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SBI MLS Player of the Week: Eddie Johnson

Eddie Johnson (Getty)

The Seattle Sounders flexed their attacking muscle on Sunday night against the Los Angeles Galaxy, and one night where several players impressed, Eddie Johnson stood out the most.

The Sounders striker scored the opening goal of the night and provided a threat throughout the match during Seattle's 4-0 thrashing of the Galaxy, a performance that earned him SBI MLS Player of the Week honors.

Johnson beat out Montreal's Felipe, D.C. United's Chris Pontius and Houston's Brad Davis for this week's honors.

What did you think of Johnson's performance against the Galaxy? What player impressed you the most in MLS this week?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Just love the EJ haters. They have become a permanent class of SBI readers. I am pleased to see him playing well. His game has improved exponentially since he returned from Europe and his aerial ability in the box is unmatched.
    Boyd is not ready for international play. EJ gives us speed upfront we don’t have. He will score more international goals than Wondo, who is just not international quality. Does anyone remember the WCQ when EJ terrorized CONCAF then got hurt? Common folks we are not Brazil. After so many flameouts, it’s great to see EJ performing well again. And attitude? that’s something we’ve been waiting for. His lack of attitude probably was his biggest weakness in Europe. He was too timid, too easily intimidated by the big circumstances.

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  2. i stand corrected. Championship.

    However, he did not have a good run there. I remember reading the Preston North End forums at the time and they did not rate him at all.

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  3. “The past is gone people”

    Not to you. You are still holding the past against EJ, even though what really counts is the present.

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  4. So….. you’re mad cause he’s being a forward? if midfielders like holden are supposed to be the Team’s brain trust and the artists, not the forwards! the forwards are the predators with a reptilian mind set only on scoring the best way how! sometimes that results in some pretty play or or a great cross (like ej vs colorado, but usually that results in a ball played through or over the top to ej or fredy waiting by the D, very nearly offsides! you act as if he’s supposed to be running around with evans, always absorbing pressure from players going the opposite way and playing the killer pass to the forwards, which, if you didnt know, is what he is! actually, you act like he WASNT consistently dropping deep, absorbing pressure w/ evans!! all you did was describe what a forward does, and then complained that a forward wasnt doing a midfielders job properly. you’re probably mad that he was running back helping defend free kicks and set pieces too.

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  5. Last I checked… midfield was a place where mistakes were far more detrimental to the team… also standing in offside positions…that was old Eddie..

    Have you watched him this season? He moves intelligently now it seems to me.

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  6. you/ve got to be kidding, right? eddie had a heck of a game! he came back so many times on defense he had more headers defending set pieces than attacking. he (and fredy) constantly dropped back into the midfield to either help pressure the galaxy midfield or be a releasing point for the next sounders attack; something ive NEVER seen him do that consistently before. Alex Caskey was tied w/ him for my man of the match, there’s no way you can honestly say he had a poor match!

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  7. Holden has a soccer brain and plays in the midfield, connecting with everyone. Johnson stands around in an offside position for most of the game. His biggest improvement is that he occasionally tracks back to the midfield to receive the ball, but God help us when he does. The decision making that usually follows is frustrating to say the least.

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  8. I’m with you. He’s done on the international level. Any educated fan is frustrated as hell to watch him play. One or two goals squeak by at MLS level, but his frustrating inability to break the game down and make the right decisions won’t hack it in another league, or at the international level.

    The past is gone people.

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  9. It’s amazing how people can flop out of Europe and then immediately become the best in the MLS. Heck Cooper did it twice, now Eddie Johnson. Hmmm…..nobody has flopped out of MLS to become the best in another league…maybe Gomez. Man, I love Gomez.

    (SBI-Yura Movsisyan wasn’t exactly an MLS flop but he’s done much better in Europe, and if you want to argue Clint Dempsey you could point to his scoring rate in MLS and then in England, though that has more to do with him simply maturing. Gomez is probably the best example of someone flourishing as a forward AFTER leaving MLS as a “flop” though he had success there too.)

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  10. Everyone keeps talking about players who might get call ups for the Mexico friendly.

    JK made it pretty clear that the players called in for WCQ were the core… why would that change?

    The only player who may make the roster that was excluded is Timmy Chandler, and that’s because he was wanted there in the first place and recent reports have it that he may have finished his soul searching.

    Why would we leave Boyd & Jozy at their clubs when they need as much experience in the Azteca as possible?

    Will we see EJ in January? That’s more realistic.

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  11. Couldnt get a game in League 1…

    See this is the problem with un-informed SBI posters…

    Eddie was never in League 1… Preston was in the championship when he was loaned out there and he got plenty of games (over 15 apps from January to end of the season in May)… including 10 starts in a row where Preston earned more points than in any other equal period that season… he was deployed out position on the wing too but still did a job…

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  12. yes because Landon has never been a drama queen…

    All you jack wagons that can’t accept that a guy improved are just retarded…

    I saw Holden make tons of mistakes early in his MNT career but he improved by going to England and learning…

    Eddie has improved his game exponentially if you watch him… he is a very good header of the ball too..

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  13. At one point, he and Donovan were getting into it. I’d say he has a bit of an attitude problem. The foul wasn’t even worth the drama that followed it.

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  14. I wouldnt call 12 international goals (8 in World Cup Qualifying, 1 in the Gold Cup and 1 in the Copa America)a proven track record of failure.

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  15. If they were, they would have died right after the 2002 WC and belive we might have a shot at the 2006 title.

    EJ is good and is on form but should only be used if the following are injured-Altidore, Dempsey, Boyd, Gomez, Wondo

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  16. Question for all of you so pumped up on EJ for the national team. Have you been effing dead for the last ten years of national team games?

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  17. this is ridiculous. why would you ever go back to a player who has a proven track record of failure at the national level? no coach is that stupid.

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  18. It was a good game from Eddie. He continues to improve his form. Player of the week, sure, in the sense that he demonstrated in this game that he is of the best in MLS, perhaps silencing the remaining doubters.

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  19. he was dominant last night, made Lopes look the part of the lousy defender he is…slow, bad decision making, out of position. Lopes is a nightmare and Johnson ate him up

    great to see EJ playing so well even if it is for the Sounders 🙂

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  20. I have a feeling he will get called in for the Mexico game. He is actually a more all around and better striker than he was with KC.

    Best of luck to him. I still think he has all the skills to really help the USMNT. He may never be a starter for teh USMNT, but I could see him as a second half super sub using his speed against physically drained defenders.

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  21. Oopha. I thought he was pretty poor. Sure he was fast and scored a goal, but the second half was a never ending string of bad passes and poor touches from him. Bleech.

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  22. EJ should have been player of the game. Also, on the post game (97.3), they were saying EJ was their player of the game. FWIW.

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