RED NATION SPEAKS TO WILL JOHNSON Canada - Feature | Posted on Oct 14/09 by Steven Bottjer

Rednation Online recently had the opportunity to speak with Will Johnson, a young Canadian midfielder who plays with the Canadian Men's National Team and with Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer. Johnson has represented Canada at the U-20 and U-23 levels and played very well for the Canada U-23 side during qualifying for the 2008 Olympics, scoring three goals in three games during those matches. He has been capped 10 times for the Senior Men's National Team. Johnson was born in Toronto, but moved shortly afterwards to England where he started playing soccer, attending Merchant Taylors' Preparatory School for Boys in Crosby. When he was 10 his family moved again, this time to Woodridge, Illinois, where he played youth soccer for Woodridge Storm. Johnson later decided return to England to play for the youth team of Blackburn Rovers in the 2003-04 season. However, after that season he left Blackburn and returned to Illinois.

In 2005, Johnson was signed by the Chicago Fire as a discovery player, splitting time between the reserves and the MLS team. In 2006 Johnson then went on a trial with Heerenveen of the Dutch Eredivisie, resulting in them signing him to a one year deal plus a club option for 2 more years. For the 2007-2008 season he was on loan to Doetinchem side De Graafschap, the champion of the Dutch Eerste Divisie, or First Division. Johnson signed with Major League Soccer on August 16, 2008 and Chicago Fire traded his rights to Real Salt Lake. Johnson won the MLS Goal of the Year in 2008 for a goal scored against FC Dallas on October, 18, in Rio Tinto Stadium. He also participated in the 2009 MLS All-Star Game against the English Premier League side Everton FC.

Rednation Online and Will discuss his experiences playing in the United States, England, the Netherlands and for Canada, as well as his experiences playing at the recent CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament.

Rednation Online: You were selected to play in the 2009 MLS All Star Game that was held in Utah at Rio Tinto Stadium. How was that experience for you?

Will Johnson: I was really happy to be able to take part in it. I thought the game was well played by both sides and I enjoyed playing in it very much. The level of play in the game was very high and we were unfortunate not to win the game. But it was a fantastic experience.

Rednation Online: Utah is not the first place that I think of as a soccer hotbed. How is the fan following for soccer in Salt Lake City?

Will Johnson: It's good. The fans here back us really well. I can't say enough good things about the fans, especially when we are doing well. They come out in big numbers and really support the team. It's a small market, but, at the same time, we really do have some of the best fans in the league. It's a shame that we haven't been able to give them a few more better performances this year.

Rednation Online: How did it feel to have your goal chosen as the 2008 MLS Goal of the Year?

Will Johnson: Yeah, it was definitely cool. I was obviously happy to win the award. There were a lot of good goals that were scored and a lot of good competition. I think any of the Top Ten could have won. I was honoured that mine was picked. And more than anything, it was an important goal for our club that provided us with a vital win in our playoff push last year.

Rednation Online: Your development as a young player was an interesting mix between playing as a youth in England and in the U.S. What are some of the differences between youth development in the UK and the United States?

Will Johnson: It's a tough question. I experienced both sides of it and I'm still undecided as to which way is the better way to go. As a professional, nobody in my family had done this before, so it was tough. I was just kind of doing things on an experimental basis when I was a kid. I knew I wanted to play, but I didn't know which way to go about it. I think it was especially hard in England because I went during a year in which they combined the Under 17 and Under 19 Academy Programs into one Under 18 team and they were stuck with 35-40 contract players for one team. It obviously wasn't beneficial to have such high numbers and only one team. So I didn't enjoy that. At the same time, one of the positives when I came back to Chicago was that I was playing against men, which, regardless of the level, I think is always beneficial as a young player to have the opportunity to play with experienced guys and gain experience. But obviously the pay you are making as a young guy in the MLS is very tough to swallow compared to what you can make as a youth player in England. Obviously, financially it has to make sense for you as well, so I kind of went back and forth on it a few times and I'm still undecided as to which way is the better one to go.

2008 MLS Goal of the Year - Will Johnson:

Rednation Online: Your grandfather is Brian Birch who had a successful career with Bolton Wanderers, picking up an FA Cup winners medal in 1958. Is soccer a tradition in your family? Is there a particular club in England that the whole family supports?

Will Johnson: Yeah, obviously it is something we are proud of that my grandfather won an FA Cup title and played professionally over there. I grew up in Liverpool until I was about ten and the first game that I saw was a Liverpool match. So that's the team that I followed and that my parents also followed, so that's the team I like to watch as much as I can.

Rednation Online: You have also played professionally in the Netherlands. How was that experience for you?

Will Johnson: It was great. I had an awesome time while I was there, but I wasn't satisfied with the amount of starts that I was getting. And I thought it would be more beneficial as a young player to come back to the MSL and get more chances to start and just develop my game. But at the same time, the games that I did play in over there were of a very high level. The technical ability of all those players is higher compared to the MLS, whereas I think the physical nature of the MLS is a lot more exposed here than it is in Europe, so I think that both of them fit my style of play. I can get play physical here and I also have the technical ability to play over there. So it was definitely a fun experience and one that I learned a lot from.

Rednation Online: Freddie Lunjdberg of the Seattle Sounders recently compared the level of play in the MLS to that of the Dutch top flight. Do you agree?

Will Johnson: Yeah, I think maybe the top nine or ten teams in Holland would be better than the top ten teams in the MLS. The bottom four or five teams in the Dutch Eredivise are not great and they bounce back and forth a bit and the level is play is not very good. There are often a lot of 5-0, 6-0 and 7-0 games that happen in the Dutch league that don't happen over here. I think that the top teams that play in Europe and Holland would be too good for the MLS clubs, but the bottom teams in the MLS would be too good for the (bottom teams in the) Dutch league."

Rednation Online: I recently read an article in which you stated, “A lot of times the things that I do well go unnoticed. A lot of the little things." What are your strengths as a player? What are some of the things that you do well on the pitch that might not be noticed by the untrained eye?

Will Johnson: The role that I play right now with Salt Lake is a very defensive midfielder, which I hadn't played before. Obviously, we play with a number 10, so I have to do a lot of tracking and breaking up of plays, a lot of trying to protect our number 10 - a lot of things that don't show up on the stat sheet as goals or assists; whereas, earlier in my career I played more as an attacker. Even in the Gold Cup this summer, I played as an attacker, which I hadn't played for quite a while. So I was referring to those kinds of things - just being sort of the engine of the team and kind of being the Pablo Mastroeni of my team, where you get into a lot of tackles and you provide a good core right in the middle of the field so your more creative players can do their jobs.

Rednation Online: I read an MLS Daily interview with you in which you stated that one of your main goals in returning to the MLS was to be playing consistently at a high level in order to make a case for playing for Canada and that you hoped to prove to Canadian Head Coach Stephen Hart that you could be a useful player for him and for Canada. Do you think that you have achieved both of those goals?

Will Johnson: Sort of. Of course, I was happy to be playing in the Gold Cup. I do think that in order to play for your National Team you do have to be playing for your Club Team every week. It can be hard because a lot of people will argue that playing in the MLS is not a good enough level for people to be playing consistently for their National Teams. But I think that it's very important to keep yourself sharp and keep yourself going. I think this summer was good. I was playing out of position, but at the same time I think that I am a versatile player and I can do that. And I love playing for Canada and I had great time this summer at the Gold Cup doing a lot of different things with the team. So I think I've made a few steps towards my goals, but I'm in no way fully satisfied with what I have achieved so far with Canada.

Rednation Online: You had also stated previous to the 2009 Gold Cup that the recent World Cup Qualifying campaign for Canada was very disappointing for both the country and the team. Do you think that the team's performance at the Gold Cup was a positive indicator for the future of the team?

Will Johnson: Yeah, I think so. We had a good performance, but at the end of the day we still didn't get where we wanted to go. I think CONCACAF has turned into a stronger region than people give it credit for. I think Honduras, Costa Rica, Mexico and the U.S. have very strong squads right now. And I think that we do as well. It's just that a few things need to go your way and I think that in any big tournament you have to have a little bit of luck and we didn't have that this year at the Gold Cup.

Will Johnson discusses his return to Salt Lake from international duty with Canada at the Gold Cup:

Rednation Online: The Canadian Men's National Team had very little preparation in advance of the Gold Cup, but still appeared to gel very quickly as a team and performed very well. How did the team and the coaching staff put everything together so quickly?

Will Johnson: I don't think there were any really new faces in the group and that all of the guys had played together at some point. So I think that helped. Obviously, it wasn't throwing a bunch of strangers together and with the help of the coaching staff we got it together pretty quickly. We knew that we wanted to be a hard team to beat and we had to be very solid defensively and that if we were good defensively, we could also create some chances and win some games 1-0 or winning by a goal or two. Just being a hard team to beat, which was our goal.

Rednation Online: You recently played as a winger for Canada and generally play more as a central midfielder for Real Salt Lake. What is your preferred position on the pitch?

Will Johnson: I'm not going to complain any time that I am on the field for Canada. I would play in the goal if the coach thought that was a good spot for me. I just want to do what is helpful for the team. Obviously, with playing a centre midfielder recently for Real Salt Lake a lot of things I have been doing have been in the middle of the pitch and not so much in front of the goal, but I thought I played well as a winger. I thought I did a lot of good things and brought good defensive qualities. The only thing that I was disappointed with was with a couple of chances that I had in front of the goal. I had a chance with Honduras that I didn't take and maybe if I had been a little bit sharper - and had been playing as an attacker for Salt Lake - maybe I bang in a goal or two. But I'm not one to make excuses and I was disappointed that I didn't get a goal or two in the tournament.

Will Johnson and Real Salt Lake will be taking on Toronto FC on October 17th at BMO Field.