Brentford welcome Manchester United to the Gtech tonight, looking less to the thing at Burnley two weeks ago and more the positive of Ivan Toney’s recent performance for England.
Brentford ‘official’ capture the midweek moment on Twitter
As ever at this point, we focus on the forthcoming fixture. Will his goal for England help propel Ivan to further heights? Who does Thomas pick? What about Manchester United, for whom Harry Maguire seems to be the latest casualty?
From one respect a 1-0 loss for Brentford at Manchester City May have been expected prior to kick off. Yet even now, the morning after the night before, to come away from The Ethiad empty handed feels incredibly frustrating.
Brentford ‘official’ share the full time score on Twitter
As ever at this point we look back to the game just played. Who was star player for Brentford? Who made the top five? Did any of those drafted in do sufficient to keep their place for the trip to West Ham on Monday night?
A 1-0 defeat to Sheffield United one which deep down, perhaps, many may have anticipated. It’s Brentford, innit? We all know the situation that brought us to this so fingers crossed our luck takes a turn for the game with Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon. Perhaps that extra day to recover will be crucial.
For young Bee Felix Watts, pre-match optimism was replaced by an almost inevitable outcome
Until then, let’s cut to the chase. The post match debrief and player ratings article is now up and online. Was there any recognition to be salvaged? Are there any new options for Thomas Frank when Aston Villa come to town? Could Ollie Watkins enjoy playing in front of fans for whom he is still a hero to so many?
Brentford went down 1-0 at home to new Premier league leaders Arsenal on Saturday evening. A wonderful performance coming to a brutal end in the 89th minute. With Luton Town next up at the Gtech on Saturday, there is a lorry load of positivity that can be taken into that game. As much given the further injury-triggered reshuffling needed by Thomas Frank.
A full house on Saturday night…
As ever at this point we look back at the game just played. How good were Arsenal and who shone for Brentford? Who made up the top five players and could any of the subs or those thrust into new roles retain a place in the starting XI for the visit of Luton Town?
And as ever at this point, you can find the answers here in the post match debrief and player ratings piece.One of the closest top fives of the season and I’m pretty sure we’ll disagree (in the nicest sense) on the final selections. Enjoy…
Newcastle United 1 Brentford 0. A game where the visitors created, arguably, the better chances but where the teams were eventually decided by a dubious penalty awarded after Anthony Gordon was ‘fouled’. Hmmmm. The former Everton man going down like a sack of spuds whilst making no attempt to play the ball. Instead, prefering to turn his back on Mark Flekken and leave a leg dangling before performing an homage to Tom Daley.
Draw your own conclusions as to who is in the wrong on this one
As ever at this point, we catch up on the main talking points and look at our top five. Likewise, examine what this may mean for the visit of Everton next week.
Liverpool 1 Brentford 0. A game that was as close as the scoreline suggests and, on another day, might have seen the Bees securing at least one – if not all three – of the points. That’s not how football works though and, despite Dean Smith levels of ‘deserving to win‘, we go in to Sunday’s visit from West Ham with praise ringing in the ears, confidence high but nothing further towards our final points tally following the game at Anfield.
Did Ivan make the top five? Well… d’uh!
As ever at this juncture, time to reflect. Time to consider who the star player was for Brentford? Who made up the top five? Who leads the season long quest to find our overall top performer? Did anyone do sufficient against Liverpool from the bench to make the starting XI against West Ham or will it be more of the same?
Everton 1 Brentford 0 Defeat for The Bees (not a typo) as that unbeaten run which stretched back as far as October finally came to an end. Thomas Frank’s team outclassed in the first half and all over the hosts in the second. Even David Raya coming close to yours truly’s pre-match prediction and almost scoring at the death. The hope being we pick up where we left off for the trip to Southampton on Wednesday.
Saturday morning ; 10.20am
As ever at this juncture, we look back at who shone for Brentford. Who caused Everton headaches and who is leading the top five in our season long quest find an overall star player (aswell, of course, as the game by game marks). Will any of the subs have played themselves into contention for a starting berth for the trip to Southampton?
Brentford will travel to Everton in the fourth round of the FA Cup – ties to be played the weekend of 5th February. Along with Spurs v Brighton and Wolves v Norwich, it is one of only three all Premier League ties. Meaning there’s a good chance of the BBC going for TV coverage along with the inevitable bore fest that will be Manchester United v Middlesbrough. Unless, of course, Aston Villa can spare us all from that one tonight when they travel to Old Trafford for the final game of the round. Manchester City have the chance to warm up for our visit the following week with a home draw against EFL club Fulham whilst next on our tour of the Premier League, Southampton, are home to Coventry City.
There was immediate, perhaps bizarre, excitement in our house when Everton came out of the hat. Aside from our own recent 1-0 win and an earlier than expected chance to visit a new ground, if Brentford show half the oomph we did against Port Vale then it could be a classic. A 4-1 win on the road with Mads Bidstrup subsequently described by Thomas Frank as a little bit of our N’Golo Kanté ( “A big, big claim of course” – Thomas’ own words ). Talking about his “Big engine”, he used the post-match to lavish praise on the midfielder, enthusing that “his ability to press and cover so many yards across the pitch is fantastic and that acceleration when he just goes past people, I think that’s so good in the pressure.”
Mads’ reward is another ‘away’ tie.
Then, of course, we’ve the prospect of another run in with everyone’s favourite Brazilian. Pele, Socrates, Zico, Ronaldinho…. Allan. As has already been documented on these pages, the midfielder has become a cult hero to rival Argentina’s Lucas Biglia in our house. Any chance of some bonus Allan action is one which we’ll always opt for. Especially if Everton continue to, what’s the polite term, ‘misfire’ as much as they have done in recent months. League form is best described as patchy, with only Leeds United and Watford standing between them and the bottom three.
Meaning that the purse strings could be severely tested, given the trip to Manchester City in the Premier League is just a few days later. A 7.45pm kick off on Wednesday 9th February. Tickets for that one go on sale this Tuesday afternoon for anyone clearing that first TAP threshold of 3,400. Away capacity for League games at The Ethiad is reckoned to be about 3,000 across the three tiers of the South Stand, so hopefully anyone with requisite form will be able to get in should they so desire. Definitely one where we’ll need to flex the plastic to cover costs.
Before all that we head to Southampton on Tuesday evening. They had the pleasure of a ‘behind closed doors’ tie in Swansea at the weekend (its Wales, innit). That one went to extra time before the Saints went, if not marching, certainly limping on.
Ralph Hasenhüttl telling Sky that his much changed team may not have enough players for tomorrow’s game, saying, ”We never know. At the moment, it’s all about lottery… You wake up in the morning and go to the training ground. You sit at breakfast and you are waiting for new [coronavirus] cases. The problem is with the fixtures coming up. It doesn’t get any easier.”
So far (Monday morning) there aren’t any noises being made about applications to have the game called off or training grounds being closed. Fingers crossed this is nothing more than sabre rattling and mind games. As much for the players’ health as the additional chaos caused by any more backlog. Let’s not forget that this fixture has already been put back once.
For Brentford, expect to see more of Bryan Mbeumo. He was back to his brilliant best, with Thomas waxing lyrical about his half hour appearance form the bench. Less the proverbial cameo and more scene stealing. Our head coach nothing that “I must say he’s been the same for us this year in the Premier League. He’s done really well after coming back from injury. We knew he wanted to play in the Cup to be in with a chance of being ready for Tuesday at Southampton and he’s just come in with three quality finishes”.
Too true, and surely he’ll find his way back in to the Brentford front line alongside Ivan when the teams are named at 6.46 on Tuesday evening.
For now, though, it’s a chance to charge the battery packs and prepare for the trip to Southampton. Don’t forget those Manchester City tickets tomorrow and, whilst we wait to find out when that Everton game will actually take place (Liverpool are also at home so something will have to give) here’s the rest of the draw in full….
Safe travels to the South coast and see you there…
Well, what is there to say about that one? Nobody likes to overly celebrate ‘plucky defeat’, let’s be honest. Yet at the same time one can only be full of admiration for a Brentford team that came so close to taking at least a point from our illustrious opponents. From the League Champions. Manchester City may have run out 1-0 winners but with a starting XI designed to take advantage of Liverpool slipping up the night before, the visitors failed to have things their own way. Anything but. In a game where referee David Coote showed how us just much he dislikes Coldplay (that can be the only explanation for an ongoing refusal to get out his Yellow), the Bees gave as good as they got. Indeed, were it not for VAR showing Phil Foden to be ‘just’ onside, Brentford could have taken a point that nobody watching would have denied we were worth.
Little toe plays finger onside
That’s not how football works, as we well know. Manchester City had their chance and took it. They’ll likely point to another VAR decision that went against them and a post being hit to further emphasise it was ‘deserved’. Instead, as with Chelsea, a super spirited performance against just about the toughest opposition imaginable, saw the Bees missing out by the odd goal in one. The difference this time that there was no Rico Henry, no Christian Norgaard, No David Raya etc etc etc. We all know who is missing. We all know how bad Brighton away was the game before. We all went into this game knowing that City turning up and Brentford failing to show could be disastrous. Instead, it was about as as close an encounter as they come.
Dominic Thompson filling in magnificently for Rico at left wing back. Mads Roerslev coming in for Sergi. Matthias Jensen hanging onto his place as much due to lack of options but having a blinder in the middle. Ivan, Wissa and Frank the Tank combining time and again early on as the goal threatened. Dreamland beckoned. City were rattled as a flurry of chances fell our way. The no show against Brighton in the previous game nothing but a distant nightmare. Whatever pep talk Thomas Frank gave his troops clearly worked wonders. The crowd, likewise, on it from the get go.
Yes. Yes. Yeeessss … Noooooooooo. Urghh. There was Phil Foden, suddenly freed up by Kevin De Bruyne, and making it 1-0 City down the other end. 16 minutes gone and with Brentford fans still wondering how the ball hadn’t gone in for us, there were the visitors to punish us with some quite clinical finishing. That’s why they’re League Champions. Brutal. Ruthless. Efficient.
And with that, it was game over. The early surge from the Bees petering out. The game settling in to a pattern of containment but one where, with just a solitary goal dividing the teams, it felt alive all the way until full time. Despite the falling over, theatrics and some silly nonsense from Grealish, Foden and Jesus (amongst others) Brentford kept going. Kept playing out of the skin and ran it so very, very close. We’ve all seen the game. We all know how tight this one was. There are full fat match reports elsewhere if you want them.
Oh Jesus… Dominic Thompson takes his place prior to kick off
For me, Clive, the important take away is that it was yet another night where we have run a top four team all the way. There was no panic. There was nobody star struck by the galaxy of high profile names lining up in front of them. There was just a solid, solid performance that left me feeling totally gutted at the end of it by virtue of the fact we’d come away empty handed. Points well earned by City but on another day….
Equally, one can take heart in how we’ve performed so far. It was another notch on the belt of progress. Of showing that we are in this top flight on merit. Looking at those teams currently in the Champions League spots, our home games with Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City have only seen five goals conceded. And most of them were in the 3-3 draw with Liverpool.
Yet last night was probably the most pleasing of those performances, despite the defeat, and as much due to the relatively makeshift nature of the team. For a home side to be priced at 16-1 prior to kick off tells us everything about how two sides from the same division were perceived. By full time, that opinion had been changed by just about everybody.
This Brentford team are full of surprises. With our next league games against Aston Villa and then Liverpool at Anfield, the task at hand isn’t going to get any easier. At the same time, it’s only going to get even more exciting. Certainly, if we put in a few more shifts like this.
Well played Manchester City. Well played. But well played Brentford, too. You were magnificent last night. The player review is also now up (and you can get that here). For now, time to sit back and wonder what might have been. Perhaps, next season…..
Until then, we’ve got Aston Villa and Liverpool to look forward to. Not to mention Port Vale in the cup. All the immediate focus will be on if we can close down a certain Ollie Watkins. There’s a man that knows the way to goal. Can he still do it? Roll on Sunday when we find out.
December is here. A non-stop charge into action with Brentford facing 7(seven) league games aswell as that league cup quarter final at Lionel Road. Victory against Everton on Sunday the perfect way to set ourselves up for the coming month. Next up are Spurs, Leeds United, Watford, Manchester United etc etc etc It’ll be nuts. It’ll be chaotic. It’ll be a whole lot of fun.
Everton already seems an after thought. A game of football that will live long in the record books as a 1-0 win for Brentford. That’ll do for me. Take the points, exorcise the memory and move on. Our opposition in about an awful a run of form as they come and for whom a lesson in injury related sportsmanship wouldn’t go amiss, either. Thoughts and prayers for Lucas Digne. Thoughts and prayers. What a shame the same didn’t happen and the ball kicked out when Rico Henry was actually crocked.
As for this morning, I’m feeling a bit ‘Peter Gilham’. Specifically, the time he was obliged to promote the club’s latest foray into social media. Live on pitch he encouraged us to use, “Snapchat”. Then paused for a moment before adding, “Whatever that is.”
I was sent a video by a friend who was making his first visit to The Brentford Community Stadium. And no, it wasn’t Absolute radio DJ Andy Bush and Everton who, as it turned out, may not actually have been making his initial trip to our new home. In fact, it seems the frustration endured was limited to TV viewing, judging by the first hour of yesterday’s Hometime show.
As such, my apologies for the mix up which saw his file picture published in the announcements page. And when I say his, I mean ‘a’.
We’re fortunate enough to have many friendly and familiar faces around us where we sit in the North stand. Some we’ve been near for years and others who, Brentford being Brentford, we just know because everyone knows everyone.
Our H has picked up where he left off at Griffin Park and, sitting in relatively close proximity to the pitch, still absorbs the moment of victory like no other. Perhaps barring one. So it certainly put a smile on our faces when ‘the moment’ was captured on a Tik Tok (whatever that i…) .
And talking of Peter / social media, well it would be remiss not to revisit this one. We’ve all seen it but on a bitter cold Tuesday morning, may well put a smile on the face. Mr. Brentford delivering again. And again. Any excuse…..
As for Spurs, we go into our game at their new home on Thursday with several injury related questions in the air. Whilst Shandon Baptiste and Yoanne Wissa both made it onto the pitch from the bench against Everton, Christian Norgaard went off minutes after sitting down and clutching his back. Likewise Sergi Canos and Rico Henry. Fingers crossed both were precautionary. Having to reshuffle the pack once more, just as payers are returning, a headache Thomas Frank could well do without. Moreso given we head to Leeds United on Sunday.
My £30 ticket is in hand for that one. £30. Thank you Leeds. So generous. Worth going for the pleasure of not having our pockets picked on the way in as happened so often in the Championship. And League One. Remember that? Oh, Ben Strevens….
Still, that’s to come. As are Watford, Man U et al . With forthcoming programme columns coming out of the ears, these pages may go a bit darker territory than normal. Perhaps not. Let’s just play it by ear. One things for sure, with a game every few days next month it’s going to be football, football, football. And I can’t wait. See you there.
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