Steve Johnson in the midfield

[Berserker26]

People - what do you think about Stevie J in the midfield, if i may hesitate an opinion after only 2 games of seeing the deliberate move of putting him in the middle i must say i'm a little worried.

The St.Kilda game especially, yes he had a lot of disposals however i think he's a little to clever to be a permanent fixture, i think in the forward line his creativity serves him better, he confuses opponents and can finish. In the midfield you finish a lot less and you are part of the machine that helps the ball out of defence into the forward line, just a few little things especially in the St.Kilda match seem to show that while Stevie is capable of running around in the middle and gathering a lot of touches he may need to stick to the fundamentals of the game more?

What do you guys think? I'm just replaying over and over in my head his over the shoulder handball while streaking through the middle that was a shocker, catching the rest of the run with players off guard, causing a turnover.

 

[Scottland2007]

Re: Stevie J in the midfield

Opposition coaches would love to see Stevie J and Chapman dragged into defence by following whoever they are on in the midfield. However, I think the loss of Judas would be filled by having Johnson, Chapman, Varcoe and Kelly rotating through the midfield. Would prefer them to drift forward than into defence though. (However you don't want the opposition to have a loose man in your defence).

 

[kellykellykelly]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again.

He is at his best when he is playing by the numbers football. Now he has filled his game with low percentage party tricks.

Needs to have a look at what he was doing well in the first half of '09.

 

[Ninty]

I ****ing hate it. He was terrible against St Kilda.

He needs to be in the forward half at all times.

EDIT: Just like I've said before... I said this back in April 2009. http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=559666

 

[LifeSpan-Void]

Look at his '08 GF: 30+ possessions, but did SFA. Needs to stay a forward IMO.

 

[Farmer2Goggin]

Must take the risk out of his game if he is to add value to the Midfield.
That look away handball and the indiscriminate soccer are just too risky for the Midfield.
His party tricks look sensational in the forward line when they lead to goals , exact opposite in the MF when they give the opposition goals.
We need his scoring power more than ever with our KPF situation the way it is.

 

[BotsMaster]

If he is to stay in the midfield then he needs to get rid the party tricks and use basic skills. He can use his party tricks in the fowardline as there is less risk of a turnover.

I agree with farmer that we do need his scoring power more than helping out the defence.

 

[JUBJUB]

Don't see a need to play him in the midfield,there's other players who could have a run in the midfield.Up forward is where he's needed.

 

[Selective Retention]

He's no better than Mitch Duncan etc through the midfield and if he plays midfield where does the 100+ goals we got from Ablett and SJ last year come from?

Scott should be lynched if he pulls that shit in the season proper.

 

[Partridge]

People - what do you think about Stevie J in the midfield, if i may hesitate an opinion after only 2 games of seeing the deliberate move of putting him in the middle i must say i'm a little worried.

A few of us have said the same thing many times - Johnson is at his best doing the basics. The magical touch seems to reappear very quickly when he does that.

But, he's not a midfielder. Give him license to run up there, but he has to be in the forward line. We desperately need 60 goals plus from him this season if we are to be any hope of a top 4 finish.

Also, Josh Hunt is not a forward. Not even close.

 

[Berserker26]

Agree with the above post - also just on Josh Hunt, i think he should be allowed to get up the ground, would love to see him given a go on the wing more, his kicking is so good we should try him penetrating it into the fwd line

 

[you pick one]

Johno uses a fair bit of the ground now to try and blow his opponent up or simply lose him in the congestion more damaging if he remains our side of the center.
Simple answers no.

 

[dazbroncos]

I just think the high risk high reward stunts that he pulls off are better suited up forward..simply because when it comes off it usually results in a goal..

If it fails then at least possession is lost in our half....

If he has license to pull his Houdini stunts all over the ground...and he will bc he is that good, the downside is turnover a hell of a lot closer to opposition goal....

and whom exactly would replace his 50 odd goals per season and his goal assists are nothing short of massively important.....

Its not a tank or engine issue i just think he's better up forward... but whereever he goes stop playing for so many frees!!!!

Go Catters!

 

[meto]

If we have a clean sheet to pick a side then we have the luxury to play him forward, but its nice to know his inventive skills also work midfield.

Folks, its not such a bad idea. Prooved to me he can also play that role!!!!
The guy can be used somewhere else apart from HFF, no harm done!!!

 

[Berserker26]

If we have a clean sheet to pick a side then we have the luxury to play him forward, but its nice to know his inventive skills also work midfield.

Folks, its not such a bad idea. Prooved to me he can also play that role!!!!
The guy can be used somewhere else apart from HFF, no harm done!!!

I am not against him rotating through there for a portion of the game, however i don't think he needs to be there at the opening bounce, granted with the teams we've fielded over the last couple of weeks we've not had the full stock of mid-fielders...

 

[Farmer2Goggin]

I am not against him rotating through there for a portion of the game, however i don't think he needs to be there at the opening bounce, granted with the teams we've fielded over the last couple of weeks we've not had the full stock of mid-fielders...

Yes, rotated thru there sparingly for me. SJ is an "old dog" who will not learn any new ( conservative ) tricks. Keep him predominantly in the forward line where he does the most damage.

 

[SJ]

I am not against him rotating through there for a portion of the game, however i don't think he needs to be there at the opening bounce, granted with the teams we've fielded over the last couple of weeks we've not had the full stock of mid-fielders...

I looked up the other night and in the centre bounce we had Simpson, Hogan, Christensen and Simpkin! About 20 games between them.

 

[Maydok]

I love it when Stevie J plays the Harlem Globetrotter in the forward pocket at Skilled and we're 78 points up against Port Adelaide.

But not in the middle of the G against a decent opposition.

That look away/fall down handpass is a beauty. So is the cross-court look-away switch-kick he's done a few times. They're just too low percentage to do in the middle of the ground.

Like pretty much everyone here, i think his creativity is better used in the forward line where if it works we get six points for our troubles.

And I;m counting on a few bags of those 6 pointers this year btw.

 

[Rustin' Man]

I agree with most posters so far, Stevie J should not be playing predominately in the mid-field or back-line. The way he plays his football is far too risky and if he can't be more team orientated he shouldn't be there. BTW I can't believe that on Saturday night's performance many of the pundits put him in their bests. I thought he was one of our worst offenders on the night (yes I know Corey Enright had a bad game), calling for the ball from inexperienced players when he was well and truly covered (turnovers) and the forwards were set up for them to pass into the forward line, as has already been mentioned look away handballs to inexperienced players (once again, turnovers), blazing away at goal from impossible angles, trying to win the game off his own boot, instead of centring and doing the team thing (more turnovers), hand balling to covered players when he got into trouble himself, etc. I was far from impressed as you may gather, considering he was one of the senior players playing in such a young side - not exactly showing leadership.

 

[eminbee]

Equally stupid as Josh Hunt in the forward pocket. Let's hope the new coach was just having a little joke with interested watchers! And another thing with Josh Hunt. I'm ok with the occasional short (ie 40m) kick to breaK it up a bit, but when you can kick like that (& I'm not sure he offers much else), can we try kicking it 65-70m at ceiling height JUST A BIT MORE OFTEN!!

 

[DanA]

Even with Ablett gone we don't need him in the middle. Bartel was a part timer in the middle last year while Corey was barely used there with his knee injury.

I'd still give Hunt some time in the forwardline though. I could see that have some long term benefit.

 

[Berserker26]

Equally stupid as Josh Hunt in the forward pocket. Let's hope the new coach was just having a little joke with interested watchers! And another thing with Josh Hunt. I'm ok with the occasional short (ie 40m) kick to breaK it up a bit, but when you can kick like that (& I'm not sure he offers much else), can we try kicking it 65-70m at ceiling height JUST A BIT MORE OFTEN!!

Completely agree

 

[kanyewest]

Equally stupid as Josh Hunt in the forward pocket. Let's hope the new coach was just having a little joke with interested watchers! And another thing with Josh Hunt. I'm ok with the occasional short (ie 40m) kick to breaK it up a bit, but when you can kick like that (& I'm not sure he offers much else), can we try kicking it 65-70m at ceiling height JUST A BIT MORE OFTEN!!

I'm not sure if I would say equally stupid. We need a new defensive forward, and Hunt has many of the necessary attributes. Plus, he can sometimes be exposed as a defender on the smaller players, so why not change it up and see what happens? Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't, but at least there is some sense behind it.

As for Stevie J, agree with all those that say he basically has too much flair to play in the midfield. Sometimes he just needs to do the boring handpass to the teammate two meters away, and I'm not sure he can handle that. On the other hand, he is in some ways similar to Didak from Collingwood, so I think it would be worth looking at how he altered his game a bit to play in the middle. Would be a worthy addition if he could just limit the risk.