Stefan Johansen

I also would be in favour of using a diamond formation with those same players, something like this:

Bitton
Brown McGregor
Rogic
Roberts Griffiths​

And let Roberts have more of a free role. Again though I'm not sure if that would take away from Roberts game, he seems to be a hug the touch line and then come inside type of winger.

I think Rodgers will try people in different positions and he'll experiment with a lot of formations. He used to play Sterling all over the shop to try and improve his overall game. It'll definitely be refreshing after watching a rigid 4-2-3-1 with more or less the same personnel for about 600 games in a row now.

 

Exactly what I want to see.

Ideally, we could be doing with someone more physical and better defensively than Bitton though.

 

Brown, Bitton and Ajer would all be good in the deeper role, albeit with slightly different styles.

McGregor, Armstrong, Johansen and Henderson can all play that shuttler role pretty well.

Allan, Commons, and Rogic don't offer enough defensively to play in a 4-3-3. We'd have to play a 4-2-3-1 to accommodate one of them.

 

The video on the Rodgers thread about 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 makes me think Johansen is the type of player he'd like. In terms of being able to get up the pitch and back into position.

So for me Bitton holds/dictates play with Johansen and one of McGregor/Armstrong/Brown as the "interiors".

 

Big season for Johansen. Make or break imo. There's a decent player in there and I hope he thrives under Rodgers buy if not, we have a long list of midfielders that could be given the opportunity.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...ponder-midfielder-s-future.html#ixzz49uJ4ESk2

 

Beat me to it... Gotta say as much as I admire him for his relationship Wee Jay, I think the time has come to move him on. Should be looking to get Rodgers the players he wants in, and SJ can still command a decent fee. He has qualities that would make him useful under the new manager but he's had such a fall from grace, I dont think I see him recovering. He showed little or no sign of it all last season.

 

Sadly, I agree. I think we could get £3m from a Bundesliga or Championship side no problem, and even if only half of that goes back into Rodgers' transfer kitty, that's money we could do with, given that we're overcome with playmaking midfielders and could do with better defenders and higher quality substitute strikers.

 

he will probably end up in Germany at Hamburg or something

 

On form he makes the team tick, last season was testament to that, this season he had it rough, but a few games where he played well you could really see his worth, I think he is fantastic I think he just got a bad rap as people assumed he was the teachers pet, otherwise he probably would have got over the hump a lot quicker...

 

He is an excellent player and I think Brendan could get the best out of him. He's got amazing energy which is ideal for the pressing game and he can put a decent through ball in so he should be back in his best position just behind the strikers. I'm sure he was linking up well with Roberts one game he was playing higher up the pitch?

It's not good that we've let his contract run down, he should have been offered a new one as soon as he won POTY or else he should have been sold. I think that should be a rule for all the players unless they're coming to the end of their careers.

Anyway let's hope he's staying and signs a new deal.

 

I think he's a poor player to be honest. A shame as I admire his work rate. But his passing is quite poor, he always goes for the killer ball which most of the time isn't on or he isn't capable of playing. I also feel his style of play causes our attacks to be rushed.

When you're playing a guy just off the striker and his main attributes are his fitness and work rate, it's time for a change. He's nowhere near disciplined enough to be a holding midfielder either. Lets his runner go very often and is quite often caught out of position.

 

he would suit the way jurgen klopp plays if his passing was better. certainly not a bad player just hope he can rediscover that form this year and stays.

 

Totally agree

 

I think he would flourish under Rodgers, especially if we play a midfield 3.

Johansen is a great player but it just wasn't working for him last season. With the arrival of Rodgers, the atmosphere around the club has shifted entirely and I think we will see that on the pitch too. He will turn it around and so will some of the other guys.

 

Theres no doubt the fella has some engine on him.

But this "refusal" to commit seems a bit childish to me. He, like Brown and Biton, has had a * horrendous season, he should be looking to step up and remedy that, not head for the door.

If he wants to leave we should let him.

This is a new era, no time for part timers or passengers.

 

Aye, agree with that.

 

More than anything, he set an example to the rest of the players. He showed that hard work and tenacity can reap the rewards. But he is very limited as footballer. Commons, Rogic and quite a few others are technically more gifted than he is. But in his POTY season he bagged an impressive amount of assists and goals mainly due to his endeavour.

If every other player in our team put in the same effort then I'm afraid Johansen wouldn't be any where near the first 11.

 

People have short memories. When he is back on form, which will happen, he will easily be one of our best players again.