Despite still waiting to open his goal account for Crystal Palace since joining the club in January, Brennan Johnson has big hopes and dreams about when his first strike could be.
On Wednesday, the Eagles take on Rayo Vallecano in the UEFA Conference League Final and the forward is hoping for a repeat performance of 12 months ago when his goal won the UEFA Europa League title for Tottenham Hotspur.
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“It kind of creeps in sometimes, naturally,” said the player about the chance to break his duck and win the trophy for Palace while repeating his heroics from last year.
“I want to be confident that I can always do that. I still have the confidence in me that I can help the team. It would mean a lot to me. The fact that I’m here again and being able to play in a European final, I know I’m in a fortunate position. But when it comes down to finals, the main thing is getting over the line, no matter what it takes and who scores – that’s more important.
“Now we’ve got a massive chance to do something special and I had that last year (with Spurs),” added the player, who turned 25 this week. “The focus is kind of similar within the two groups [but] the togetherness here is something that’s really special. The expectation is different but I feel like we still put a big pressure on ourselves because we all want to be top players here and we want to be a top team – and that’s what top teams do; they win again and again.
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“I just think about the opportunity we have, but how much we still have to do to be able to get to that point. We have a massive job to do and hopefully as a team we can do it together. It’s a new club [for me], a new fan base and one that had an experience of winning last season. I’m sure we’ll do anything to do it again – it’s something that I’m really excited about and I’m really thankful for.”
The Welsh international was also thankful to the Palace manager Oliver Glanser for bringing him to South London and changing his perception of what type of player he was.
Known as winger, predominantly out wide, Johnson has played a more centralised role under the Austrian coach, one which has taken some time to get used to, but one he is enjoying.
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“I’ve got a lot of thanks to give him for bringing me to the club and exposing me to a new position, to this unbelievable club. The fact that I made the decision to work under him is something that I’ll look back on and definitely feel good about,” said Johnson about Glasner, who will leave the club after the final this week.
“The formation, the system, the way he wants to play is new for me. As players, you want as many experiences as you can playing under top managers [and] he genuinely is a top manager. Yes, I found it a challenge, but, as a wide player, you can become one-dimensional maybe [so] having this five, six months playing narrow, I’ve learned so much. Genuinely. I feel like it’s opened my eyes up to the game and how typical No10s play it and narrower players.
“It’s something that I can add to my bag of skills and hopefully take forward with me,” he added. “It only expands my game even more. Because of the nature of where you are on the pitch, you can’t really be a passenger in defending. I’m feeling fit, fitter than I ever have and being able to defend, attack and be all over the pitch is something that, if you asked me last season, I probably hadn’t really experienced too much in my career. It’s something that I’ve added to my game and I’m thankful for the fact that he’s been able to put me in the position.”
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And with that dream of opening his scoring account and winning a trophy for his new club, Johnson also knows that it would provide the perfect ending to the Glasner and South London story.
“Winning would be an unbelievable send-off,” said the former Nottingham Forest player about taking the UEFA Conference League title in Glasner’s last game as Crystal Palace manager.
“What he’s done for this club is already remarkable so he deserves all the plaudits he gets. We just have to really focus and give everything we have. We’re a team that’s feeling as good as we ever have. We want to do everything we can to bring success.”
