Johnson: should he play left or right?

[gio's side step]

give him the start over Milner or Yaya?

you're joking

You are joking? Wind up right? :-)

 

[City Raider]

give him the start over Milner or Yaya?

you're joking

you getting your johnstons mixed up?

 

[kenzie115]

Once we've got Boateng and Kolarov pushing on we'll need a left footer on the right and a right footer on the left to cut inside and give the full back space to overlap.

However, as shown by Messi, it's incredibly important that the full back does push on. The reason Messi is so much better for Barca than Argentina is Dani Alves. When Messi cuts inside for Argentina the opposing full back follows him inside and Messi is then faced with 2 or 3 players to get passed. When he cuts inside for Barca if the opposing full back follows him inside Messi simply gives it to Alves down the outside and if the full back stays with Alves, Messi goes inside and makes magic.

 

[sweep]

Depends on the FB's. RM oviously wants our wingers to come inside and leave space for the FB's to move into. Sadly there's little point if its Bridge and Richards coz there's very rarely an end product, so may as well play our wingers where they'll cause most damage.

...which is the right in Johnson's case.

 

[gio's side step]

Once we've got Boateng and Kolarov pushing on we'll need a left footer on the right and a right footer on the left to cut inside and give the full back space to overlap.

However, as shown by Messi, it's incredibly important that the full back does push on. The reason Messi is so much better for Barca than Argentina is Dani Alves. When Messi cuts inside for Argentina the opposing full back follows him inside and Messi is then faced with 2 or 3 players to get passed. When he cuts inside for Barca if the opposing full back follows him inside Messi simply gives it to Alves down the outside and if the full back stays with Alves, Messi goes inside and makes magic.

EXCELLENT post. And I have noticed in recent games, our full backs have been far too conservative. Attacking full backs are key in todays game. Jury is still out on Boateng, in that he may naturally be a better centre half than full back, but Kolarov should offer more down the left flank, because whilst only seen on a couple of occasions, he does look like he get's forward quite a lot. Johnson is very isolated when one on one with players. It's to his credit that he has heart and courage, and will always keep attacking, but I completely agree, an over lapping full back would cause havoc. When De Jong is in the team, Mancini should trust the full backs to get forward much more, because De Jong can cover space in positions which stop counter attacks

 

[kenzie115]

Once we've got Boateng and Kolarov pushing on we'll need a left footer on the right and a right footer on the left to cut inside and give the full back space to overlap.

However, as shown by Messi, it's incredibly important that the full back does push on. The reason Messi is so much better for Barca than Argentina is Dani Alves. When Messi cuts inside for Argentina the opposing full back follows him inside and Messi is then faced with 2 or 3 players to get passed. When he cuts inside for Barca if the opposing full back follows him inside Messi simply gives it to Alves down the outside and if the full back stays with Alves, Messi goes inside and makes magic.

EXCELLENT post. And I have noticed in recent games, our full backs have been far too conservative. Attacking full backs are key in todays game. Jury is still out on Boateng, in that he may naturally be a better centre half than full back, but Kolarov should offer more down the left flank, because whilst only seen on a couple of occasions, he does look like he get's forward quite a lot. Johnson is very isolated when one on one with players. It's to his credit that he has heart and courage, and will always keep attacking, but I completely agree, an over lapping full back would cause havoc. When De Jong is in the team, Mancini should trust the full backs to get forward much more, because De Jong can cover space in positions which stop counter attacks

I'd have De Jong and Barry holding, that way De Jong can cover the right side of the pitch and Barry can cover the left. Having Johnson, Silva and Milner behind Tevez with Boateng and Kolarov providing width we can afford to have 2 holding midfielders.

 

[mcfc_nick]

without a doubt he should be on the right

 

[Grand Master Ram Rod]

He should play on different wings for different games, he should always be playing though!

He's seems to win a lot of penalties and score most his goals from the right however he gets assists and if you watched him at Boro also scored a lot from the left.

If SWP is the other winger he should play on the left as SWP can't play on the left.

In games like Poznan where the middle is flooded he should play on the left and do them on the outside, he was doing this at the start of the game and him and City looked dangerous, then for some unknown reason we swapped it, SWP looked out of his depth on the left and AJ was having no joy on the right.

You have to judge before and throughout the game which wing is better for him.

 

[scenecreamer]

give him the start over Milner or Yaya?

you're joking

you getting your johnstons mixed up?

no, I just think AJ doesn't track back for defense, and tends to hug the touchline... which I guess is what wingers do traditionally, but I'd rather see a more defense oriented midfield seeing as Kolarov will be pushing forward, Milner gets assists, and Silva is a farkin playmaker who can score or feed the ball to Tevez/Balotelli...


btw, was that a crack at Jimmy Johnstone?

 

[peoffrey]

Either. It depends on who else is playing, too.

He should predominantly be on the right but he can be very effective on the left.