‘He Is Not Lazy But’ – Tottenham Star Must Work On Key Game Aspect Says Ex-Spurs Man | OneFootball

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Danny Murphy thinks Tottenham Hotspur attacker Brennan Johnson needs to be proactive instead of reactive when it comes to the defensive side of his game.

A blot on an otherwise perfect night for Tottenham against FC Copenhagen in the Champions League, as Spurs won 4-0 on home turf, was the winger’s red card in the 57th minute.

He was guilty of a late tackle on a Copenhagen player and was shown a straight red card for having used his studs.

Murphy feels that the 24-year-old was a little bit unlucky to be dismissed in the game, but admits he has been concerned about more reactive than proactive defensive work from Johnson.

The former Tottenham star is keen not to label Johnson as lazy, but wants to see him address the defensive side of his game.

“I think he was a bit of unlucky with the sending off, if I am honest”, Murphy said on talkSPORT (4th November, 22:09).

“But I did talk about his reactionary defensive work too often in games I have seen.

“He is not lazy but a lot of his defensive work is reacting to stuff rather than being proactive, so he finds himself chasing people a lot and really struggling to get back into situations, so he is diving in and lunging in.

“It is something he needs to work on.”

The focus of the Tottenham coaching staff is likely to be more on what Johnson adds going forward than defensively, but Thomas Frank is sure to want to see the 24-year-old improve his defensive work.

Ange Postecoglou stressed during his time in charge of Tottenham that he felt Johnson had a lot of growth left in him as a player.

Johnson has scored four goals so far for Tottenham this season, having featured in 16 games, and will be looking to add to that number in the coming weeks.