JOHNSON TAKES AIM

Former Chelsea defender Glen Johnson has taken a swipe at his former manager Jose Mourinho by saying that Liverpool’s Brendan Rodgers is much better than the Portuguese. Johnson was one of the first signings made by Chelsea after the arrival of Roman Abramovich as the owner of the club. However, he did not last long at the club after the arrival of Paulo Ferreira for £ 13 million. After subsequent spells at the likes of Portsmouth, Johnson has been playing for Liverpool for the last few years. He has established himself as one of the first choice not only for Liverpool, but also for England as well.

In the last few years, he has developed a reputation for being one of the best attacking right backs in the country. Johnson says that his current form is largely thanks to the faith shown by manager Rodgers, who has been getting a lot of praise from various quarters for the good work done by Liverpool this season. After missing out on Champions League football for several years now, Liverpool are in a position to even win the title, which would be their first since 1990. Johnson says that Mourinho never kept his promises, but concedes that the Portuguese remains as one of the best managers in the world.

“It was difficult for me under Jose at Chelsea because there was a moment when he said I deserved to play on merit. He said if I played well in the next game I would play the week after. I got man of the match so he couldn’t drop me. Then in the next game he said the same thing and I got man of the match again. He didn’t play me in that game and from that moment I just lost it and thought, ‘Well, how am I meant to respect you now? It’s just finished’,” said Johnson.