Blog

Liverpool defender Glen Johnson has stated that he has always seem Brendan Rodgers is one of the top managers in the world. The former Swansea manager did not experience success immediately after taking over at Liverpool in 2012.

However, he is reaping the rewards for sticking to his tactics even during the troubled times, as Liverpool have been able to demolish opponents with great ease this campaign. This is coupled to the top of the table with just five matches remaining. They have an opportunity to cement their place at the top of the table with a win over title rivals Manchester City, who are the visitors to Anfield this weekend.

After an injury ravaged first half of the campaign, Johnson is slowly coming back to his best. He was recently described by Rodgers as the best right back in the world. Johnson has sort of responded to this compliment by saying that he has always regarded Rodgers as a great manager. Rodgers has accepted that he has never been in this position – challenging for the title – before, but he is sticking to the underdogs tag. City and Chelsea are the other teams involved in the title race, while no team has managed to win the title after finishing seventh in the previous season.

“Brendan was always in among the first team when he was there. He took some of the training sessions, he would always work closely with Mourinho and you could see that in training. I always thought he had the potential to become a top manager, if that was what he wanted. Obviously, I didn’t know what his aims were then but you could see the way he was with the players – he enjoyed seeing them improve,” said Johnson, who has worked with the manager previously at Chelsea.

Liverpool are in with a shout to win the first league championship since 1990 by virtue of a great performance from forwards like Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez. The team could be just two points behind the leaders Chelsea if they win the match in hand against Sunderland, who will be the visitors to Anfield in the midweek round of action.

Liverpool recently managed a 6-3 rout of Cardiff, which put them on to 82 goals for the season. They are on course to beating Chelsea’s record of 103 goals during an entire Premier league season.

Moreover, the club are certain to finish in the top four, which was the objective at the start of the campaign. Since they have done extremely well in the last few months, defender Glen Johnson believes that most of the neutrals will be back in Liverpool for the title. Manchester City, Chelsea, and Arsenal are the other teams involved in one of the tightest Premier league title races in recent memory. Brendan Rodgers has employed a passing style of football, which is similar to the one used by Barcelona during the most successful era under Guardiola.

This has been loved by many and their goals have also been exciting to watch. Johnson says that Liverpool are not thinking of the title right now.

“Just to spice things up the neutrals would want to see us win it. Nobody wants the same teams to be winning it over and over again. I guess the neutrals will be packing a punch for us. We must be good to watch. People watch football to enjoy themselves, see goals and see exciting football, and I think we do provide that. I think people will be rooting for us because it will be something different,” Johnson said ahead of the Sunderland match.

The Liverpool supporters would be pleased to know that Glen Johnson is expected to return to the first team action soon. His comeback would certainly help the Reds in their attempt to secure a place in the next season’s Champions League.

About two weeks ago, Brendan Rodgers, the man in charge at Liverpool, had disclosed that Johnson would have to sit out for an uncertain period of time as he had a number of niggles. After that, it was rumoured that the 29 years old Englishman might have been done for the season.

But, it seems that the Right Back has recovered quite quickly and after remaining out for just 3 matches, he is all set to be back as the medical team of Liverpool has been reported to have declared him fit.

However, it’s hard to imagine him coming back as early as this weekend, but, for the game against Fulham which will take place on 12th of this month, he might be named in the Liverpool squad.

Liverpool had been playing without some of their big names off late and had lost points against some of the weaker sides because of that, but, now with Johnson being fit, they would be hoping that they get back on track.

Johnson’s fast recovery would have brought smiles on the face of the Three Lions boss Roy Hodgson as well. The 29 years old defender would prove to be mighty useful for England in Brazil.

After making his debut about a decade back in 2003, Johnson has so far played close to 50 games for England and has found the net once.

He should be picked by Hodgson to feature in the friendly match against Denmark which will take place next month.

T

Liverpool is another team that is enjoying a fantastic start of this season with Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge bursting with fine performances as they are pushing the club into the top spots of the Premier League and are not showing any signs of slowing down.

This sudden change of Liverpool has made Glen Johnson step up and tell the media that this squad is the best he has seen ever since joining the squad which is captained by Steven Gerrard.

‘’We’ve had some fantastic players in the past that have obviously moved on,” Johnson told the club’s official website. But in terms of a squad and starting XI, I think it’s the best since I’ve been around’’.

“Every good team bounces back after a disappointing result. To do that with a clean sheet and four goals is an ideal day. When we lose the ball, for the next few seconds we want to try to win it back as quickly as possible. We’ve got to make this a difficult place for teams to come and play, and easier for us to play and get the points’’.

The 29 years old defender of Liverpool Glen Johnson is a big target of the Italian side Napoli with their current coach Rafael Benitez having already worked together with Glen back when he was in charge of Liverpool and has already stated that is a big admirer of the defender.

The transfer would cost Napoli at least £7 million which seems to be a steep price for a player that is reaching the 30 years of age but Rafael Benitez is in search of a new right-back for his squad and Johnson might just be the man he needs for the defensive area of Napoli.

Glen Johnson had to be removed from his team’s match against Manchester United that saw Liverpool taking a surprising victory from the team of David Moyes.

The medical team expected Johnson to make his return in around 10 weeks although he recovered just in time for Liverpool’s encounter against Newcastle but even with his return all they could do was settle for a 2-2 draw.

Brendan Rodgers had already stated: “Glen is the type of player you don’t realize what you’re missing until he’s not in the team,” he said.

‘He was outstanding against Manchester United so it will be great when we get him back’.

The 29 years old defender who was injured for 6 weeks has 18 months remaining on his contract and also admitted that no talks have been held concerning any extensions or future with the club but despite this, he stated that he will continue to work hard in order to remain with Liverpool.

According to the latest betting online, Liverpool have a chance fo finishing in the top four for the first time in years this season, with Unibet even giving odds of less than 10-1 on them winning the Title.

‘This is where I want to be. It’s where I’m happy and it’s what I’m fighting to do at the moment. I’m fighting to get a shirt on again, it will resolve itself. I’ve got 18 months left and no-one’s mentioned anything further to me, so my job is to warrant a new contract.’

It is every player’s dream to play for their national side in any World Cup and taking into consideration that Johnson has not played any important role for his national team, this might just be time for him to work even harder in order to make his claim in not only Liverpool but also attract the attention of England’s coach Roy Hodgson and include him as a consistent player in his starting XI lineup.

Liverpool’s Glen Johnson has become one of the best attacking right backs in the country. However, the future of the defender is yet to be sorted because he has less than two years left on his contract.

Johnson has accepted this part, but he is not yet ready to be worried about his contractual situation. It is understood that Liverpool are preparing an offer to keep the 29-year-old at the club. Johnson has also had niggling injury problems since the start of the season. It has also resulted in him being dropped from the latest England squad.

Players like Manchester United’s Chris Smalling and Tottenham’s Kyle Walker are proving to be much capable deputies. They were selected by manager Roy Hodgson for the double World Cup qualifying matches against Montenegro and Poland.

Johnson was injured for these matches, but still the presence of these players provides a viable alternative for Hodgson in case the performance of the former Portsmouth and Chelsea defender goes down from now till the end of the season. Johnson has acknowledged that playing in the 2014 World Cup is more important to him right now.

Even though Liverpool are preparing a new contract offer, it is understood that they may ask Johnson to lower his wages. This could prove to be a stumbling block.

“This is where I want to be. It’s where I’m happy and it’s what I’m fighting to do at the moment. I’m fighting to get a shirt on again. It will resolve itself. I’ve got 18 months left and no-one’s mentioned anything further to me, so my job is to warrant a new contract. All I can do is concentrate on working hard and doing well on the pitch. That’s served me well over the last five years and I’m sure it will serve me well in the future,” said Johnson.

Liverpool are currently facing a strong fight to keep Luis Suarez at the club. The striker has made his desire to Liverpool public in the last few days. Arsenal have made an official offer of £ 40 million for the player, but Liverpool have rejected it.

They are extremely insistent on the fact that they would not sell one of their best players to the domestic rival. Further, the club also value the Uruguay star in excess of £ 50 million. A number of Liverpool players have been coming in support of the club.

Captain Steven Gerrard recently said that the player should consider staying at Liverpool after what the club has done during his troubled times in English football.

Now, defender Glen Johnson has also joined the bandwagon by urging the player to stay at the club. Suarez will be missing the first six league matches as a result of an English FA ban. Johnson has said that the club is building for the future under the management of Brendan Rodgers. Liverpool, though, will be without the Champions league football once again and it is thought to be the main factor behind Suarez demanding a transfer.

Johnson is confident that Liverpool will be able to finish in the top four this season.
“We are building under Brendan. With the owners that we have got now, you can see the foundations are there and everything is going the right way. If we can keep the players that we have got here then everything looks promising. The members of staff, the players – we are all the same. We want to keep Luis here. It was good to see Luis back,” said the defender after the striker made an appearance for Liverpool in the friendly match against Melbourne Victory, which finished as a 2-0 win for the English club.

The England national team has not performed well in any major tournament in recent decades. In fact, they have been unable to get past the quarter-final stage of major tournaments in recent times.

This, however, will be brought to an end at the next major tournament according to Liverpool and England defender Glen Johnson. After being criticised for his inept defending during his Chelsea days, the former Chelsea and Portsmouth defender has emerged as a first choice right back for the country in the last few years.

The attacking threat that he provides from the back is also extremely crucial for the style of play for both England and Liverpool. Johnson has said that one of the major reasons for England’s failure to get past the quarter-final stage has been the lack of a break at just the right stage in the tournament, which he believes the nation will get at the next major tournament. England are certainly not one of the favourites to win the FIFA World Cup 2014, which will be held in Brazil. In fact, they are not outright favourites to qualify as the winners from their group since they are in a fight with Montenegro at the top of the table.

Other top teams like Germany are way out in front in their respective groups.
“With the squad we have got we can definitely do better in a major tournament. In each game there are tiny little elements that decide each game. A matter of inches can determine if you win, but ratio-wise we have been generally going out around the quarter-final stages so you certainly do want to improve on that. I would say Brazil are the most romantic of teams, purely for variety,” said Johnson ahead of the friendly match with Brazil in Rio de Janeiro.

The Liverpool defender Glen Johnson has been a major doubt face the major competition for England in the World Cup qualifiers – Montenegro. However, the manager Roy Hodgson has confirmed that the player is expected to be fit for this crucial match.

The defender has been suffering from toe infection for more than last six months now. He did not take part in the World Cup qualifying match against San Marino a few days ago. England won this match quite comfortably after an 8-0 thrashing of the minnows. However, the real challenge will come in the form of the match against Montenegro.

Hodgson has admitted that the player is not fully fit, but he can play with the help of painkilling injections. Hodgson has said that the injury has once again occurred for the player ahead of the match with San Marino. This led to him not taking part in the match. England certainly need to win the match against Montenegro in order to avoid a potential play-off to qualify for the World Cup. The group winner takes the World Cup place without having to involve in any play-offs with teams from other continents. Montenegro are currently winning the race to finish in the first position ahead of England.

“In the Euros he had a slight toe problem which we had to look after. All of a sudden it has occurred, although not to the same extent. There is no doubt he could have played [against San Marino] – we could even have had him on the bench – but it would have meant an injection and I preferred to continue the treatment so he didn’t have to put a boot on. We hope it will get better in the next couple of days. If it doesn’t it might need an injection but there is no problem,” said Hodgson.

The Liverpool defender Glen Johnson has said that the club needs to put behind the disappointment of having lost the recent league match against Aston Villa 3-1 at Anfield. Liverpool came into this match with a real belief that we can finally qualify for the Champions League as they were just a few points below the top four following a recent run of good results.

However, they suffered a major setback in their efforts to qualify for this competition after losing the match against struggling Aston Villa 3-1 at Anfield. The defender Glen Johnson, though, has said that the players should put behind this defeat in order to concentrate on the forthcoming matches.

Liverpool will be facing a tough match the form of Fulham and it will be once again at Anfield. Even though the club had a great record at Anfield under the reign of Roy Hodgson, they have not been very good at home since then. They have had three victories at home in this new season, but all the three victories have come against teams that are in the relegation zone. There are yet to beat a team above the relegation zone at Anfield, but they will have a great opportunity against Fulham.

“There was no extra pressure because we all believe that as well. We all felt the same. It was a great opportunity to get three more points but we have a lot of games coming up, so we have a few days to reflect on this and put it behind us and get ready for the game next week,” said Johnson ahead of the match with Fulham. Johnson has been one of the best players for Liverpool this season, but he has been unable to prevent the team from slipping into the bottom half of the table.