Tony Cascarino: Liverpool New Boy Johnson is Not One of Best in World & It’s Green or James for Keeper Slot
In terms of the current England side I feel there are two spots in the starting eleven that are still up for grabs. One is the goalkeeping position and the other is at right-back. There is little to choose between the current crop of English goalkeepers so whoever has the best season at club level should be in a position to grab the position with both hands, so to speak.
Ben Foster has been given a massive chance in Edwin Van der Sar’s absence at Old Trafford and he hasn’t done badly but he certainly hasn’t been brilliant. He has been beaten a bit too easily for my liking a few times this season. So when the Dutchman returns to fitness, I’d expect Foster to return to number two which means he will struggle to get in Fabio Capello’s team.
For me, Blackburn’s Paul Robinson is just a squad keeper and not a number one so the contest will mainly between Portsmouth’s David James who is likely to face a pretty torrid season with all the big name departures from Fratton Park and West Ham’s Robert Green. To be honest there’s little to separate either keeper, so club form will play a big part in Capello’s decision making.
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Capello may have claimed that Liverpool new boy Glen Johnson is one of the best right-backs in the world and I would agree with that in terms of his play going forward but defensively he’s still lacking. Johnson has got to defend far better as in the last few internationals the opposition have found space in behind him on numerous occasions. The England manager doesn’t seem like a man who picks full-backs mainly for their attacking qualities; Italians usually prefer their defenders to be defenders first and foremost. Johnson is not that type of player at the moment.
I have seen a lot of Johnson and although he has come on leaps and bounds since his Chelsea days he is still liable to defensive lapses. It’s no coincidence that the Liverpool defence has conceded more goals since he has joined the club as their rigid backline has been exposed due to Johnson’s suspect positional sense.
The saving grace for the player is that England are not exactly overloaded in the right-back department with Gary Neville struggling to regain his past form and a place in the Manchester United team and Man City’s Micah Richards a shadow of the player that burst onto the scene a couple of years ago.
Tags: Ben Foster, Croatia, David James, England, Glen johnson, Liverpool, Paul Robinson, Portsmouth, Rob Green, Tony Cascarino, West Ham
September 8th, 2009 at 09:18
Liverpool have conceded most of their goals through set-pieces and not through open play. Not one single goal leaked this season has been down to Johnson’s defending. I think you should get your facts correct before blindy writing your article. To be honest this just smacks of bitterness, you being a Chelsea fan and all, of having sold a world-class player on the cheap and seeing him successful at another club. And for your information Dani Alves cannot defend particularly well either (a worse defender than Johnson) and he’s considered the best full-back in the world. Don’t even get me started on how highly regarded Cafu and Roberto Carlos were and they were never the greatest defenders.
September 8th, 2009 at 09:22
I also wonder if some of your bitterness is due to Johnson being critical of Chelsea and the fact that he turned you down to join Liverpool in the summer. Due to your transfer ban, for cheating, I can understand why you’d be bitter that he turned Chelsea down to join a bigger club.
September 8th, 2009 at 09:29
Oh what an amazing article. Do you have any of your own thoughts, Tony?
At least johnson has some pace and looks, and he really is English, where as you’re not actually Irish.
September 8th, 2009 at 09:31
Tony who?
September 8th, 2009 at 09:32
I think that Johnson is an exceptional attacking right back and also excellent at the back. If the manager asks a full back to attack, the right winger and defensive midfielders have to be able to cover at the back.
At Liverpool, Johnson has not yet been at fault in any of the goals conceded and was directly responsible for at least 4 goals scored.
With England, Johnson has found himself having to attack while not being covered by his team mates. Capello is not daft and, being Italian, he knows a thing or two about tactical matters. It’s no surprise that the player in front of Johnson was substituted in the last game.
September 8th, 2009 at 09:46
Once again an opportunity for Liverpool hater Cascarino to put the boot into the club in some form or another. Tony you are a muppet and further more Johnson is a good defender he is also much better going forward than you ever where.
September 8th, 2009 at 09:52
What does Cascarino know? Awful player and awful pundit.
September 8th, 2009 at 09:57
heh
Michael A has knocked big Cas clean out in just two posts.
Burn.
I’ve heard others parrot out this rot too and while I’m not convinced GJ is a good defender yet, there is no evidence that his performances for Liverpool lead to them conceding more than usual.
September 8th, 2009 at 09:58
This article displays a serious lack of intelligence and thought. After this I’m convinced that you have just made the profession cheap. Are there any vacancies around Tony? I know some infants that will write something more stimulating.
September 8th, 2009 at 10:00
I do not think Johnson is responsible for liverpool conceding so many goals this season. if you look at the goals conceded they have mostly stemmed from errors in midfield. mascherano has not been at his best.
September 8th, 2009 at 10:00
It IS a coincidence that Liverpool have conceeded a number of goals since Johnson arrived. They have almost all been set piece goals. A very lazy piece of analysis Mr Cascarino.
Johnson’s England challenge might have something to don with having to play alongside two centre backs, and in particular John Terry here, who lack pace and the positional awareness to cover the right flank.
September 8th, 2009 at 10:04
the content of this aticle is probably the reason why he writes for the times, nobody who buys it reads the sports pages !!!!! Also as a pundit i think he was sacked from talksport.
I dont want to target the guy but every article he writes in the times or this site ends up slagging our great club
September 8th, 2009 at 10:12
Liverpool have been missing Agger and Skrtel and Carragher has not started well at the back. Johnson has been nothing short of superb.
Against Slovenia, SWP did no defending whatsoever whereas normally Johnson has Kuyt in front of him - no comparison. The mistakes were made by Lescott and the covering players. Just because Slovenia looked more dangerous down the left does not mean that it was Johnson’s fault - maybe their left winger is their best player and they concentrate on that flank. At the end of the day, not many players will beat Johnson for pace and the ones that do will beat any full back for pace. He is 6ft, strong in the tackle and in the air and is brilliant on the ball. That’s why he is world class.
September 8th, 2009 at 10:15
Maybe for a better opinion of where Liverpools defence has gone wrong this season Cascarino should actually watch the games, maybe its had something to do with injuries and the loss of Agger and Skrtl, maybe its a bit to do with Carra not playing that well so far, maybe its set pieces where we’ve struggled. However as none of that fits into his agenda. Shocking that this bloke writes all this drivel and ill informed tat yet he still gets paid for his opinion, do one Tony, your a worse pundit than a player and thats saying something.
September 8th, 2009 at 10:33
I am a Portsmouth fan and while Johnson is great going forward, even the most biased Liverpool fan can see he is not the best defender at times. Look at how Babel had him when we played Holland. It is not an attack on your club it is the truth from someone who has played higher than anyone here. If you don’t agree fine but why be so rude.
September 8th, 2009 at 10:34
P.S where did he slag off the club??? He is a Liverpool fan too if you didn’t know lol!!!
September 8th, 2009 at 12:23
To Tommy; what makes you say that Tony Cascarino is a Liverpool fan? He supported Millwall as a boy!!
As for the man himself, how can anyone with his football record have a go at another professional? A goal every 2.5 games isn’t a bad return for a striker, but when you consider most of those came for the mighty Gillingham (no offence) and a couple of French teams that says it all! His return for Chelsea was 8 goals in 40 appearances over 2 years! Similarly he scored 11 in 46 and 4 in 24 for Aston Villa and Celtic respectively. Can you imagine him getting in a top side now?
It’s about time these ex-players stopped with the so called punditry unless they can start forming well based opinions of their ‘own’ via a useful little tool called research! Cascarino, and indeed many other ‘pundits’, should start to read articles and books written by Paul Tomkins, who expertly analyses’ the evidence and gives well rounded insights into the reality of LFC matters, in order to see how this is done.
September 8th, 2009 at 12:28
The same Mr Cascarino who said Torres was not a natural striker. Average players make average pundits me thinks!!!
September 8th, 2009 at 12:45
Fact is if Jhonson needs to play his natural game he needs a DM like Masch who can block the holes if a counter attack occurs.
Unfortunately Egland’s seriously lacks a hard tackling CDM.Hargreaves may be but he spends most of his time in the medical room.
September 8th, 2009 at 14:25
What an ill-informed comment about Johnson. Just like Merson it goes to show that playing the game doesn’t qualify one to talk intelligently about it.
As the poster above says all Liverpool’s goals have been from set pieces and also the ‘rigid’ back line comprises 1 defender who knows the ropes and all other positions are filled by new faces. It’s laughable therefore to blame Johnson alone
September 8th, 2009 at 19:03
I saw Cascarino play. He knows all about not being the World’s best.
September 8th, 2009 at 19:55
You were no great shakes yourself tony, glen johnson would have had u in his pocket..just admit it…you’re jealous
September 8th, 2009 at 20:33
put it this way ashley cole has been far more worse then glen johnson(johnson is quality)
remember kazakstan and that horrible mistake
ryan babel may have been at his throat when holland played england did he score any goals
no
how many goals has ashley cole scored at chelsea 3 in wot over a few years
johnson comes to liverpool and asissts and score in his first few games
infact i would compare him to d. alves maicon and all the top class rb and lb in the world or in footy history
besides d.alves cant defend for his life
johnson can defend and be like alves
so look at cole first before you look at johnson
johnson has never been booed by england fans
cole has
September 8th, 2009 at 20:34
johnson scored 2 goals and thats in 4 appearances
tony scored 4 in 24
that shows even a defender is bettter than him
September 8th, 2009 at 21:25
surprising article Tony- you usually write good stuff.Last week you said that Carra was to blame for Liverpool’s poor defending because he was playing too deep.In 4 games we have had 3 different centre- half pairings and have been awful at defending set pieces.Not sure much blame can be attributed to Johnson
September 10th, 2009 at 04:50
im sure that EVERY goal liverpool conceded in the league is from a free kick/corner (not all going stright through though, some was headed down before shot and so on), but all goals is from set pieces for sure.
glen is not to blame…