Eureka! I'm a Grown Aris Man: The Eddie Johnson Story [R]

Re: Eureka! I'm a Grown Aris Man: The Eddie Johnson Story

I'm sure if we average the opinions from the entire Aris contingent, we could get a solid depiction of how well they do.

 

Re: Eureka! I'm a Grown Aris Man: The Eddie Johnson Story

So did Cuper say anything about EJ at today's press conference?

 

Re: Eureka! I'm a Grown Aris Man: The Eddie Johnson Story

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-mazcQXqKo&feature=player_embedded"]YouTube- aris panathinaikos 0-0 (24-1-10)[/ame]


Johnson passed on the game at the 68 minute of the game and after 1 minute he had a great opportunity to get our team in front
At the moment I am too tired to write anything more so I will check later on, for any questions you may ask.

ARIS-Pamathinaikos 0-0 final score.

Cheers.

 

Re: Eureka! I'm a Grown Aris Man: The Eddie Johnson Story

Goalkeeper made a hell of a play. Unfortunate for Eddie

 

Re: Eureka! I'm a Grown Aris Man: The Eddie Johnson Story

Wow, that save was great. Poor Eddie. That would've been really nice for him to net a winner.

 

Re: Eureka! I'm a Grown Aris Man: The Eddie Johnson Story

It looked like Eddie was being tackled like Adrian Peterson.

 

Re: Eureka! I'm a Grown Aris Man: The Eddie Johnson Story

Those 2 guys watching are really in awe.

TBF to eddie he was being pulled back which put him off balance and the ball ,that ricocheted off the post, was behind him, tough to get power on that one.

 

Re: Eureka! I'm a Grown Aris Man: The Eddie Johnson Story

So unlucky. Can't imagine how much of a boost it would have been to net a winner. Eddie is starting to make a habit of getting unlucky. This sucks. Guy just needs to catch one break.

 

Re: Eureka! I'm a Grown Aris Man: The Eddie Johnson Story

You'll notice as well, Eddie's header set up the initial shot that went off the post and rebounded to him. Good work on that play overall.

shane

 

Re: Eureka! I'm a Grown Aris Man: The Eddie Johnson Story

Good try by johnson! Panathinaikos got lucky!


Also how is Koke? He left the game holding his shoulder, and looked upset to be leaving? Whats the story behind that?

 

Re: Eureka! I'm a Grown Aris Man: The Eddie Johnson Story

We have to wait for news. He is doubtful for the next game with Xanthi(Sunday).

 

Re: Eureka! I'm a Grown Aris Man: The Eddie Johnson Story

EJ was really unlucky with that shot. Tzorvas made probably the save of the year (and maybe his life).

With what few we've seen of him this far my evaluation is this:

+ He seems really strong, good in the air, has a good head, can hold the ball and then break it left or right, has fairly good timing... but...

- He is not as fast as i remember him to be from the matches of your national team (that i've seen), he is not very skilled (but i knew that already) and he still seems a bit nervous with the ball (bit i guess that will pass eventually)

Again i stress that we haven't seen a lot of him, so take everything we say with a pinch of salt...

On an unrelated note though, his kid is a cutie pie... she is sweet as hell and during the match she was inside of course in the cafe and she didn't stop dancing... very funny...

 

Re: Eureka! I'm a Grown Aris Man: The Eddie Johnson Story

Eddie's plenty fast .. when he decides he needs to put it in fourth gear.

It's just that his thought process tends to take a while to switch from the "Should I stay or should I go?" mode.

 

Re: Eureka! I'm a Grown Aris Man: The Eddie Johnson Story

Maybe EJ can be the Bobby Zamora of Greece.

 

Re: Eureka! I'm a Grown Aris Man: The Eddie Johnson Story

Maybe you're right about his speed, and truth be told he has not yet found an open field to be able to run. Most of the teams we played played fairly back and tight. But if that is correct, then he has speed but certainly lacks on acceleration. On those first two three steps... He is not that energized...

 

Re: Eureka! I'm a Grown Aris Man: The Eddie Johnson Story

His feet have plenty of acceleration.

Now, his noggin...

 

Re: Eureka! I'm a Grown Aris Man: The Eddie Johnson Story

not picking a fight but you just made that point in your last post. EJ's soccer IQ is justifiably, universally questioned ...to the point that it's a bit of a cliche, maybe even an outdated one.

forgetting the boosterish view that his awareness (& workrate) has been on a steady if modest incline since he went to cardiff... just looking at that play alone, it seems to me it might be time to give him a little credit for improved link up play, movement into space and taking solid shots on goal.

.

 

Re: Eureka! I'm a Grown Aris Man: The Eddie Johnson Story

thanks for the report!

 

Re: Eureka! I'm a Grown Aris Man: The Eddie Johnson Story

The soccer IQ bits were a bit exaggerated. He needed to expand his understanding of the game as the demands were different than what he was used to in MLS, and Fulham/Cardiff worked with him on that aspect.

I believe that's correct. Excellent speed but average acceleration. He is also an excellent jumper.

 

Re: Eureka! I'm a Grown Aris Man: The Eddie Johnson Story

I don't think SFS is saying Eddie lacks soccer IQ (whether he does or doesn't, I can't tell as of yet). He's just saying EJ can't make decisions at speed, which is something that can be remedied by playing a lot of fast-paced soccer in game situations where your decisions have big consequences both good and bad.

We saw this with Mike Bradley early is his career at BMG. When he came over from Holland, he was lacking in this department because the Bundesliga was faster than the Eredivisie and he had more responsibility for making the right outlet passes at BMG. He took a while to adapt and his ratings in the first few games was bad, and he was even benched if I remember. Eventually he adjusted to the speed and now he's ok at making the right decisions at speed, though he probably still makes too many side/back passes when he can't think of something.

Due to Eddie's lack of playing time recently I think it will take him some time to go through a similar adjustment process.