Johnson certainly has similarities with the Liverpool captain and he showed once again yesterday why he is regarded in the City dressing room as an FEC - future England captain.
Article continues
They are big expectations but Johnson is not short of confidence, a fact that was demonstrated not only by his outstanding display alongside the renascent Dietmar Hamann but by one of his first conversations with Eriksson. "I congratulated him for playing the last nine games of last season," the Swede recollected after watching Johnson make the decisive contribution to a victory that moves City to second place in the Premier League. "He said, 'Yeah, I saved us [from relegation].' He's confident, OK."
And with good reason. Johnson not only eclipsed England's man of the moment, Gareth Barry, and the Under-21 captain, Nigel Reo-Coker, but underlined why he is now considered a mandatory pick by Eriksson, earning lavish praise in the process. The 19-year-old is tall, strong and composed on the ball, mature well beyond his years, and has an appreciation of space that is requisite for a top midfielder. His emergence has been one of the principal reasons why Eriksson is the season's first manager of the month and it was an exquisite goal which settled this contest, bursting forward from midfield and firing a low shot beyond Scott Carson despite the proximity of several defenders.
"He's the all-round midfielder," Eriksson enthused. "Most midfielders have a speciality, whether it's defending, tackling, passing or shooting, but you can't say that about Michael because he can do all of those things, and that is very rare for such a young man. This is a very big talent.":love:
Eriksson was entitled to be grateful for Johnson's contribution because City, in truth, were lucky, and not for the first time this season. Martin O'Neill, the Aston Villa manager, described himself as "frustrated and disappointed" with his side's display, and there were angry words in the visitors' dressing room, but the Birmingham club are still entitled to feel they ought to have taken something from the game, particularly after Kasper Schmeichel's erratic goalkeeping.
რა ბიჭი გვეზდება
java83"He hit it," wrote Sir Alex Ferguson of one particularly vicious Alan Shearer finish against Poland in 1996, "as if he wanted to kill it."
ბრიტანული ფეხბურთის ბრიგადა- მე-7 ნაწილი, ფეხბურთის სამშობლოს ფანების თემა
