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writeronthestorm

In praise of BJ

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Much maligned and often spoken of in terms of his "spoiler" role in midfield, I thought he was the best and most creative next to Pongo that we had against QPR.

I don''t know what it is about Loftus Rd that brings out the best of him, but I thought he was superb on Saturday.

He did fulfill his spoiler role, but he also showed a good range of passing and creativity...and he also had a good shot well saved.

So, credit to BJ...he was my motm

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He did make me laugh/frustrate me all in one go when he done some really fancy foot work in the middle of the park to lose the attention of 3 Qpr midfielders and relieved a bit of pressure and then he failed to pass the ball 15 yards in a straight line to Snodgrass (Pongo,Haha),and gave it straight back to Qpr. That asides he did have a good game though.

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It''s really weird how people see things differently.

He was OK, one or two decent passes & a decent effort on goal, but a dreadfully tentative attempt at a one-two with Garrido (who was poor) was unfortunately my main memory of him.

Once again I thought Tettey head & shoulders above him. His energy & mobility in closing down & tackling make BJ look cumbersome, & I''ll be very surprised if his pass completion was worse than BJ''s. He also won huge numbers of headers, although didn''t find his team mates with them often enough perhaps.

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[quote user="ron obvious"]It''s really weird how people see things differently. He was OK, one or two decent passes & a decent effort on goal, but a dreadfully tentative attempt at a one-two with Garrido (who was poor) was unfortunately my main memory of him. Once again I thought Tettey head & shoulders above him. His energy & mobility in closing down & tackling make BJ look cumbersome, & I''ll be very surprised if his pass completion was worse than BJ''s. He also won huge numbers of headers, although didn''t find his team mates with them often enough perhaps.[/quote]

 

The stats have BJ with 7 tackles compared to Tettey''s 4, BJ making 2 fouls compared to Tettey''s 3. However, Tettey had a pass completion rate of 78% compared to 62% - both won 50% of their headers. BJ had about 20 more touches of the ball than Tettey as well not to mention the fierce, on target shot, he made.

 

One thing I always notice about Johnson is just how good he is at heading the ball, although not the tallest his headers of often very well controlled. His clearance off the head of Samaba really sticks in my mind from Saturday as well as the classy headed goal he scored before (can''t remember which game that was).

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Thanks for that BY&G. Where do you get the stats from by the way? I''ve looked but can''t find them anywhere (including looking at Opta).

I wonder why Tettey looks so much better to me than BJ? I am really not conscious of any prejudice one way or the other.

I suppose it might be because BJ reminds me a bit of Milner, he has a sort of slow & heavy look about him (Snodgrass too!) which is obviously deceptive.

I''ll try & keep a closer watch next time!

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They both handled the ''destroyer'' roles pefectly well and I probably noticed BJ breaking things up more than Tettey, but both had a very good game. You can''t really knock them too much when we kept a clean sheet and their main role is to break up play. I thought everyone performed very well though Garrido was the most awkward to watch.

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Overall I think Tettey is more consistent and I prefer him to BJ.

 

However BJ has been back to his very best the last two games,  making tackles, winning headers, working hard and his passing ok;   a complete turnaround from the liverpool and newcastle games when his passing was atrocious and he failed to make a defensive contribution to the game.   We do need better in that position but he is one to keep for next season while strengthening the position overall.   He is not as talented as many in the squad but at least influence on the match when he is on his game.    I think his goal was the winner against stoke 

 

 

 

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not sure where bethnal gets his but whoscored.com amongst others have similar stats

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Seems to be the only player in our team capable of playing a defense splitting through ball to our strikers. His short passing is also pretty competent for Premer league level now. If only he was a bit better on the ball he would be about as close to a complete midfielder as a club like ours could afford. Definitely in the running for POTS for me

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