It is now 16 goals for Brennan Johnson this season after he struck twice in Tottenham's 3-1 win over Southampton on Sunday afternoon. The winger may even have had 17 goals to his name in the 2024/25 campaign had he taken the penalty he won in stoppage time.
Instead, it was substitute Mathys Tel who stepped up and converted from 12 yards to ensure there was no way back for Southampton after Mateus Fernandes' late goal. Everyone inside Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and those watching on from elsewhere probably expected Johnson to take on the responsibility and notch his first Premier League hat-trick after winning the penalty himself.
It was decided that Tel would instead have the opportunity to score Tottenham's third of the day, with Cristian Romero, who was wearing the captain's armband following Son Heung-min's substitution, heavily involved in the decision making. Johnson had indicated that he wanted to take it by pointing to himself and holding three fingers up to Tel to signal that he was on a hat-trick, but Romero took the ball off Pedro Porro, who was also involved, and placed it in the hands of Tel. The World Cup winner then walked over to Johnson, shared a few words with him and gave him a hug.
Perhaps he came to the conclusion that it was only right for Tel to receive a confidence boost after Johnson did likewise in the first half with his double following two excellent finishes in the area. Johnson looked a bit dejected immediately after as Tel stepped up, which is perfectly understandable as the opportunity to score a Premier League hat-trick doesn't come around too often, but he and the rest of the team were involved in the celebrations as they congratulated the January loan signing on his maiden Premier League goal.
Come the final whistle, Johnson was still a tad disappointed and he could be seen in conversation with James Maddison as they went around to shake hands with their opponents. Djed Spence could then be seen with his arm across the goalscorer as he spoke with Son and Micky van de Ven, with Archie Gray also speaking to him a few moments later.
Speaking during his time on The Review Show after the win, Johnson opened up on the incident but didn't want to go into it too much.
"Yeah, of course," he said when asked if he wanted to take the penalty. "It's only normal for me to want to take the penalty. I don't want to get into it too much. Obviously the conversation was had and Mathys stepped up and took it."
He added: "I think there's only a certain amount of talking to do before it gets quite messy. I've been in that situation before when I've had people wanting to take the ball off me and it kind of unsettles you a little bit. I know the game was pretty much done but still I don't want to unsettle someone too much or start any disagreements. Once the decision was made, I just had to kind of get on with it."
Johnson has found himself in and out of the team in recent weeks but his double should put him in an excellent position to start in Thursday's crucial Europa League quarter-final tie against Eintracht Frankfurt. Wilson Odobert has tended to get the nod from the right-wing recently but the Frenchman may have made Postecoglou's mind up for him following his second-half cameo appearance in the win over Southampton.
Speaking to football.london in his post-match press conference, Postecoglou stated that he thought Odobert "didn’t look ready when he came on and only came to life the last 10-15 minutes". That in turn may give Johnson the edge over his teammate to play from the off against the German side.
The ex-Nottingham Forest man is Tottenham's top goalscorer in all competitions this season but consistency has been an issue for him with some strong performances followed up by poor ones. In his time with the media after the game, Postecoglou was asked about getting that consistency into the 23-year-old's game.
"It’s tough but I think whenever Brennan plays that he's always a goal threat," admitted the head coach. "He has been really good for us in terms of goals and, even though I don't rate them highly, even his assists have been important to us as today he won the penalty.
"He's really important for us in the way we play and I don't think he has been inconsistent this year. The disruptions we've had in the team and the ability to get some real cohesion in the group has disrupted everyone this season.
"Great for him today, I was really pleased for him, not just goals but his general was really good. He's important for us as a wide player there aren't many around that are a constant goal threat like he is. I'm really pleased for him today."
He added: "With Brennan he's always in the areas we need him to be. He's probably one of the most disciplined players we have in terms of making sure he's always in the right positions and that's why he gets his goals.
"There have been times this season when his form has suffered because of the team more than anything else. I think like we played in the first half Brennan becomes a really important player for us as we're a constant threat, breaking lines, making half-space runs, we were getting balls into the box in the areas we need to and every time we went forward we looked like scoring.
"If we do that then I think it's not a matter of confidence for Brennan, it just gives you more opportunities as the one thing about him is that he will always be in those positions, so it's up to us to match his discipline in that."
If Tottenham can replicate their first-half performance against Southampton and supply Johnson with the ball in the right positions then he could be a pivotal figure in their Europa League double-header against Eintracht Frankfurt. Considering their mixed form throughout the 2024/25 campaign, Spurs, now more than ever, need the Wales international to be a huge weapon in the penalty box as they look to end the season with the Europa League trophy in their possession.
Hopefully this is just the start of things to come from Johnson in the run-in.
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