Everton confirm acceptance of Johnson bid
Here.
Everton have agreed a deal with Fulham to sell Andrew Johnson.
The 27-year-old striker has been given permission to discuss personal terms with the London club with a view to a multi-million pound switch to Craven Cottage.
A Club statement read: “Everton can confirm that it has agreed an eight figure sum with Fulham for the services of Andrew Johnson. This is subject to the player agreeing personal terms and negotiating a medical.”
Johnson did not travel with the rest of the Everton squad to the USA for the pre-season preparations in Chicago and Denver.
He was Everton’s Club record signing when he arrived from Crystal Palace for £8.6m in the summer of 2006.
He has netted 22 goals from 74 appearances in his two years at Goodison Park.
Here follows some tactical rambling to explain why this will help:
Here’s what pace can do. On the left we see a team using a high line to defend against us. They do this because when you have a high line you have less far to travel when you win the ball. If you win the ball on your own 18 yard line you have to travel the whole length of the pitch to create a chance. If you have a high line everyone’s further forward, so when you win the ball you’ll be a lot nearer the opponent’s goal.
That’s the theory. But against pace you can’t play a high line or, as you can see on the left, the opponent can pick you off with through balls. So you have to defend a bit deeper to stop this happening.
What this does is make it harder to squeeze the game in midfield. If the defence retreats then the midfield has to as well. If it doesn’t there’s loads of space *between* the two units, which can be exploited by teams with attacking midfielders like Gera, Bullard and Davies. If a team does retreat that makes it harder for it to attack us, as up to eight of the defending players will be deep in their own half. And our players will naturally be that bit further forward when in possession. Which is a good thing.
All because we have some proper pace.
That’s the theory anyway.
It will be a successful season now! It just depends how one defines success!
Top half. I’d be amazed if we managed it. But with Johnson (fingers crossed), who knows…
A great signing. AJ is international quality and hopefully playing regularly will see Capello pick him.
Of course, the pacy player in question must have a decent first touch to control said through ball, lest the high line defense catches up with him while he tries in vain to maneuver the ball this way and that (I am looking in your direction, Eddie Johnson).
Another thing about Andy Johnson that is not easily captured by numbers but jumps out every time I see him play is how intensely he pressures defenders. I would think this on occasion causes mistakes, or at least makes building from the back more challenging for the opposition.
I’m cautiously optimistic about this signing. We have a pretty darn good midfield now and with A. Johnson and Zamora, I think we have two guys who can do quite a bit with the midfield service they’ll receive.
I like this signing for 2 reasons: it shows progress in the quality and caliber of player we are bringing in, and it shows our commitment to improving…to our own players as well as to other prospects down the line.
btw, I got my copy of The Fulham Review today all the way on the west coast of the US. I look forward to reading it, especially having been to a couple of games this season under Sanchez and seeing how much the team had improved come April and May this year.
Cheers
Is it me or does 8 figures seem a little steep?
I like this signing for 2 reasons: it shows progress in the quality and caliber of player we are bringing in, and it shows our commitment to improving…to our own players as well as to other prospects down the line.
btw, I got my copy of The Fulham Review today all the way on the west coast of the US. I look forward to reading it, especially having been to a couple of games this season under Sanchez and seeing how much the team had improved come April and May this year.
Cheers