Johnson

[yellowarmy 0]

totally agree with ryan1992, johnson has been our player of the season so far.

[Yorkshire Canary 118]

Johnson was great and MOM. I agree you need to include the creativity of Hoolahan though. Our central defence is so suspect you need Johnson and Crofts out there. Surman would be the one to go for me he offers little. Plus play one of the wingers

[anonamoose 4]

thought johnson was one of our best today. although we played well again today with a 4-4-2. i really want to see wes playing at the tip of a diamond again. thats how we got here. a bit baffled when he came on and played LM, we know he''s no good theregoing to be tougher than i was hoping for this year. need de laet to settle quickly

[Ruddy Good 0]

I thought Johnson was our best player yesterday and fully deserved our man of the match...and agreed with anonamoose that wes needs to be starting again at the tip of the diamond. I don''t think the Crofts/Johnson combination works as they are too similar and personally, I would like to see Wes playing in addition to the 2 wingers (Bennett, Pilkington) and then either Crofts or Johnson in the holding role. At the moment, I would be picking Johnson ahead of Crofts. I think playing two holding midfielders, although it can be considered a ''safe'' option, is not giving us enough of an attacking threat or enough quality through the middle and this is where Wes is a threat.

[Jim Smith 2,317]

I though Johnson was average in the first half but was terrific in the second half yesterday. i also think we are going to need the Johnson/Crofts pairing in the centre this season to give us the solidity we need and shield the defence. What you do need however, if you play those two together is pace and creativity out wide and up front. We did not have enough of this yesterday.

[alysha 0]

I thought that along with C.Martin and Tierney, Johnson was one of our best players on the pitch yesterday and also had great games against Stoke and Chelsea; I can see why he was chosen as ''man of the match''. I can fully understand why people are saying we need more creativity after yesterday''s performance but I wouldn''t drop Johnson, I think he has been playing better than Crofts and to me, appears to be one of our key players. We played the 4-4-2 with Johnson and Crofts in the middle against Stoke, and I think everyone felt hard done by that we didn''t win the game, and based on that performace, a lot of people thought we had more than enough to stay in the league, theerfore I don''t think we should rule out a Crofts/Johnson partnership on the basis of lack of creativity in one game. An option would be to play Hoolahan off a lone striker, who that lone striker would be is anyone''s guess? Holt had a poor game yesterday by his standards, but was great against Chelsea and is our talisman. Morison seems to have a bit of strength and pace but is not putting away the few chances he has had. I don''t think Jackson is strong enough to play up front on his own. C.Martin has started the season very well, but to me he looks at his best when he drops back and links well with midfield, not suited to being a lone striker. Wilbraham isn''t the man for job. Vaughan looks an exciting prospect.

[GJP 79]

Johnson has been our most impress summer signing, in my opinion.

 

A couple of times yesterday he had a rush of blood to the head and took the wrong option but in general he was strong and used the ball very well.

 

Unfortunately Crofts had the poorest game I''ve ever seen him play and we were crying out for some quality alongside Johnson. In general I don''t think a central midfield of Johnson and Crofts will provide enough quality. Crofts obviously has some good attributes but being able to pick a pass or unlock a defence isn''t really one of them.

[Tumbleweed 106]

I like Johnson and Crofts in the centre, for me the creativity comes from Wes playing with Holt, or down the flanks through Bennett and one of Pilkington or Surman.

I am hoping that the CBs will get better. Because of injuries and red cards we haven''t had a setlled pairing yet so it will need some time. Probably Barnett and Wrd should be first choice. For that reason we need to protect them more. They were at fault yesterday for sitting too deep when Crofts and Johnson got foward.

 De Laet seems to be a slightly more exotic Gary Doherty.