have Jack Robinson who is almost as good as Kelly? BR got it wrong there.

    I would like you to stop misinterpreting my Logic and also avoid playing guessing game as to how I would think Downing was our best player because if I do the same you will threaten to ban me.

    Amazing how you stamp your opinions as facts every time.

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  18. Kirk, don't you have some candles to light around the base of your Gerrard shrine? posting here is taking precious time away from worshipping your deity.

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  19. The only problem with Kelly is , he doesn't offer much offensively,
    Otherwise I will be more than happy to see Johnson' go,
    He is neither a righ back nor a winger, that's his problem.

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  20. Stats (google is your friend) show that Johnson is among the better defenders in the league, with most of his defensive stats (succ. tackles, aerial duels etc.) showing that he's still very able. There's obviously no ignoring the many pundits saying that he's lacking defensively and seeing as how he makes key mistakes (of which a few can be worse than a lot of statistical problems) it's hard to say he's a "top defender", yet we are not a "top club" at the moment and I doubt there'd be somebody better that we could get at this time. (Full backs are hard to come by)

    Also, let's not forget that this is a phase of transition and you can call it a cheap excuse if you like, but defenses traditionally need a little longer to reshape themselves under a new manager. At the end of the day, I think that's what we're seeing here.

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  21. We've been talking about playing Johnson as a right winger for ages, but no manager so far has ever considered that. There may be some reason for that, I guess.

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  22. hellooooo moderate my other post already

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  23. The team is playing a different type of football and the players are still adapting. Unfortunately a mistake in defence risks the team conceding a goal unlike the effect higher up the field.

    I thought Johnson should have been stronger in his challenge leading up to that goal but I also remember him making some good tackles also - 1 particular when blocking a dangerous cross in box.

    Kelly has progressed superbly but he isn't quite there yet .. Mclean was dominating him physically and young Kelly needs to improve his passing if he wants to be in the 1st team.

    We all need to take positives from that game. Having had most of the play and when the 1st goal was conceded I was expecting a heads to drop but they came back stronger and should have won the game.

    A lot of players contributed and created something today other than Suarez and that is a massive PLUS for the club.

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  24. He wasn`t playing on his preferd side ? and Glen, has also saved our team, on numerous occasions, from other players mistakes within our team.

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  25. Yes and why don't we sell Agger skrtel Reina Suarez and Gerrard too. They have all made mistakes this year and last.

    Johnson should be moved into midfield or even upfront, I think he got more chance of scoring than borini or downing.

    Tis new system would allow for Johnson to be played forward.

    Johnson has my backing.

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  26. I am going to be positive about club and our players.
    JK did you see the reserves against Chelsea? I was very impressed with them particularly as an attacking force.
    Adorjan reminds me of a young Hansen sometimes sloppy but with sublime gifts albeit in a different position

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  27. what an absolute tosser who talks nothing but dribble!! If it were up to you we'd have no team!! C@#T!!!

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  28. Some people aimt got a clue jonno is a perfect modern day full back admitted some times his defending let's him down but don't mind that as he is one of our mostdangerous players take that aspect of his game away and we have even less chance than we do already if scoring some thing that we don't do a lot as some may recall, only Critism I have is creating chances and defending were never a problem last season it was just the conversion of chances which was crap, so why was midfield the main area of concern to the new man when clearly a striker of high class could of came in out of the budget we had Allen good player but did we really need him as urgent I don't think so borini haven't seen anything good yet at ten mill that's 25 mill for a top striker in my eyes. Just what we needed ???????????????

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  29. Im against you in this one JK. He played on the left BR's fault. Johnson makes most our "topclass" wingers look bad. So no id have GJ anyday.

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  30. Suarez made the initial mistake yesterday his half hearted attempt to win the ball in the build up to the goal was very weak,Agger has cost us goals,Skrtel
    and Enrique too.What you and St John fail to mention that yesterday despite playing on the wrong side of the pitch,he made several crucial challenges that prevented them from having a chance on goal. Gerrard has cost us two goals this season,Suarez has missed sitters that probably would have made a massive difference to this debate\our league position and Reina has been awful.

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  31. Most of you are quick to pounce on Johnson who is being played OUT OF POSITION on the left.

    Secondly he offers MORE ATTACKING THREAT THAN KELLY, ENRIQUE IN FACT ANY OTHER LFC FULLBACK.

    Johnson is THE ONLY FULLBACK SINCE RISE THAT HAS SCORED REGULARLY.

    WHO ARE YOU GOING TO REPLACE HIM WITH TO IMPROVE THE TEAM?

    Thoughts so NO REALISTIC ANSWERS!

    Bunch of moaners with no BETTER ALTERNATIVES.

    You don't win games by not scoring.

    What threat did Downing have?

    What threat did Allen have?

    What Borini have ?

    When any of you can come up with a better Right Back in the current team then I'll take not until then just keep whistling.

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  32. Skrtel was our best and most most consistent defenders last season and is now getting tuned into a new style that doesn't play to his strengths as an out and out defender.

    Johnson has been a liability and we paid too much for him but Gerrard was at fault for Podolski's goal. Johnson showed in the euros that he can defend. He played out of position against Sunderland.

    We have bigger fish to fry with our midfield. Shearer said what we all know - 1 incisive pass forward is worth 5 sideways. I've not mentioned up front as we can't do much about that due to having so few options.

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  33. johnson would do a better job as the right side of the front three than anyone else, he wouldnt have the defensive responsibilities, but has the experience to cover his fullback when needed. johno is not a defender, but right now hed be one of our best wingers.

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  34. adorjan reminds me of neil from the inbetweeners

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  35. did you watch the game or do you dream a lot

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  36. I agree johnson is a good right back ...the problem we have is when you play 433 the front six really have to be on there game positionally or your defense is exposed ..the wide players on the attacking 3 have to drop back and pick up the wide players on the opposing team when they are out of possession or your fullbacks get isolated

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  37. He was playing out of position yesterday, and he was not the only one to make mistakes leading to the goal. Overall one of our better players yesterday. I'm a fan, and no BR, Borini does not excite me at all. When if ever is he gonna be dropped. And for those saying he is playing out of position, tell that to the Johnston critics.

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  38. JK the whole team is a mistake. Might as well replace the whole squad with the under 21 team.

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  39. Why was midfield? That's clear, for tiki taka, you need a fluent passing game which happens in the midfield, yes we really did need Allen to implement this new style of football and help the transition phase happen smoother.

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  40. Johnson is a scapegoat, I admit he has lapses in concentration but as people have pointed out who would step in? IMO he takes on more responsibility than most of the squad without his attacking instincts, Saurez would be our only goal threat!
    For me he is value for money, unlike most of the squad.

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  41. I agree with most things you say, but disagree with Reina being awful. He has made some top quality saves already this season. I've seen articles who have unfairly criticised him for letting in the Podolski goal and being that I used to play as keeper, only in local leagues mind you, I can tell you that the Cazorla goal, those are possibly the hardest shots to save, hard, low and close to the keeper's body, Reina did well to get anything on it.

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  42. Johnson was our best player there. They hit us on counter, and yes, full back's who go up will get caught there, no fault of his.
    He actually improved hid defensive game, and if we sell him it will be to CL club.

    You don't watch games to see performance, you watch games to see what will happen that you can slender someone because 2 or 3 years ago you thought he was not good enough for us.

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  43. best comment ever chirag.. jamie needs to understand he cant stamp his opinions as facts every time and ban people who disagree with him..

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  44. Never have rated him as a full back. Hasn't seemed to improve at all with his defensive work since coming here. One of those big unnecessary signings. Definitely got a long going forward but his defensive work is really shoddy. But it seems like he will be a first choice right back for a while yet, especially with the lack of real alternatives. With our goalscoring problems, full back isn't high up on priorities in terms of transfers maybe

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  45. johnson should be a winger, probably right side. to inconsistant to be a good reliable defender. just shocking cowardness against sunderland for the goal. just totally slack and lame.
    kelly is the future. we need a left back along with 2 reliable centre backs with a brain between them for starters. agger needs to be sold and sktrel is a sub.

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  46. Johnson is a sound r/back who was playing out of position,if we sell any of back 4 then skrtel is the one getting caught out & tends to panic when Agger not playing,Coates keeps his cool '1 to watch'Gerrard needs to play forward as loosing ball due to long risky passes.Younger players are stepping up & team will soon click,add to squad in & with Rodgers the new Liverpool will go forward with FSG !

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  47. agree, have been frustrated since we bought him, hopefully we can get the 18 mil back, prefer a defender any day like kelly, leave the attack to sterling!

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  48. Enrique would of been a better choice on he left, many times GJ has made mistakes not just as left back but numerous occassions on the right back being out of position, not tracking the attacking players or simply beaton too easily by wingers. He's not like some of the quality right backs we have had over the years; like Phil Neal, Steve Nicol, Steve Finnan, Arbeloa to name a few. A right or left backs first priority is to defend and provide additional defensive security on the wide areas before it gets to the central defence.

    Dont get me wrong I like GJ as a player and is a delight to watch when he races up front and the way he cuts in to deliver a cross or takes a shot on goal. I have been saying for years that he is better suited as right wing player this may evolve his creativity in attacking to a different level and bring his confidence back. Kelly played some blinding defensive games last year, the lad needs guidance, development and some confidence will bring out the best of him.

    My ideal replacement for January be Philip Lahm

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  49. Assaidi is really a superb player, he has been recovering from a groin injury, only started his training last week, so not sure if he was fully fit to play.

    But i expect to see him very soon, mark my words he will delight us with his pace, extraordinary skills and can finish in the back of he net. Dempsey would of been nice but oh well for now we will have to use what we got.

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  50. When im reading some of this drivel I wonder if its the same Glen Johnson I watch playing? He's brilliant, one of our best players if you ask me and we could do with a few more of him, tell me exactly what right backs in the world can defend and attack like he does? I dont seam to see him making all the mistakes you lot say, he starts soooo much off down that right hand side, he cant do ALL the attacking and defend too, people should be covering him more when he does forward

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  51. Gerard's lost possession cost us 3 goals and Agger's red card as well!!!

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  52. About the Sunderland game:
    http://www.liverpoolfc.com/fans/vote

    Arsenal: Put the blame where it belongs: SG

    And, I actually think that GJ is one of the best we can have. He is not without flaws, but he is damn good!

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  53. This is the problem liverpool been having for the past 3 seasons. We do not have quality back-ups. Hence we play people out of position. Its sad. But this is just a stop-gap and now we expecting the best performance. Get an experienced left-back there and then judge.

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  54. Total Bullshit as usual. Yes sunderland goal was down to Johnson but usual bandwagon jumping about his defensiveplay, the Podolski goal was due to the fact they broke so quickly and Johnson had been caught upfield and when Gerrard gave the ball away we were caught out and never regrouped, you see Johnson realised the danger but just couldnt get there!
    Johnson was one of our best players overall saturday!

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  55. Look at Martin Skrtel, so poor poor poor. Yes Johnson's not a good defender - he wood be much better at midfield.
    Who to play at the backs? for now Johnson and Kelly or Downing.
    And sadly Gerrard's not finding life easy at the BR way of playing, maybe push him forward at the field.

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  56. just makes me laugh when u guys think Johnson is a right backs toe nail Arbeloa was a superior fb not a great attacker but defensively sturdy i would have him any day.

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  57. I agree arbeloa was a good player for us. Why was he sold?

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