Tottenham boss Thomas Frank calls Brennan Johnson an important player despite his lack of minutes in recent games
Tottenham Hotspur’s four-game unbeaten run in the Premier League came to an end on Sunday following a 2-1 home defeat to Aston Villa.
Spurs’ bright start to the Premier League campaign has faded following recent results. They’ve won just once in their last four league games- a 2-1 victory at Leeds United before the October international break. The 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa saw the north London side drop to sixth in the table, leaving Thomas Frank with plenty of work to do in the upcoming games.
Tottenham quickly turn their attention to the Champions League on Wednesday as they lock horns with AS Monaco in France. Unbeaten in the Champions League thus far with a win and a draw, Thomas Frank and Co. would be raring to continue that with a positive result at AS Monaco.
Thomas Frank speaks on getting the best out of Brennan Johnson
One Tottenham player who has not played much of late is Brennan Johnson.
The Wales international was the club’s hero in the Europa League final against Manchester United in May, scoring the winner to end their 17-year-long trophy drought. He enjoyed a good start to the season under Frank, scoring in back-to-back wins over Burnley and Manchester City.
However, surprisingly, Brennan Johnson was benched for three consecutive matches after Tottenham’s 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth at the end of August. The winger played the full 90 minutes against Doncaster Rovers in the Carabao Cup third round and scored his third goal of the season. Since then, though, the 24-year-old has only started once for Tottenham and that was in the Champions League against Bodo/Glimt. In the last two league games against Leeds and Villa, the Welshman has got a combined five minutes of playing time.
Speaking in the pre-match press conference of the AS Monaco game, Frank was asked about Johnson and his plans to get the best out of the winger. The Tottenham gaffer described Johnson as an “important player”, despite his lack of game time.
“He’s a very important player. Such important goals last season and top scorer. Started the season well here so it’s down to making it fit. Brennan can play both left and right – Mo [Kudus] has done good on the right and, on the left, Wilson [Odobert] has done well,” Frank said (h/t BBC Sport).
Johnson faces fight to reclaim his spot
Ange Postecoglou used Johnson on the right flank and he emerged as Tottenham’s top scorer last season with 18 goals. Frank has preferred to deploy the Welshman on the left flank, and the Nottingham-born talent has struggled to repay the gaffer’s faith.
It is very clear that playing on the left does not suit him, but with Mohammed Kudus having locked down the right-wing spot, Johnson’s only way to get minutes right now is to either start games on the left flank or be satisfied with a bench role. The Tottenham gaffer preferring the likes of Wilson Odobert and Mathys Tel on the left and as a No.9 respectively in recent games and giving Johnson hardly some minutes to make an impact shows Frank’s lack of faith Frank in him.
The onus is now on Johnson to prove his gaffer wrong and regain his starting spot. Following a quick turnaround, it will be interesting to see whether the Danish tactician makes changes to his squad and hands Johnson a start against Monaco in midweek.