Many casual fans and kids under the age of 10 will probably be saying who is he? Most people will have completely forgot Johnson was even at City, as he completely missed out on the revolution of the Blue side of Manchester as he was constantly pushed back in the pecking order by new multi-million signings whilst he struggled with niggling injuries.
However not so long ago the dynamic midfielder was tipped as one of England's rising young talents. He made his city debut in October 2006 as a fresh faced 18 year old in a 4-0 loss to Wigan, Johnson's introduction was one of the few highlights of that performance as his combatitive style and his creative ability highlighted him as a potential talent. He didn't start again until he played in a 2-0 win over Middlesborough in March but after that he didn't look back from there as he enjoyed a continued run in the team making 7 consectutive first team appearances season putting in good performances and impressing a lot of people however a hamstring injury ended his season prematurely.
He returned to the City side in the 2007-2008 season makin 23 appearances along with a couple of appearances for the England u21 side. However despite the teenagers bright start to his career at City he suffered an abdominal injury over the Christmas period of 2007 which would leave hime needing a double hernia operation and this injury really proved to be the catalyst of the players downfall.
He came back into the team after recovering to end the 07-08 season and made a bright start to the following season but a reoccurence of his abdominal problems put him out of action for nearly a year, which meant he only managed 3 appearances for the first team that season. Since then he has appeared only once more in a Carling Cup tie in 2009 against Scunthorpe scoring a goal but he later suffered a serious knee injury which again ended his season and ultimately it would seem his Manchester City career.
By the time Johnson had any sort of fitness back the City team had been overhauled with Multi-Million pounds investment and the former mid-table side were now title challengers. Johnson was now behind players such as Gareth Barry, Nigel De Jong, Yaya Toure, James Milner, David Silva amongst others and Johnson has never been seen again in the City squad.
So a young talent who has been very unlucky with injuries has lost his status as a squad member at Eastlands but it would seem that his injury problems were not the only reason he has been cut loose. Still at the age of 24 Johnson has still got some considerable playing time left in him but the Guardian has also published a photograph of Johnson now. He is no longer a fresh faced hot shot prospect on city's books he looks more like someone you'd expect to find down your local chippy.
Picture taken from Twitter
Johnson's fitness is not the only thing that has cost him, his attitude has been questioned by managers Roberto Mancini and predecessor Mark Hughes who both felt he didn't have the temperment to play football at a top class professional level. He has two drink driving offences to his name both coming in the space of three months in early 2012 which left him with a 3 year driving ban and a £5,500 fine. These offences add more weight to the claims by his managers about his attitude as it was often said he preferred a night out rather than to be in training.
It's a sad decline for a player who was once sounded out as England's next big thing but it would seem it may have been too much too young for the guy, as sitting around not playing football but still being paid £40 grand plus a week would prove difficult for most people not to get carried away and waste it. It would seem that he lost his way and chose to waste his money on food and nights out and the lack of fitness has certainly not helped as he has put on the pounds.
City have finally lost patience with the midfielder and his lack of fitness and desire to get back into the game and they have thrown him by the wayside to take an unused wage off their bills. They can't be blamed for this as it only makes sense, if he's not fit enough to even challenge for a place in their squads then what's the point in having him.
I only hope as a fan of Johnson and a keen admirer of him when he first broke into the premiership that this can provide him with the shock he needs to turn his life around and get back into the game. He is still young and no one can deny that he has talent he just needs to prove that he's got the fitness, the attitude and the desire to go with it.
There is still plenty of opportunitys for him if he could get fit and stay fit I don't see why clubs wouldn't want him if he could prove he was on the right track because he is obviously a player with something or else he wouldn't of been held onto at City for so long.
It's just a matter of waiting to see if Johnson wants it, if he does then we could see him back on the football pitch again soon, and I hope so too.
No comments:
Post a Comment