You would be forgiven for thinking that Eddie Johnson did not play last night against the Houston Dynamo, he was that invisible. A supposedly motivated Johnson had few touches and was manhandled by the Dynamo defense all night long after a week of mouthing off via Twitter.

What set Johnson off was an interview with Houston Dynamo legend, Brian Ching in which Ching cited Johnson as an example of a player who would perform better with an incentive laden contract:

Played with him you know and he is one of those guys that every time he is getting close to playing for a contract or proving himself he goes out and he does his work and you’re like ‘Wow okay!’ but once he gets that contract or DP status he tends to disappear a little bit.” Ching said, “It’s kind of like he is fighting so hard to prove that he’s good that when he gets there he just kind of stops doing the things that made him successful. That’s one of the things I’ve noticed about Eddie playing with him…If I was to sign him I would say ‘Hey here’s $10,000 a goal. You’re making $50,000 or you’re making $100,000 you want money score goals.’ He that kind of guy…He loses that drive, that mentality once he gets rewarded or gets his contract.

Johnson took to Twitter with his response, labeling Ching as jealous and pointing out that he has more national team appearances and goals than Ching.

They say how someone feel about you in the end comes out…@brianching thanks for letting me know that you were jealous of me the whole time — Eddie Johnson (@eddie_johnson7) July 31, 2014

It’s funny how these ex players that I use 2 play with on da national team that I have more app and goals then be hating when they broadcast — Eddie Johnson (@eddie_johnson7) July 31, 2014

Johnson went on to tell people to watch Sunday night. Houston fans responded with a series of amusing tweets on things that motivate Johnson.

Earlier this season after the first meeting with Houston (a match that Johnson was suspended for) he tweeted that “Horse doesn’t see these types of strikers on a daily basis” by which he presumably meant Dynamo defender David Horst.

Last night, the “these types of strikers” apparently meant strikers who can’t get near the goal, since opposing strikers have generally scored early and often against the Dynamo this season.

Johnson’s reaction was not surprising and was indicative of the type of player and person that he is. Johnson clearly is oblivious to the reputation that his actions create and the repercussions that come with that reputation.

This is a player who made waves last season with Seattle with his “pay me” goal celebration against Columbus. Last season was all about Johnson and how underpaid he was relative to Sounders teammates and never about the team.

After producing 9 goals last season and taking a lot of the blame for the locker room issues that plagued Seattle’s season, the Sounders were only too happy to offload Johnson to D.C. United in return for allocation money. United gave Johnson the DP contract that he felt he deserved and he has paid them back with a grand total of 4 goals this season.

Rather than take responsibility for his poor performance this year, Johnson threw his teammates under the bus earlier this season by claiming he wasn’t scoring because he had to run more than he did in Seattle as United had lower quality players. Never mind that Fabián Espindola was having a career season prior to his injury playing with those same players.

Johnson has been a problem his entire career, rarely managing to stick with a team for more than 2-3 seasons before being offloaded, and rarely scoring goals – at least during his lost period in Europe and this season with United.

His reputation as a locker room plague and his comments earlier this season likely cost Johnson as shot at going to Brazil this year with the United States national team. Has Johnson learned from that experience? Obviously not.

Johnson is hardly the first player to have attitude issues and a “me first” approach to the game. Some players mature as they get older. At age 30, Johnson is clearly too dense to figure out that perhaps he is the problem and not those around him.

Last night was representative of the type of player Johnson is. After mouthing off all week and telling us to watch him on Sunday, he was a dud. A no show. A non-entity. I kept having to scan the pitch to make sure he was still on it. The rumor post-match was that he made a request to be substituted out of the match in the 2nd half. If true, it is hardly surprising.

Was Ching right to single out Johnson in his comments? Probably not. Was he right about Johnson? You bet he was, Johnson’s performance and attitude last season and this are proof of that.