Ange Postecoglou will be hoping Tottenham’s 1-1 draw at West Ham United is a point gained and not two points dropped in their race for Champions League football.
Spurs had the chance to move into fourth place with a win, and despite Brennan Johnson opening the scoring after just five minutes, the team’s set-piece issues reared its ugly head again.
Kurt Zouma was the man to hurt Tottenham, and despite the away side’s 68% possession, they didn’t and couldn’t hurt West Ham as much as they wanted.
In recent weeks, it hasn’t been James Maddison stepping up for Spurs and cooking in the final third, but Brennan Johnson.
Despite the 22-year-old’s heartbreak of not reaching Euro 2024 with Wales, he has ensured that hasn’t translated itself onto the domestic stage.
Johnson came off the bench over the weekend and helped Tottenham beat Luton and he did brilliantly to get on the scoresheet at the London Stadium.
Alan Shearer knows what it’s like scoring for fun and praised Johnson’s attacking movement for his goal, as he told Premier League Productions (02/04/24 at 10:20 pm).
The legendary striker stated it was ‘really good play’ from the Welshman to hang out wide, then attack the near post when Timo Werner was darting in and delivering the ball across the box.
That was a movement of a goalscorer and a type of goal you will score frequently throughout the season, so these are positive signs from the player.
Brennan Johnson’s goal v West Ham United
“I think it’s a great run,” said Shearer.
“If you look at Brennan Johnson where he is and where he ends up, you can see him attacking that ball, just to get across his defender at the near post.
“Look where he is now, right on the far side, that’s what you have to do as a wide forward. You have to get into goalscoring positions and you have to attack the ball sometimes at the near post, and he did just that. He got his reward, really good play and a good finish.”
Brennan Johnson is performing better than Dejan Kulusevski
Usually, Postecoglou opts to play Dejan Kulusevsski on the right-hand side, but he was dropped for Johnson against West Ham.
The signs were pretty clear that was going to happen because the Swede was hooked off at half-time against Luton.
It has been pretty clear for a while that Johnson now needs to be starting in front of Kulusevski regularly.
The £70k-a-week star is showcasing great improvement since his big-money transfer from Nottingham Forest in the summer and signs that patience is required in his development.
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