After arriving at Anfield in 2009 as one of Rafa Benitez’s last big money signings Glen Johnson quickly found a way into all our hearts.
His marauding runs down the right flank were a bright spot in an otherwise disappointing season for the Redmen.
That summer saw the end of Rafa and in his place came Roy Hodgson, not a fan of the attacking full-back or ball playing centre halves, Johnson found himself struggling for form, so much so that Hodgson was quoted as saying:
“He’s the England right-back and, if he plays like that, one would expect him to come back in when he’s fit. But then he’d have to play like the England right-back and up to now, to be quite frank, he’s not performed – very often at least – to the level I’d expect of him. You would have to ask him ‘do you think you’re playing like the best right-back in the country for your club?’ If he says yes, obviously we will have to agree to differ.”
Luckily for Johnson and us all, Roy was sent packing and in came Kenny Dalglish. Johnson immediately regained his form and for the majority of Kenny’s second spell in charge we saw the Glen Johnson we expected when the club sanctioned a deal that could still rise to £18million pounds and a contract that has now risen to upwards of £100k per week.
We can all recall the wonderful winner away at Chelsea and numerous attacking surges down both flanks as Kenny utilised Johnson as both a right and left full back.
When Brendan Rodgers became manager we all thought that we’d see yet another level from Johnson, after all Rodgers is a manager who loves to play attacking football, he sets his teams up to utilise the full backs high up the field, he wants them to be part of the attacking unit, he expects them to be scoring goals and creating chances.
Initially the signs were very promising for both us as fans and Johnson himself, he scored a left footed screamer in a Europa League Qualifying game at Anfield very early on in Rodgers’ reign and he scored a wonderful right footed effort away at West Ham when the Reds found themselves playing without a striker that day.
There are numerous notable surges from the right or left back positions over that season, not many are more memorable however than against Wigan, where he picked the ball up in his own half and with some skill and a burst of pace he left four defenders in his wake before calmly slipping Luis Suarez in for a wonderful Liverpool goal.
One thing you will notice when talking about Johnson is that his defending doesn’t get much of a mention and for a defender that’s quite strange. The simple reason for that is that Johnson is not a very good defender.
He never has been throughout his career but when he offers so much going forward then you can see beyond that to a certain extent.
The problem that has arisen this season is that he has become more and more of a liability at the back and he is offering very little going forward. Questions are now started to be raised about Johnson and his future at the club.
If he isn’t contributing in the attacking third and he is suspect when in defensive situations shouldn’t he be dropped or rested? Under normal circumstances yes he would be, however the fact remains that Johnson is still the best full back at the club, that’s right and left sided.
Until reinforcements are brought in or Jose Enrique gets fit then we will have to hope that Johnson can find some form in the immediate future.
The real issue though is why this has happened this season? All players go through peaks and troughs of form, it’s only natural but Johnson appears to be in a daze. He has been struggling for form for almost a year now.
Has he gone stale at the club? He’ll have been here 5 years come the summer or is he carrying an injury that nobody knows about? Is he just exhausted? As I have already said, he’s the clubs best full back, apart from injury or suspension he doesn’t get a break.
Has he been told that the gravy train at Anfield has been discontinued and if he wants a new deal come the summer then he will have to accept greatly reduced terms and he’s thinking thanks but no thanks?
If that’s the case then I for one would be extremely disappointed in Johnson, he’s a professional at the end of the day and the very least we fans deserve is for him to give 100% when putting on that Red shirt.
Or perhaps, old father time has caught up with him and he just cannot do what he used to do for us. There was a telling moment in the away game at Manchester City recently where Johnson lost the ball to Alexander Kolarov the City left back, now Kolarov is not the quickest player around, in fact I’ve seen people running in sand move quicker than him but rather than give chase and disposes him, Johnson just clipped his ankles and gave away a needless free kick.
It has been painful to watch Johnson for the last couple of months as his confidence has been eaten away at.
Liverpool need Johnson to find his best form again, they need him to find his mojo and keep it safe until May at the very least.
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