Liverpool fans have had a lot to say about Glen Johnson during his time at Liverpool. When Glen Johnson was signed, we thought we had signed the best right back in the country and that he would be a positive addition to our starting line up. As Johnson’s Liverpool career has gone by, many fans have not been too impressed with Johnson as a right back. Going forward he is a joy to watch but then he leaves himself exposed when he is defending and that has lead to Liverpool conceding a lot of goals which have been Glen Johnson’s fault.
As a result, the most logical move would have been moving Glen Johnson into right midfield or as a right midfielder where he would not have too much defending to do. Neither Rafa nor Hodgson tried playing Johnson in an advanced role but now step in King Kenny. One would have thought that he would be the one to push Glen Johnson forward but instead he has done something that has amazed us as fans and played Glen Johnson at left back in two consecutive games! Who would ever have thought of having Glen Johnson as a left back?
We all know Liverpool have a problem at left back, a role which has been filled by Konchesky and Aurelio. Konchesky is simply not good enough and thus we can not have him start as left back. Aurelio is injury prone and we will not get many games out of him in succession. So what did King Kenny do, play Johnson at left back. It is understandable why Johnson started ahead of Aurelio on Sunday against Everton: Everton have tall players and putting Aurelio against them would have been a tactical blunder. At least Johnson is taller than Aurelio and he held his own against the aerial bombardment Everton offered. Well done Kenny for that call.
Besides the aerial threat Everton posed, Johnson did not do too badly at left back against Everton. He got forward when he needed to and he whipped in the cross that lead to our first goal. Johnson has very little of a left foot, he is easy to mark as you know he is going to turn to his right foot all the time.
I do not think that Dalglish is going to stick with Johnson at left back for the rest of the season although with that said, Johnson will have to step up his game if he wants his position back at right back as Martin Kelly is currently doing well in that position. I still believe Dalglish should move Johnson into right midfield and go out and buy a left back this January and stop with this experiment of Johnson at left back.
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The problem with employing Johnson on the right wing is that Dirk would have to be dropped. Against the likes of everton, this would have been tactically the wrong move as give credit to Dirk (I have to admit I’m not his greatest fan), he tracks back and gets stuck in, despite his woeful first touch at times.
Against lesser teams, where we can afford to be more generous in attack, i do think Johnson should be given a go right wing. It would be a joy to watch his and Kelly down the right, overlapping, crossing and shooting.
Kuyt is so overrated, it’s unbelievable! He gets so much credit for his defensive work, but because he is such a liability offensively, the opposition fullback has a day off in defense and gets to our byline more frequently than anybody else on the pitch!
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Kuyt needs to be dropped asap! Also, Kelly is a centreback and the sooner that he starts getting games there, the better. Enough with this square pegs in round holes nonsense
“Johnson has very little of a left foot”…That’s simply not true, he had a v.decent weaker peg, particularly for a full-back. He often cuts inside from the right and hits it with his left. True, he is stronger on his right but it makes sense that Kenny has switched him over given that Kelly has been so impressive in taking his chance. Also right-footed left backs can be very effective against teams that employ wide right men who like to cut in (remember Arbeloa vs Messi?). I don’t expect Johnson will continue to play at left back (assuming we get a decent specialist for this position) and agree that he might eventually be pushed up if Kelly establishes himself as a first teamer (looking good so far) but well done Kenny for providing an early tactical rebuke to those who reckon you are past it….
Who are these great wide men that Everton & Blackpool have that like to cut in and require specialist changes to our gameplan??
I wonder if you would’ve spouted out the same crap if it were still Hodgson making the call to play our £18m right-back as a left-back. For some reason I doubt it…
Rafa, Woy and now Kenny…why cant these people see what everyone else does. Glen is shit at defending but good going forward. we have a good right back. we dont have a right midfielder who can get past players. surely its simple.
Have GJ compete with Kuyt for the right-wing spot. Kuyt backtracks way too much, and for the gobs of running he does, all of his efforts most often come to nothing. The guy is more of a triathelete than a football player.
Johnson is the best dribbler we have, and besides Torres and Gerrard, the only player who can *regularly* beat defenders one on one.
Kuyt shouldn’t be in contention for the right wing spot at all – he should be lucky to get on the pitch, much less be a starter!
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The only players that we have capable of doing a good job on the right wing are; Babel, Gerrard, Johnson, Amoo and funnily enough, none of them have been given a run out there even while the team has been underperforming miserably and receiving NOTHING from Kuyt, Maxi, Cole, Meireles, Pacheco and Shelvey out there! It defies logic!!