BingoBango
Well-Known Member
This is a fairly gentle article about the rise of Adam Johnson, but the highlighted bit baffled me. What is that about?
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/adam-johnson-england" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010 ... on-england</a>
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/adam-johnson-england" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010 ... on-england</a>
Adam Johnson's first goal for England inspired messages of congratulation and mocking texts from friends who told him it had been a fluke. He will always remember notching his country's third in last Friday's 4-0 victory over Bulgaria in the Euro 2012 qualifier, but Fabio Capello has other reasons to bear it in mind.
The decision that the winger took would have intrigued any manager. The Italian had been in anguish when Johnson's bending effort had gone across Nikolay Mihaylov and wide of the far post. Johnson revealed his take on the incident. "The keeper sort of gambled on that one and he did it again, went early, so that's why I [shot towards] the near post the second time."
Mihaylov's work had been mediocre, but Johnson saw the defect and exploited it. Such telling incidents account for the rapidity with which he has been promoted.
It is hard to accept that he had been part of Middlesbrough's indifferent campaign in the Championship before he moved to Manchester City as recently as 1 February. Capello's interest was soon stimulated and Johnson made his England debut as a substitute against Mexico in May.
Even if he did not make the cut for a place in the World Cup party, it was clear he was part of the national team's future. Johnson has to accept, all the same, that he is a challenger for the starting XI rather than a fixture in it. He works, after all, in one of the more interesting departments of the England side.
Speed has been the obvious attribute there. Aaron Lennon went to the World Cup at the expense of Theo Walcott. Capello's preference was reversed when selecting his party for Bulgaria and tomorrow's game in Switzerland because of the Tottenham winger's injury problems.
It is now Walcott who looks in ideal physical condition and there is a dimension to his work that Lennon lacks. The Arsenal player has scored four times this season. Finishes with the right foot from a position on the right ought, in principle, to be awkward, but Walcott has a knack of threading the ball inside the far post. His hat-trick against Croatia in 2008 was a demonstration of nerveless precision.
While Walcott is hardly a contemporary equivalent to Thierry Henry, he has at least the potential to score regularly. Capello's surplus of resources on the right verges on the outlandish. He could happily pick James Milner there as well, but Johnson's new Manchester City team-mate has made himself into an all-rounder, whose left foot is also dependable. As a multi-purpose footballer who can work creditably in central midfield, Milner is becoming a utility player who accumulates caps without receiving acclaim.
Johnson attracts attention because of his distinctiveness. City, despite their means, occasionally show an eye for a bargain. Joe Hart cost an initial £600,000 from Shrewsbury and the sums triggered by the new England goalkeeper's presence will be paid happily. Self-congratulation will be as intense over the acquisition of Johnson. Brian Marwood, a native of County Durham, is City's football administrator and his championing of Johnson ensured the winger would not remain in the North-east by moving to his hometown club Sunderland.
Johnson moved for a mere £700,000 because his contract was nearing its end. Most clubs would feel he is valuable because he is perfectly adapted to the modern style. He differs most obviously from Walcott or Lennon by being established as a left-footer on the right flank. Without the slightest boastfulness, Johnson proposed that he fits into a pattern that happens to suit some of the great figures of the contemporary game.
"If you look at the world‑class wingers, they all play on the opposite side: [Arjen] Robben, [Lionel] Messi and people like that. They go in towards goal rather than away from goal. Football's changing. There's a lot of clever link‑up play, people coming inside on their stronger foot. I would probably say I've played my best football on the right."
He appreciates, too, that he can drag opponents away and so open a channel for overlapping right-backs. For the time being, life is working splendidly. Nonetheless, it is a mistake to suppose he is some sort of carefree innocent. Ryan Giggs was his boyhood idol and Johnson was asked if he had swapped shirts with Manchester United's Welshman.
"No, we got beaten and I was in a huff." That touch of grumpiness in defeat may also endear him to Capello.