Amazing how much his stock has risen by not even playing.. Agree, we won't realise what we've got until it's gone! Arbeloa, how many thought we could better than him? The lad was/is quality, always put a shift in and was very under rated IMHO.
Give me Arbeloa over Johnson any day of the week. Incredibly underrated but such a solid and reliable defender. He won't win many matches or even stand out - but he would give 7/10 performances week in week out. I see Johnson in the same boat as Reina. We think he is 'undroppable' but the reality is that he's been poor for a while and as I have mentioned previously, he's paid handsomely as well.
Glen is normally decent for England, one of their only players who look comfortable in possession. If his name was Jonsinho no-one would mind.
No one thinks he's undroppable just that as with other players recently (Gerrard, Lucas, Enricky etc) his form hasn't been his best. If it was lack of effort I'd have a problem. If it was lack of ability I'd have a problem. It's neither. Partly it's down to the change of style of play and partly it's been the fact he spent a lot of last year with very inexperienced players directly in front of him. When Dirk was around Johnson always played better. That's no coincidence. As for his wages that's irrelevant. You want to replace him to save twenty grand a week? With who? Wisdom who's just a kid (great potential but I guarantee he'll make us less solid than Johnson), Kelly who can't stay fit for a month? Ilori should just walk into the team despite being a centre back? Buy someone in at a far greater cost than what you'll pay in extra wages for GJ? For the record, the last three games I've seen Arbeloa play he's been truly awful and despite being a good player didn't exactly shine when he was here week in week out. #grassisalwaysgreener
I hear what you're saying but the reason for selling him isn't purely because I want to save money. The team is evolving and we should be looking at improving our weak areas. Thankfully, we have gotten rid of Downing and Carroll because not only are they poor players but they were costing a lot to keep. There is no value, and we could use that money on better alternatives. And no - I'm not saying we replace Johnson with one of our youngsters. A better idea would be to sell an ageing player who is under-performing and on high wages and then replace him with a better player? We did it with the likes of Reina (Mignolet), Downing (Aspas), Carroll (Sturridge).
Why do people constantly feel the need to slag someone off? As soon as we get shot of one whipping-boy there has to be another who gets all the flak. It must fulfil a need in some people but I don't really get it I'm afraid. No-one is perfect and if you want to point out faults then there'll always be something to find. I've criticised Johno a bit for getting caught upfield too much but that doesn't mean I want rid. No point in changing unless you can improve.
There's a difference between slagging someone off and identifying a weakness in the team on which we can improve. Perhaps I am being harsh on Johnson but it's not because I have a need or a burning desire to slag him off. The team is as strong as it's weakest link. Now that we've gotten rid of the likes of Downing and Carroll, we now have new weak links, however they are at a higher level than the last set of weak links (if that makes sense). It's about evolving and I believe RB and central midfield are our weak points at the moment.
At 29 Johnson is at a good age for a defender and could comfortably play top level footy for another 3 or 4 seasons. It's easy to say sell and replace with someone better but it's never as simple as that is it. Using Ming as an example doesn't wash after only 3 games. Give us 3 seasons at the level of consistency Reina gave then we can say he's been an improvement. Aspas too has looked ok but only ok. Granted he will probably be an improvement on Downing but that's like saying tap water is better than drinking out the bog. Whatever happened to getting the best out of what we have? Rodgers had the good sense (in the end) last season to find a way to get Gerrard playing better so why not do the same with Johnson? Instead of chopping and changing players every time form drops it makes much more sense to try and work them back to the form they are capable of.
Agreed, right now, there isn't a single RB in the league that I'd take over Johnson, the only one I'd consider is Zabaleta.
Fair enough points Bill. I just want the team to evolve and continuously improve upon it's weak areas.
This year is all about the team and not about Individuals. I like Johnsons versatility, effective at LB and RB. He is part of the unit and we have other options in Kelly Wisdom etc for different types of games. If we just had two defensive minded RBs we would be crying out for an attacking player like Johnson. I like the variety we have and I like Johnson
Walker was very poor - maybe the nitrus oxide story affected him mentally Nice of the press to release the story just before an important game
Decent modern full backs are hard to come by. We wont get better than Johnson because they already play for top clubs. They get snapped up fast. But I do feel that Johnson deserves to be seen in the same category as Dani Alvez, Zabaletta, Ramos, Arbeloa, Sagna and Ivanovic.
100% this We win as a team and lose as a team. We need to stop singling players out - I understand why this has happened over the past few years because our team/squad has not been anywhere near what an LFC team/squad should be. I believe Rodgers has done brilliantly at getting rid of the **** and replacing with established players and decent prospects so now we need to support who he has kept and brought in and back them.
My problem with Arbeloa is that yes he's a solid 7/10 most weeks, sometimes a 6/10 and on the odd occasion a 5/10, he's never an 8 or 9/10 Johnson is more erratic ranging from 5/10 - 10/10 I'd rather Johnson, I understand his critics as his defending can be terrible but he's a commited player to our club and a real threat going forward I don't think it's worth moving him on until we bring a player through to replace him.
I agree but at the same time we should always be looking to improve what we have. We're at a good level at the moment but will we sustain it? If we win the league with the same players, then fair enough. But just because we won 3 games on the bounce doesn't mean we have the perfect squad. If we finish 7th this season, will people still be happy with the current squad? No - we will want to improve which is the point I'm getting at. It's rare that the best teams in the world stick with the same team every season - they add and improve on weaknesses in their squad. I refer to Johnson as a 'weakness' but probably I should say that it's an area that can be improved on.
