Brennan Johnson was dropped from Tottenham’s starting XI against Manchester United in the Carabao Cup
Brennan Johnson is continuing to develop in his second year with Tottenham Hotspur.
In reaching ten goals across all competitions, the Wales international has already doubled his goalscoring output from last season. This has been helped by additionally playing in the Europa League where he has scored three times, but what is more impressive is that his decision-making in the final third has improved.
Being a consistent threat from different positions across the front line and areas of the box is a vital contribution to Ange Postecoglou’s side. With many more fixtures to be played, the 23-year-old is certainly set to achieve a personal best for goals scored in the Premier League this season.
-> Postecoglou admits he overruled Tottenham star’s wishes against Chelsea
But even with his scoring, Brennan Johnson still may not be pleasing Ange Postecoglou much. This is the view of John Wenham—the owner of the reputable Spurs podcast Lilywhite Rose. And he thinks the forward’s late introduction in Spurs’ 4-3 win over Manchester United in the Carabao Cup was “quite telling”.
“Johnson’s late introduction felt quite telling,” John Wenham exclusively told Tottenham News.
“It seemed as though Postecoglou didn’t feel comfortable bringing him on until the fourth goal had been scored, which is a bit worrying when it comes to Johnson’s position in the squad.
“United were able to make a host of changes and freshen things up, whereas Postecoglou kept looking toward his bench and wasn’t making any changes, which was met by frustration in the ground.”
Ange Postecoglou had a weakened bench again on Thursday owing to several injuries in his squad. Timo Werner was also missing due to illness. Johnson was a part of the substitutes but got introduced in the 90th minute by Big Ange, unlike his counterpart Ruben Amorim who was making wholesale changes.
Of course, both the head coaches had contrasting quality and depth on the benches but the matter of fact that Johnson was available and still it took until the final minute of the regulation time for him to get on the pitch was a bit concerning. This was particularly when Tottenham were crying out for fresh legs and energy in attack to stretch the United backline at 3-2.
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At one point, Johnson was one of the first names on Big Ange’s teamsheet. The Welshman’s recent omissions could be down to his poor display against Rangers at the Ibrox last week, where he started the game but was hooked in the 60th minute. He was also taken off at half-time in the 4-3 home defeat to Chelsea earlier this month due to him not feeling 100 per cent.
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That said, there is every chance the Spurs gaffer was resting the Nottingham-born winger in midweek to keep him fresh and healthy for Sunday’s big Premier League home game against Liverpool and beyond.
