Ben Foster praises West Brom’s Sam Johnstone after a brilliant save vs Man Utd
Ben Foster praised the efforts of Sam Johnstone after the goalkeeper played a huge role in West Brom grabbing a point against Manchester United.
The keeper has been a shining light in a poor season and Sunday’s display showed exactly what he is capable of.
Johnstone made five saves in scoring a rating of 7.1 per SofaScore, with one effort standing out because of the skill involved.
That led Foster to send his fellow goalie a message on social media.
The save from Harry Maguire’s header was indeed a ‘worldy’, and we are still wondering how Johnstone managed to pull it off.
The ball had a lot of pace on it and Johnstone had very little time to react, but he leapt brilliantly to tip the ball onto the post.
He also deserves credit for his starting position as well as his agility, which was very impressive.
He will likely be very pleased that one of his best performances of the season came against the club where he spent 14 years as a youngster.
Johnstone has proved a brilliant acquisition since he arrived from Old Trafford in 2018, and we are delighted to have him.
There is some concern about how long he will last at The Hawthorns if we go down, however.
He recently expressed his desire to play Premier League football in an interview with The Athletic.
The 27-year-old was overjoyed to get that opportunity with Albion this season but his ambition, as well as his superb form, may lead him to look elsewhere in the summer.
It is vital the club combats that by encouraging him to stay.
We must show him our plans for the future and how we aim to bounce back next season since relegation is looming currently.
That would include the players – or even manager – that we plan to recruit over the summer.
Johnstone still has plenty of years left in his career so hopefully we can persuade him to stay at The Hawthorns for a little while longer.
In other West Brom news, Gary Neville slams one ‘Disappointing’ West Brom player in 1-1 draw v Man United.