Ian Moose – your boys took one hell of a… etc etc etc. Brentford have done it again. Hot off the heels of last weekend’s 4-1 demolition of Chelsea, another London derby victory has been earned. This time around our 2-0 defeat of West Ham at Lionel Road as comfortable as they come. The three points earned at the Olympic stadium in October repeated in front of our home support. With a late surge toward the top half of the table still on (as it stands the Bees sit just a solitary point behind tenth placed Crystal Palace ) the forthcoming trip to relegation threatened Watford is as big a fixture as we will have played all season.
Brentford made it look as easy as the scoreline suggests on Sunday. The game always well under control with second half goals from Ivan Toney and Bryan Mbeumo eventually dealing the inevitable blow. West Ham not even close to coming second. Brentford clinical as the pressure on our opponents grew.
By that point they had already been forced into a defensive reshuffle. Kurt Zouma limping off after less than half an hour following his second visit from the medical staff. “Call the RSPCA” quipped one terrace wag as chants of “That’s how your cat felt” rung around the majority of Lionel Road.
One has to wonder how much of blessing in disguise it was for Zouma. Finally running out of lives well before his ninth after after coping dog’s abuse (or should that be…) every time he touched the ball.
The substitution made little difference. Brentford dominating the midfield and slowly turning the screw. Bryan should probably have put us ahead in the first half. He made no mistake just two minutes in to the second. Ivan Toney with a wonderful assist before doubling the lead. His header home this time being served up on a plate by Mbeumo after Rico had sent an inch perfect cross over the box to the back stick.
Not even Said Benrahma could make a difference when he came on for the final half-hour. A glimmer of his wonderful talent on show but the former Bees’ hero unable to make any impact on or through a resolute midfield. Eriksen wonderful. Norgaard equally so. Brentford now having won every game the former has started. The same win ratio applying to yours truly’s lucky green jacket.
The sartorial masterpiece, obviously, remains the real reason for another three points.
Those looking downwards hopefully feeling a touch less stressed now. Defeats for Watford at home to Leeds United and Burnley at Norwich City mean the bottom three are looking further adrift. Everton beating an absolutely woeful Manchester United on Saturday lunchtime casting further consternation to the clubs below that dotted line.
For those with eyes on the upper echelons of the table there remains huge cause for optimism. April has already seen us taking 6 points from 6 in London derbies. The month is completed by Watford away and then a visit from another Champions League chasing club, Tottenham. At this rate, anything is possible.
It’s not so much the margin of victory as the style of play now being shown by Brentford. Back to our free styling Championship best, despite playing clubs with genuine aspirations of making Europe’s top table. Thomas Frank not afraid to mix things up again with a return to the back four set up and Mads Roerslev missing out alongside the unwell Pontus Jansson. Perhaps harsh on the young Dane after doing so well against Chelsea but at the end of the day, Clive, we’ll all point to the win as being all that counts.
Next up, Watford. There’s no midweek fixture and so a chance to take stock. To rest any tired limbs. To wonder just what the heck Matthew Benham needs to do to persuade Christian Eriksen to stay on for another season. The crowd love him. The team feed off everything he does. The smile is ever present on his face. Could fate be smiling on us? Just offer him a green jacket, Matthew…
Until then there’s not much else to do beyond reflect on all we have achieved so far. There are only 7(seven) Premier League games to go and Brentford have defied just about every critic’s pre-season prediction. The MOTD2 team would talk about West Ham having a thin squad whilst battling on two fronts. David Moyes would take about circumstances.
Poppycock. Brentford weren’t whinging when our paper thin set up was decimated by injury or covid. So let’s get some kudos where it is due. For yours truly, the glass remains as full as ever. The wheels may already be coming off the super-computer’s predictions about the bottom three (although if Leeds Untied could fall apart, again, that would be amazing) but as everything else outside of Lionel Road is only a distraction, let’s not hold too much to that for now.
The player review is now up and can be found here as published.
For now here’s to a happy Monday and then we can start prep for Watford. I’m already full of anticipation for that one. See you there.
Nick Bruzon
BrentfordFC 
Great result
One more win or a couple of draws should nail security for us …. and deservedly so.
If I’m going to nitpick bringing Jensen on was too early for my liking …. unfortunately a silent fart knocks him off the ball … and you’ve got players like Jeanvier and Baptiste on the bench if you needed to shore up an expected (?) late onslaught from WH …. that didn’t materialise.
Canos … well looked like he was on the left wing then ended up aimlessly wandering around the right wing back position …. or basically anywhere as Toney played more left wing.
Will we see Nathan (Young Coombes?) get some game time?
I’ve said it before but people will interpret me as being anti Jensen/Canos …. but think of it as being pro all the others on the bench.
The Danish midfield is being properly exercised and I get it ….. but don’t start overlooking Baptiste, Jeanvier, Fosu, Ghoddos etc …. at least Roeslev sub made sense.
Jensen was a good Championship player … as is Mitrovich a good Championship striker …. are they Premiership standard ….. hmmm …
And Canos is a good left winger …. we have better positional players if he has to deploy Canos anywhere else other than left wing.
The stats will show that with the acquisition of Eriksen and not starting with Jensen and Canos our form has dramatically changed …. and it’s no coincidence.
I don’t deny the passion and love for the club in Canos …. that’s a heart thing …. but don’t let it overrule the head …. because if Thomas does then he’ll piss a lot of players off …. Baptiste, Ghoddos, Fosu, Roeslev …. (probably already has in Forss and Thompson!) …. etc etc …. not forgetting Dasilva!
Your glass is certainly half empty Tim ?
🤣🤣🤣
No just looking at the stats! 😉
Also having Raya out for a long time and missing Rico for a month didn’t help.
I’m hard core Brentford since the 70’s so it’s ingrained in me to be cautious.
As they say “its Brentford innit?”
Looking at our squad and barring injuries I’d confidently say we’re a top ten team. Just hope we don’t lose a lot of our “fringe players” and loaned out personnel. Including people like Mad Bechs who was involved in our amazing 21 game unbeaten run in last years Championship as was Fosu.
Just got to be smart now when it comes to the tricky 2nd album.
If failing to persuade Eriksen to sign on for another year, the ‘Plan B’ might be to get him to ‘sign on’ for a further 6 months (to January) that he might have continuity up to and through the World Cup.
👍
David Moist moaning on MotD about playing Thursday then Sunday. Talking a load of cat shit. Another London club manager like Tommy Tootle, refusing to give Super Bees due credit for playing them off the park.
Absolutely … barely mentioned when we had Raya and Rico out and a bit of a covid issue … but when we were do to play Spam United at home they filled their pants at the prospect of facing us so pulled out the covid card!
Yeah those poor big clubs with such small squads and fan bases and hardly any revenue …. it seems so unfair to be bullied by the Bus Stop Boys! 😆😆😆
Pay Eriksen what ever he wants to stay, the team have so much confidence with him in the side. Hey Jude!!!!! Hail Cristian
Great result. What chance champions of London, come the end of the season? It’s only Spurs we have a negative record against.
It’ll be brilliant to beat Spurs ….. then the bus stop in Hounslow would be Kings of London!
Get a result against Scam United and, apart from Man City, we’ll have taken points from 5 of the super (fluous) 6!!
🤣🤣🤣 my pint glass is overflowing!🍺
A great day yesterday , the lads made WHU look very ordinary. Disappointingly, too much is being made of the fact that WH played on Thursday night – so what?! They are professional athletes supposedly so playing the Bus Stop in Hounslow shouldn’t have been a problem. except that it was. IMO Brentford have not received the full credit for their total performance yesterday but those of us who were there know the real story of the game. I agree that we must try all we can to keep Erikson but I also think that Zanka deserves a great deal of praise for his performance yesterday and I hope we extend what I think may only be a 1 year contract.
Only a completely unrelated note – found out yesterday that the live under the A41 fly over/Chiswick roundabout tramp man is no longer with us 😔
Very sad to hear – he’s been under there since I started following the bees as a young lad, famous even where I live 30 miles away. RIP to a local legend 😇
Oh my: the cat taunts made me laugh. I even blogged about them myself! 🐈⬛