Glen Johnson Could Prove the Key to Liverpool's Hopes

17 million pounds is too much for a fullback.

Let's be honest, it just is. Unless he comes with a year's worth of gas and several complimentary magazines, the fullback that costs you 17 million is a suitcase full of money being lit aflame.

So why is Glen Johnson worth every penny?

Liverpool have arguably the Premiership's top two players in Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres. Argue all you want, but I can't think of any player about which a manager would have fewer reservations.

Wayne Rooney? Too many scoreless spells. Frank Lampard? Questions, perhaps, about fitness and consistency. John Terry? Great defender, but can he affect the entire range of play?

The problem, of course, is that Wayne Rooney need not always score. Frank Lampard has enough speed on his flanks to compensate. And John Terry certainly doesn't need to score for Chelsea to win.

Liverpool have so many role players, so many tireless runners, so many complimentary pieces, but they just don't have enough cutting edge outside of their top row. There was, fair to say, a lacking in the number of players who make you hold your breath when the ball comes to their feet.

That might not be a problem much longer.

Johnson has been in glowing form since the season began, and while surely he cannot perform that way forever, the addition of his threat to score and supply can keep defenses worried in equal measure.

The goal against Stoke was pretty, but relatively simple stuff. But the ones he's created, and the one he scored against Bolton on Saturday, prove that he's got the grit and the guile to be an attacking force. What's more, all his bombing forward hasn't seemed to hurt Liverpool defensively, and when Fabio Aurelio comes back from injury, then Liverpool just become even deeper.

So maybe it was money well spent.