Johnson is really starting to worry me. He's a good player, but when he's having an off day he is completely useless.. I said this yesterday, but what on earth has happened to his first touch? The ball will be worked out wide to him, for it to just bobble of his foot. He can be a great outlet but sometimes he can be far too predictable, often cutting inside and having a shot for it to be blocked. From a defensive point of view he has drastically improved since he arrived here, but he really needs to up his game, perhaps dropping him for a game or two to wake him up?
Kelly and Wisdom are back up to Johnson so they could come in, however I don't seem them as natural RB's in BR's system. Ryan McLaughlin is a more natural fit in this system but not sure he's quite ready. With Johnson being 29 and on big wages, I wouldn't be surprised if he's the next one out the door.
Johnson was poor - he did have to take a yellow card because of Lucas losing the ball in a dangerous area and that really affected how he played on the rest of the game. When he got in behind and lashed a shot away I was fuming, a top striker would score that 1 in 100 times so he had no chance, could of looked up squared it and that's game over
He's normally a lot better in those positions but I think he's been struggling for a while now and is not offering much. And he put the team under pressure a couple of times when he held onto the ball in our own half.
he was ok in the first half. he came out like he'd lost it or thought all he needed to do was mind himself. his touch was gone, passing was awful... yes lucas was stupid turning towards the sideline then losing it but hey.... a brave player sucks it up and stays on their feet and doesn't worry about the yellow... he was not brave he went into his shell stayed right in on top of toure and henderson had to run the whole sideline at times. i was really looking for people all over the pitch to just pass it... just get it down pass it in our own half and even draw them out.. we didn't do it. we started lashing clearances away blindly and really when we play a better side we'll get punished... now i back villa for top 10 so better side means top 6-8 teams. Utd will be interesting.... monday will tell somethings. in thier first outing v swansea they sat 11 behind the ball early until rvp got them a goal... if they do that v us we will dominate possession at least. Next week well be tops.... hopefully an easy win v county will carry confidence forward AND will have studge rested..... i think the crowd will be really up for it.... welcome to hell moyes.
Glad someone else noticed. He looked like the Lucas of three years ago in that second half. And I, Johnson's biggest fan, agree with your comments re him too. How is Kelly re injuries at the moment? But the positives were obviously a growing world-class-to-be Sturridge, a useful performance from a constantly mobile Malcolm in the Middle Aspas, applause to Toure and Ming (he still looks iffy on high balls though) and Gerrard and Hendo put in shifts. After a shaky start, Coutinho ran that first 40 mins, and the change in the second co-incided with him running out of steam and being tighter marked (and repeatedly kicked). On that last point, United will kick him from pillar to post next Sunday, so let's hope we've a plan B to exploit the space his attention will make, and we are prepared for him to hobble off before the end of the game.
Yeah i also think Lucas was rubbish in the second half. I think its time we moved him on tbh. Never fully rated him
I think moving him on is a bit too strong but my problem is that I will continue to use the Mascherano/Alonso partnership as our benchmark, and Mash is the type of DM we need. Lucas is a modern day DM who reads the game well and stays on his feet and nicks the ball. In the right team and right tactics, he is perfect. But in our team, we have a tendency of attacking in abundance which exposes us to counter attacks and I think he is too slow to cover so much ground. Masch is just a beast who instills fear into the opposition and roughs them up. He had so much energy and strength and I feel we lack that in central midfield.
Kelly started as CB against Man Utd u21 and looked quite shakey. It will take him a little while to get back to his best.
Move him on? No way. We just need another option for his spot. Some one harder for those physical games and some one who can come of the bench and play next to him when the opposition throw the late charge at us.
I agree. Against team which will defend and allow us time and space, he will excel - as we saw against Stoke. However, against teams that will put us under pressure, and it becomes clear that our CM is overrun.
Anyone else shocked that after 2 wins out of 2 and not having conceded a goal Match of the Day decided to focus on us struggling in the final third? When a Mourinho team wins 1-0 its a tactical masterclass but when we win games 1-0 it means we aren't scoring enough goals?
Surprised at the Lucas negativity tbh. I thought he had a great game. The majority of what he does is off the ball; tracking, closing down and covering space and he did those very well. When Lucas isn't noticed, he's doing a great job because of his off the ball play which isn't picked up easily on TV. First half in particular he did that as well as putting his foot in and being the midfield pivot to send the ball back upfield. Second half he got a bit sloppy and gave away some fouls but that role is a dirty one and fouls will be committed. He lost the ball once or twice but so did most the team in the second half. Couldn't disagree more about Lucas. Great game. Johnson's been **** for a while now. Defensively ok but his once great attribute of going forward has been abysmal for a while. So many moves break down with him trying to do one thing too many or blazing a shot for the 17th time after cutting in instead of passing to someone in a better position. Either he's a greedy git who thinks he's better than he is, or he hasn't got the brain to make correct decisions. Either way, he's a big weakness currently.
He was good in the first half because we weren't under pressure. In the second half, I felt he was sloppy in possession, his touch was off, and he was easily beaten a couple of times. I don't mind him giving him away silly fouls - I rather he foul then let a player pass him and attack our defence. I just find it concerning that our midfield is easily overrun when under pressure.
First half was really positive 2nd half was not so good, however we saw out the match and got 3 points where we usually would have conceded a goal. If that can become a trend we will do well this season. All players have good and bad games but in general everyone is playing well and should improve as the season goes on. Tuesay is a good opportunity to play some who haven't had a run out yet.
In the second half we wanted to make sure we held what we had and we never over committed. We held what we had in the second half without getting caught out, in fact only once for Benteke's last chance, job done imo. Johnson really pissed me off yesterday at one point, he dithered on clearing the ball on and gave it to Lucas far too late and he got it taken off him which nearly cost us.
