Photo by Molly Darlington/Getty Images
Photo by Molly Darlington/Getty Images
Brennan Johnson is already a very important player for Everton, after the squad was left so short at the end of the transfer window.
The Toffees have only 18 outfield players in the first-team at the moment, after making several sales on transfer deadline day.
Beto, Iliman Ndiaye, Nathan Patterson and Tim Iroegbunam all left the club, and Jack Grealish and Ainsley Maitland-Niles were the only additions.
A graphic asking Everton fans to rate their start to the 2026/27 season between A* and D. Image shows David Moyes.
A graphic asking Everton fans to rate their start to the 2026/27 season between A* and D. Image shows David Moyes.
A few weeks prior, Brennan Johnson signed as part of a swap deal, with Dwight McNeil moving to Crystal Palace.
With Everton not signing Folarin Balogun, Brennan Johnson is now seen as an option to play through the middle, and has done so a few times. But Leon Osman reckons his position in the pecking order right now is a bit too high.
Leon Osman says Brennan Johnson shouldn’t be playing ahead of others
Former Toffees midfielder Osman appeared on The Outside The Box podcast to talk about the current state of play. And in his view, Johnson doesn’t currently warrant playing ahead of some others in the squad.
He said: “Brennan Johnson, he did play quite a bit last year. Yes, he was in and out for Crystal Palace once he went there.
“But he’s obviously lacking in confidence. Those things that have come natural to him, those moments where you just turn and hit it and you can probably do it with your eyes closed because you know where the goal is because everything’s going sweet. Like Erling Haaland at the minute. You know, with knowing where the goal is.
“I do think he probably needs something. I think he needs something to fall his way more than Thierno Barry does at the minute.
“I think Brennan Johnson needs a tap-in at the far post or one of those shots to go in, run away, celebrate to the crowd. Let him realise that, you know, it’s a great place to be a player.
“He needs that more than Thierno Barry does because I think Thierno is going to play and I think Thierno is getting goals here and there and we know who he is and his technique is going to get better.
“I think as we go along, maybe there’s a limit on that. I don’t know. But Brennan Johnson needs a big boost at the minute because he won’t stay in the team as long as he probably wants to when he came or thought he would when he came. He’s got a couple of young players nipping at his heels at the minute who actually are probably deserving of more game time in Tyler Dibling, Tyrique George, maybe even (Charly) Alcaraz who’s who’s done okay when he’s come in.”
A lukewarm start for Johnson as data emerges
Plenty will agree with Osman about Johnson, who has scored just one goal so far – against Preston in the second round of the Carabao Cup.
Fotmob has the early data for Johnson, and the numbers don’t make for amazing reading. He is sixth in Everton’s squad for chances created so far (4), and hasn’t created a ‘big’ chance yet in the Premier League. He is also without an assist yet, with his expected tally just 0.2 per 90, placing him sixth.
His combined expected goals and assists per 90 is actually 0.42, which puts him second in the Everton squad. But the fact that he still has zero goal contributions the league makes this a bad thing.
His dribbles per 90 is down at 0.4, which puts him sixth.
But one thing you can’t say about Johnson is that he isn’t working hard. He has the second-highest distance covered per 90 in the Everton squad so far (11.5km), and he also has the third-highest number of sprints per 90.
He is Everton’s quickest player, having been clocked at 34.3 km/h, and surprisingly ranks third for tackles per 90 (2.6).
So it’s been a fairly average start from Johnson, which was perhaps to be expected given he has been out of form for a while. Of course, he didn’t score a goal in his short spell at Palace.
But it’s hard to argue with Osman’s view. Johnson, while he is working hard, isn’t currently providing enough threat, and should not be ahead of Tyrique George and Jack Grealish in the pecking order. There is also now an argument that Tyler Dibling should be getting more minutes.