Tottenham Hotspur have now made it five wins in a row in all competitions after running out 2-1 winners over Ferencvaros in the Europa League on Thursday night.
Pape Matar Sarr opened the scoring for Spurs in the 23rd minute before Brennan Johnson doubled the Lilywhites’ lead in the 86th minute.
And though Barnabas Varga struck late on for a nervy finale, Tottenham hung on to secure their second consecutive win in the tournament.
Johnson’s goal was his fifth in five games, a remarkable turnaround since he deactivated his Instagram account in wake of the North London derby loss.
Ange Postecoglou spoke to the press after the Ferencvaros game and shared what he found “curious” in terms of what he heard about Johnson.
Ange Postecoglou says Brennan Johnson has now ‘probably bypassed’ other Premier League wingers
Postecoglou, speaking to football.london, stressed that Johnson finding the bottom corner is not a coincidence, and expressed how happy he was with how confident he is now.
The Spurs boss also admitted he didn’t understand why Johnson received such criticism, because his numbers “always stacked up” when compared to other wingers in the Premier League.
Alasdair Gold asked Postecoglou: “Brennan Johnson, another goal and he keeps finding the bottom corner, it’s not a coincidence is it?”
“No,” replied the Tottenham boss, “and I thought he was unlucky with the one that hit the bar as well.
“Look, he is in a great vein of form and obviously feels good about himself at the moment, really confident.
“I guess with all attacking players, goals and assists, they kind of thrive on that stuff, but I’ve said before he has been fantastic for us.
“Even if you look at his figures last year. He moved to a big club and still got a decent return of goals.
“It was always curious to me why people were singling him out because if you compare him to other wingers in the league.
“His numbers always stacked up anyway and now he has probably bypassed all of them.
“I had no doubt he would make a massive impact for us. Now he is making not just an impact but changing games for us.
“Again, still a young guy, still working hard and wants to learn, so that’s great for us.”
Johnson flying high and silencing his doubters
It’s baffling to think that, just a few weeks ago, Johnson was on the receiving end of so much criticism that he ended up deactivating his social media account.
Footballers sometimes need time to fully get up to speed and get the ball rolling in terms of confidence and, ultimately, getting results on the pitch.
It can be weeks, as in Dominic Solanke’s case, or a bit longer, as has proven the case for Johnson.
Luckily, the Wales international has embarked on a rich vein of form that has left many doubters eating humble pie.