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Is it me or am I missing something with Johnson. He loses the ball at least 70% of the time, he won't tackle when tracking back, just runs alongside his opponent, is not blessed with pace, always starts moaning when he loses the ball in a tackle as if he has been fouled, but now and again produces a flash of brilliance, like when Silva shot over the bar. I don't think we get enough of the latter, which probably explains why at 22 he was still playing at Middlesboro.

It also seems that having been given a chance to improve his game, which he did in the early months, he now seems determined to ruin it by going out on the pop on a regluar basis.

I hope I'm wrong because he has good ball skills, but with SIlva in the form he is, I don't think we will see Johnson playing on a regular basis.

As always, time will tell.

But wingers are like that, especially young ones.

He'll terrorise defences soon enough again

i still want to know why he was dropped when he was in superb form. fucking stupid management imo.

Mike J wrote:i still want to know why he was dropped when he was in superb form. fucking stupid management imo.

Might have something to do with his clubbing activities, most nights apparently just like Richards used to do and look where it got him.

Can't they just behave like athletes for a few years, display their undoubted talents for the fans and get rat arsed every night when they retire.

Mancini may have been trying to show him the error of his ways after his display against Blackburn, when rumours say he had been on the pop all week following his England success.

The thing that gets me about Johnson is he’ll do something brilliant, like skin three players in one go, but then let himself down by choosing the wrong option for example shooting when someone’s on their on in the box/passing to a players who’s got 3 players next to him instead of shooting. His decision making at this moment in time is pretty poor. That free kick last night that he hit over everyone that was neither a shot or a cross proved that. Saying that though, he did brilliantly to lay that chance on a plate for Silva. And I personally think he’ll get us a fair few penalties this year through his trickery.

At the moment it’s really really frustrating! But the raw ingredients are there for a quality player. Compare him to Weiss, the age difference is what 2-3 years?? And what is the actually difference between the two?

I’ve spoken to a few Boro fans since he moved to us and they said that at the time we signed him he wasn’t performing well at all, and they were surprised he’s made it to the England squad so soon.

About his drinking antics. All we can usually go off in the press is what is written (which is usually bollocks). However, if a video of him is released where he can barely stand then he possibly needs to take a look at himself. I personally don’t see a problem with him having a drink if there’s no game for a few days. But to get to the point where you can barely stand is pretty bad. Maybe Micah could have a word with him about how detrimental it can be to your early career? Only Johnson can make the decision though.

I think compared to the options we’ve got at the moment, I’d rather see him in the side than not as he will always give us that option of creating chances. But he’s still young and has a lot to learn. Hopefully he’ll get his head down and learn from those around him and take everything on board. Because if he does he could be a top top player for years to come.

Mike J wrote:i still want to know why he was dropped when he was in superb form. fucking stupid management imo.

AJ still has a lot to learn and going up a level means he has even more to learn. When he had a good spell and scored a few, his reaction was a bit like 'Oh ive arrived' whereas what he really needed to think was 'Ah great, how can i build on this start'.

Managers have to put the boot in and bring younger players down to earth. AJ has to focus on choosing the right option when he gets past defenders and he needs to learn to make himself more of an effective nuiscance when he hasn't got the ball.

A couple of jinks and a peach goal gets fans drooling.. but that isn't even half of the story.

MaseCTID wrote:I’ve spoken to a few Boro fans since he moved to us and they said that at the time we signed him he wasn’t performing well at all, and they were surprised he’s made it to the England squad so soon.

About his drinking antics. All we can usually go off in the press is what is written (which is usually bollocks). However, if a video of him is released where he can barely stand then he possibly needs to take a look at himself. I personally don’t see a problem with him having a drink if there’s no game for a few days. But to get to the point where you can barely stand is pretty bad. Maybe Micah could have a word with him about how detrimental it can be to your early career? Only Johnson can make the decision though.

I've spoken to the Boro fans at work, who claim that Johnson was part of the drinking culture that existed at the Boro along with Cattermole - interesting that neither are at the Boro now - anyway the Boro fans compared Johnson to Downing and they said that despite the lack of outright pace Johnson had the trickery that Downing didn't have although what he was struggling with was 'looking up' for options before putting the ball in.

What was noticeable last night was the odd easy ball that went astray (he weasn't the only one), but it did highlight an area of work he needs to improve upon - I remember Doug once saying that the best crosser in training was Mancini, wonder if that still suffices now?

shortagain wrote:

Mike J wrote:i still want to know why he was dropped when he was in superb form. fucking stupid management imo.

Might have something to do with his clubbing activities, most nights apparently just like Richards used to do and look where it got him.

Can't they just behave like athletes for a few years, display their undoubted talents for the fans and get rat arsed every night when they retire.

Mancini may have been trying to show him the error of his ways after his display against Blackburn, when rumours say he had been on the pop all week following his England success.

i think mancini dropped a massive bollock. yes his head may have swelled a bit but his form was fantastic. why drop a player when he is playing like that!

cristiano ronaldo has got an almighty ego, never harmed his performances. drop them when they play shit, not when they have a night out.

Mike J wrote:

shortagain wrote:

Mike J wrote:i still want to know why he was dropped when he was in superb form. fucking stupid management imo.

Might have something to do with his clubbing activities, most nights apparently just like Richards used to do and look where it got him.

Can't they just behave like athletes for a few years, display their undoubted talents for the fans and get rat arsed every night when they retire.

Mancini may have been trying to show him the error of his ways after his display against Blackburn, when rumours say he had been on the pop all week following his England success.

i think mancini dropped a massive bollock. yes his head may have swelled a bit but his form was fantastic. why drop a player when he is playing like that!

cristiano ronaldo has got an almighty ego, never harmed his performances. drop them when they play shit, not when they have a night out.

Think Johnson has a long way to go before he can be compared to Ronaldo