Yep. Put me in that group too, that EJ's soccer IQ isnt as 'low' as people put it. He is a smart player when he has the chance, and hopefully we'll see more briliant goals and movements from him while he is at Aris'.
SKODA Xanthi-Aris Salonica2-1 @ Pigadia, Xanthi 15' Marcelinho Leite 35' Ellington 90+ Eddie Johnson Stats >> http://www.galanissportsdata.com/football/national/season2009_10/aetblgame.asp?game=158 Photos >> Johnson goes past the GK and scores his first goal for Aris Aris fans who live in Xanthi were there, despite the prohibition. The God of War will never play alone... Adu is going past a defender Videos >> [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud-g1CBqzYo&feature=player_embedded#"]YouTube- Matchday 20: SKODA Xanthi 2-1 Aris (Marcelo Leite 25', Nathan Ellington 35' - Eddie Johnson 90')[/ame] Τorrents >> http://www.arismania.com/index.php?page=torrent-details&id=1cd8a32ab136dae177d7b389ca592f0bfd1d27c6 http://www.arismania.com/index.php?page=torrent-details&id=eb0adb99973de9d179f371a188442539871ec4cf Evaluation of Aris' players >> Sifakis 6 - Not a good game for our GK. Conceded 2 goals and was partly responsible for the 2nd, as he didn't block the parallel cross. He didn't have any other problems, but when you concede 2 goals, you can't get a hige rating. Neto 4 - Poor performance by our right side back for another game. He lost his opponent, resulting to the first goal and had several mistakes throughout the game. He didn't threat offensively at all and his cooperation with Javito on the right flank was really poor. Nasuti 5 - Didn't manage to withstand the attacks of the opponents. He was running to correct the mistakes of Arano, the left back and so, he didn't hold on to his position, leading to both goals. Guiaro 5 - Same goes for Ronaldo. The attacking players of the opponents threated a lot and managed to score 2 goals. He didn't block the cross in the 2nd goal and generally speaking he didn't cooperate efficiently with the rest of the defensive line. Arano 3 - Don't mean to be harsh on him, since he's been playing for a whole year with no vacation, but yesterday he was disappointing. He lost all battles, he made many personal unforced mistakes, 2 of them leading to the goals. His worst performance so far... Prittas 5 - Mediocre performance from Prittas. It's obvious that his cooperation with Nacho isn't working as well as with Nafti. He ran a lot but didn't manage to cut the opponents' midfielders or create chances. He needs perhaps some breaths, since he's been playing non-stop sunday-wednesday-sunday for over a month. Nacho Garcia 5 - He is still away from his familiar standards. He isn't ready to play for 90 minutes, especially in such a crappy field. He didn't cooperate with Prittas nor with the flanks and the attackers. We need the good, old Nacho to employ a functioning 4-4-2, since he is a player that both defends and attacks very well. But, he is way off that standards. We are being patient with him and hoping that he's fully recovering from his unjury soon. Calvo 5 - He was constantly marked by 2 players and given the fact that he played on the left side (his "opposite" side), he didn't manage to threat. He was mistakenly stopped for offside in the first half, perhaps deprived from a certain goal. He didn't play close to the other midfielders and thus, he didn't threat as much as we wanted to. Adu did it much better than him. It's obvious that Toni needs to be placed back on the right wing and hopefully with Adu, that will happen soon enough. Javito 5 - Same as Calvo. He tried to threat in the first half, but in the second he was really silent. He made 2-3 remarkable crosses in the first 45 minutes, almost leading to goals, but apart from that he didn't threat the left side of Xanthi's defence. He was replaced by Aravidis and from that moment, Aris became much more dangerous. Koke 5 - Very unpleasant playing conditions for our captain. He was fiercely marked by the defenders and that resulted to a severe injury that put him out of the field. He almost made an assist to Campora, but the Argentinian didn't score that clear cut opportunity on the 55th minute. Campora 5 - He was very "silent" but had a very important missed opportunity on the 55th minute that could have put us back on the game. Johnson 7 - He opened his account! Remarkable performance by EJ that was perfectly rewarded by his 1st goal with Aris. The luck did him a favor this time (remember 2-3 times that turned its back on him) and recompensated him for his performance. He ran a lot, won several aerial battles and in 2-3 occasions, he proved that he can dribble equally well. He also was "responsible" for Xanthi's red card. Adu 7 - Perfect debut for Freddy! He made an incredible assist to his friend and proved right all these people who thought that these 2 have great chemistry together. He dribbled a lot, he won several fouls and took a lot of initiative during his participation. He kept the ball on his feet as much as needed and almost scored a late equaliser in the 95th minute. I couldn't think a better start for Freddy (and Eddie of course)! Aravidis 6 - He brought a fresh air to the team, running, pressing and threatening as a second striker, next to Johnson. I was impressed by his contribution; he proved he is worth more playing minutes in Aris. I am pretty sure he's gonna have it. Solid performance!
In the post game thread there were questions over whether Freddy intended to lift that ball or play it through on the ground. Given the highlight above, it is clear to me he meant to put it over the three defenders in front of him and into Eddie. It was an amazing play from both.
Got to agree, I think you just try to get a touch toward goal there, which is hard enough with that ball over the shoulder...he did well to get a foot to it, send it in an on-goal direction, and react wuickly to the carom.