Chadder View: Ange Postecoglou must start Brennan Johnson against Aston Villa
Brennan Johnson could begin to justify his Tottenham price tag against Aston Villa this weekend.
It has been a frustrating few weeks as a Spurs supporter.
After a fantastic start to the season, we spent much of the middle part of the 2023/24 campaign without several key stars due to injuries, suspensions or international tournaments.
Whatever could disrupt Tottenham did disrupt Tottenham. Now the only thing which is disrupting us is ourselves.
There are no more excuses for Ange Postecoglou, he has the bulk of his squad fit and available again for the final stretch of his debut season in the Premier League. Yet over the past couple of weeks, we have struggled to get back to our best.
The 2-1 home loss to Wolves was obviously frustrating, but even in wins against Brighton, Brentford and Crystal Palace, we have just about gotten over the line.
We’re not playing the same free-flowing, attacking football that made us such an exciting watch at the start of the season. However, that has the potential to change against Aston Villa.
Many of the teams we have played in recent weeks have arrived at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and sat back. Against Villa on Sunday (10 March), Unai Emery’s side will look to attack in front of their home support, which Postecoglou can take advantage of.
One big way he can capitalise on this is by playing the lightning-quick Johnson alongside the pacey Timo Werner on the left, who could both look to exploit the gaps left in behind by Villa and feed Son Heung-min.
Johnson has been in and out of the team this season, but he must start on Sunday.
Not only does his skillset suit the match, but he deserves to start after his cameo performance against Palace. The 22-year-old stepped off the bench to more or less win the game for us by teeing up both Werner and Son during the closing stages of the match.
Johnson will struggle against teams who park 11 players behind the ball, but when he has space to run into, he can be deadly.
Supporters have been waiting for a big moment from the Wales international, and that opportunity could present itself at Villa Park.
This is a huge match for Tottenham which could go a long way in determining whether or not they qualify for next season’s new-look UEFA Champions League.
If Johnson can take them one step closer toward that goal, he will finally start to repay the £47.5million that was spent to bring him from Nottingham to North London (Sky Sports News, 2 September 2023).
In other Tottenham news, Spurs have another gem on their hands after one Under-21 ace wowed Son Heung-min in first-team training footage.
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