Stuart Pearce believes Ben Johnson is ‘getting better and better’ after David Moyes handed the defender a starting role as West Ham United beat Manchester City, via football.london.
The Irons eliminated the Citizens from the Carabao Cup on penalties on Wednesday night after drawing 0-0 in regular time. Johnson did well to limit what impact Raheem Sterling could have on the tie, as he deputised for Vladimir Coufal.
Coufal returned to the bench in midweek and played the final eight-minutes after missing three games with a groin injury. Moyes relied on Johnson to occupy West Ham’s right-back slot against Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and Genk while without the Czech full-back.
Johnson had only played 181-minutes across all competitions this season before West Ham beat Everton 1-0 earlier this month. But they have now taken six wins in all six games which he has started, and are yet to concede. Scoring eight without reply.
Pearce praises Johnson academy connection
Pearce believes Johnson is showing constant growth with his continued chances to feature for West Ham this season. Moyes’ assistant also notes the Hammers’ pride at the 21-year-old establishing himself in the senior fold with an academy connection.
“The most important thing about Ben is whenever you pass him or meet him first thing in the morning, he’s got a smile on his face,” Pearce said. “He takes in all the knowledge you can pass on to him. He’s a wonderful professional to deal with and work with.
“We’re very proud to have him out of our academy system, as well, which is a real plus for us. Especially with the connection to this club, with the academy. And I think he’s just developing and getting better and better. And like with all young players, the more game time they have, the better they’ll get. So, I am delighted for the boy.”
Johnson showed signs of the improvement Pearce lauds as West Ham took Manchester City to penalties on Wednesday. He brought plenty of energy to the right-back slot and produced a vital goal-saving tackle to deny Ilkay Gundogan.
The youngster held his own against Sterling, too, with the Citizens’ £300k-a-week forward enjoying very little success in east London. And coupled with Coufal in the final stages to stop Phil Foden from finding a late breakthrough.
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