Quote Originally Posted by J R Hartley View Post
You asked wether a players abiliity changes depending on the manager. I said "oh dear" because that is quite simply a ridiculously naive question from someone who writes match reports and football blogs.

Of course a players influence on the game will depend on the managers tactics and what hes been asked to do by the manager. Hes not someone like Bale who can just float into any area of the pitch and control the game and its evident that Page tactics are simply not set up to get the best out of him.
A club paid £45 million for Johnson this summer, if you’re telling me that him looking so limited and inconsequential on Saturday was entirely down to Page, then I say Johnson’s not worth that money because a clearly talented player like him is incapable of imposing hi nemself on the defence of a team which I believe is ranked 96th in the world.

Two or three years ago, Rubin Colwill was being picked in Welsh squads ahead of Johnson, but then suddenly he kicked on and was soon clearly the first choice out of the two - watching him struggle so much on Saturday though makes you wonder if, perhaps, the original judgment was correct. I don’t really believe that, but I’m beginning to think that someone like Dan James, who doesn’t have Johnson’s natural talent or flair, is currently a better option for Wales than him because he influences games more than Johnson does.