Stuart Pearce has claimed that Ben Johnson is ‘one of the best finishers’ in West Ham training, as he told talkSPORT (02/11/21 at 7:40 am).
Over the weekend, Johnson opened the scoring for West Ham, as the right-back’s well-placed finish was too good for Emi Martinez in between Aston Villa’s sticks during their 4-1 win on the road.
It was an outstanding performance from Johnson, who is now keeping the popular Vladimir Coufal out of the team.
It says a lot about how well the West Ham academy star is performing and the improvements he has made in his game.
Pearce gets to see the 21-year-old in action on a daily basis in training, as he explained how good he is with both feet when competing in finishing practise.
“Johnno is a fantastic kid,” said Pearce. “A great person to work with on a daily basis. He always comes in with a smile on his face. He wants to get better.
“He has got two sensational feet. You saw his left-foot finish at the weekend. You take a finishing practice and he is one of your best finishers, both left and right foot.
“He really has got a lot of talent and we are pleased that he has come through our academy.”
David Moyes and his coaching staff deserve huge credit for how they have helped improve players like Johnson.
What’s even better is that the Hammers are pushing for the Champions League places and flying high in Europe, yet they have spent very little compared to others.
Someone like Everton have spent hundreds of millions over the years, ironically enough after Moyes left them, in order to be in a position West Ham find themselves in now.
Yet, the distance and quality of players between the two is a world apart, which just goes to show how well Moyes is performing.
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