Tottenham Hotspur forward Brennan Johnson was in action for Wales in their Euro 2024 qualifying encounter against Turkey on Tuesday night.
During the match, BBC Sport pundit Helen Ward claimed that the Spurs summer signing isn’t quite there in terms of being able to hold players off.
Speaking on BBC Radio Wales, she suggested that Johnson needs more upper body strength, as well as developing more of an ability to keep players at bay as a No. 9.
“Brennan Johnson, he’s not small, but he’s not quite got that upper body strength and ability to hold a player off as you need to do as a number nine at times,” she said, as per the BBC Sport website.
The Tottenham gem was bright throughout the encounter, looking a threat in behind, and managed to find the back of the net, only for it to be disallowed for a narrow offside.
Wales took the lead after just seven minutes through Neco Williams, but a Yusuf Yazici penalty in the second half meant Rob Page’s charges had to settle for a share of the spoils.
However, Croatia’s victory over Armenia meant even a Welsh win would not have been enough to reach Euro 2024 automatically. This means the Dragons will need to contest the playoffs.
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Johnson is a player of the highest calibre. At just 21 years of age, he has already won 24 caps for Wales and made over 160 competitive club appearances in England. It’s not surprising that Spurs paid a reported £47.5million to sign him this summer.
So far, he has fared well enough without needing to focus on bulking up further. However, the Nottingham Forest academy graduate has his whole career ahead of him, and obviously you never stop learning as a player.
Perhaps this will be pitched to him by his coaches at Tottenham and/or Wales. After all, it’s never a bad thing to develop more physicality, particularly in a league like the Premier League.