BFTG - Brentford (a)

[LWJ]

Left 5 minutes early and was back in Crowthorne by 10.15

Left on the 4th goal, ran to the station for the 9:39 train to find it had been cancelled and had to wait for the 9:55 train instead.

Home in Andover by 11:45 after being picked up at B'stoke by the gf

[Focher]

A rare team board post.

That was utter horse shit last night, before we hit the post in the first half we didn't have 1 chance, defensively we were a shambles, midfield creativity was non existent. Yes we hit the post twice but apart from that Bentley had 1 simple save to make the whole game from memory from Beerens in the whole game. You can spray it around the back as much as you like but it all flattered to deceive. George Evans was a total waste of space, Van Den Berg looked like he was totally out of control from the 1st minute, Moore is a nice player but cant defend that well, the only player who I thought was half decent was Obita, and that's saying something. Kermogant a nice player in the wrong system, Beerens marked out the game, Al Habsi didn't do much wrong apart from dice with death about 5 times, probably because hes been told to do that. Gunter was just Gunter, average, Harriot looked like he had promise, would stick with him in the team. McShane is a basic defender who thrives off basic football, im not sure this style is for him.

In summary im not quite sure how we went 8 unbeaten, totally uninspiring, boring, Brentford were far superior in system, speed, movement, and creativity. I certainly cant fault Reading's effort which is why I walked away without too much criticism. Some of the fans were creaming themselves about some of our passing in our own half in the 1st half, if that whats they want then fair enough but I wont be going again for a while, it was a total bore to watch.

[OLLIE KEARNS]

Strange game. Didn't see 5 goals coming after the first half an hour. I guess Brentford showed what we aim to be in terms of passing and movement through the middle and final third. Hogan was excellent and the first goal in particular came from quick, sharp passing with a great deal of player awareness as to what was going on around them. The ball into a central area followed by a pass inside the full back got them in time and time again.
Player wise VDB and Obita had a mare whilst most of the side were average. VDB deservedly got the hook at half time having made one last gasp tackle that looked great but came from not tracking his man he then let Vibe go for the second goal. Obita kept getting the ball played inside him and then played them onside for the last goal by not getting out quickly enough.
Watching Hogan just reinforces our need for a forward with pace and movement given the way we play. He dragged players all over the place to make space for others and he scores goals himself. Kermorgant is a decent player but not what we need to make this system really work for us.
Aside from that, enjoyable time in Brentford as always and shame about the trains !

[Lower West]

Brentford played a formation to nullify us. Concern must be that we are becoming too predictable to play against.

[genome]

Make no mistake 4-1 flattered us 6-0 would have flattered us!

Come off it mate We weren't that bad. Brentford were the better team and we had a shit day at the office. 3 or 4-1 was about right.

[tidus_mi2]

Make no mistake 4-1 flattered us 6-0 would have flattered us!

Come off it mate We weren't that bad. Brentford were the better team and we had a shit day at the office. 3 or 4-1 was about right.

I think after the good patch of form, people have forgotten that we had previously accepted we are a team in transition and mid-table would be seen as a positive. Yes it was disappointing to lose as heavily as we did but so far this season there have been enough positives to suggest we could very well be challenging for promotion next season.

[BR2]

The theme that comes through from all posters is that Brentford's finishing was clinical-the goals I saw on Sky came about through pace.
We score so few goals that pressure is always on our defence and as long as that continues we will ship the number of goals that we have at Newcastle and Brentford from time to time.

The ball retention and passing strategy across our defence is fine as long as when we eventually attack we do so at pace.
We have that in the wide areas but through central midfield and central striker we don't have it.

There are many plusses about the Stam revolution , especially the signings of Swift and Moore, but our lack of pace both in thought and deed will hold us back from being challengers IMHO.

[Tony Le Mesmer]

Think some people might have got a little carried away with our recent 'form'.

14pts from 6 games. All 6 of those games were basically 50/50 games, could have gone either way. Could easily have been 4 or 5 points. Lots of close call decisions seemingly going our way, missed chances by the opposition, last gasp winners. Standard Championship stuff, fine margins etc.

[BraisingsteakRoyal]

I was in the home (Ealing road) end with a few Brentford mates.

Thought we played really well - especially in the first half. Unlucky to hit the foot of the post with the keeper well beaten, and then have them go straight up the other end and score with their first shot of the game. Second one was a sucker punch and that was that.

Agree that kermorant is horribly isolated - combined with him having to come back and defend set pieces (which he does superbly), means that he's often not in the box when we counter attack.

Also though Harriot looked really tidy and promising.

Bonus: helped a struggling Danny Williams get let in the ground as he was trying to convince a steward that he was a player. Rewarded with a cheeky selfie and a handshake.

[tidus_mi2]

I was in the home (Ealing road) end with a few Brentford mates.

Thought we played really well - especially in the first half. Unlucky to hit the foot of the post with the keeper well beaten, and then have them go straight up the other end and score with their first shot of the game. Second one was a sucker punch and that was that.

Agree that kermorant is horribly isolated - combined with him having to come back and defend set pieces (which he does superbly), means that he's often not in the box when we counter attack.

Also though Harriot looked really tidy and promising.

Bonus: helped a struggling Danny Williams get let in the ground as he was trying to convince a steward that he was a player. Rewarded with a cheeky selfie and a handshake.

Since he wasn't in the matchday squad, I wonder if said steward looked at the teamsheet and thought you hoodwinked them.

[BR2]

I was in the home (Ealing road) end with a few Brentford mates.

Thought we played really well - especially in the first half. Unlucky to hit the foot of the post with the keeper well beaten, and then have them go straight up the other end and score with their first shot of the game. Second one was a sucker punch and that was that.

Agree that kermorant is horribly isolated - combined with him having to come back and defend set pieces (which he does superbly), means that he's often not in the box when we counter attack.

Also though Harriot looked really tidy and promising.

Bonus: helped a struggling Danny Williams get let in the ground as he was trying to convince a steward that he was a player. Rewarded with a cheeky selfie and a handshake.

Not great getting a selfie and a handshake with a Brentford steward.

[Sutekh]

Kermorgant doesn't fit with the style of play properly. He is too isolated at times and there is rarely anyone to pick up flick ons. Think it's the one position where we should push the boat out money wise and get someone with pace and power that could perhaps makes the forward line look like more of a unit than a disjointed mish-mash that is too slow to get forward together.

When Reading play so far this season it's either painful to watch or the game varies from "snoozeball" to moments of sublime brilliance. Sometimes they actually get away with it as well.

[bobby1413]

Standing in the terrace behind the goal it was frustrating seeing a ball whipped in for Kermi to rise and meet it, only to head it straight across goal and not even on target.

[CountryRoyal]

Managed to sneak into standing section in the end so was thinking it was going to be a good day. Wrong.

Back down to earth (for those that weren't on it) with a very heavy bump. Performance wasn't that bad first half, we played some decent stuff at times but there were still far too many mistakes. Sloppy passing and sloppy defending. Second half was a complete shambles.

Fair play to Brentford they pressed us and hassled us better than any other team has this season but when did have opportunities we squandered them with a inaccurate pass.

Our final ball just lacked quality and that cutting edge in the final third still eludes us.

Referee was awful, was never a penalty for us, thought fans were decent (us not Brentford) until the 4th went in or thereabouts. Stam's reverted back to bringing on subs far too late to change a game.

Anyway, not the end of the world. We're 8th after 10 games and most people would have taken that before August. Will be interesting to see how we bounce back against Derby.

[jd82]

Special shout out the the bloke in the bottom right of the away end.. The most lacklustre attempts at starting chants i've ever heard..

[jd82]

Referee was awful, was never a penalty for us.

I though the ref was fine..

Was a bit soft, but looked absolutely nailed on peno to me... Quinny got the wrong side of him and then slowed down so the defender couldn't do anything but run into the back of him..

Also looked like we should have had another for handball on the line, when it was 3-1... Anyone seen that in the highlights?

[CountryRoyal]

Referee was awful, was never a penalty for us.

I though the ref was fine..

Was a bit soft, but looked absolutely nailed on peno to me... Quinny got the wrong side of him and then slowed down so the defender couldn't do anything but run into the back of him..

Also looked like we should have had another for handball on the line, when it was 3-1... Anyone seen that in the highlights?

I agree with your last point. Looked like it just glanced his arm but he moved it towards it.

[genome]

Yeah from my vantage point at the top it looked a definite penalty to me, though you may have been closer.

I thought regardless of the result, it was an enjoyable away day.

[jd82]

Just watched the highlights - definite penalty.. and also not a handball, looks like it was off the shoulder..

Possession football ain't gonna work if you keep giving the ball away

[genome]

Al Habsi 6 - Not much chance with goals, perhaps should've gone long with a couple of balls rather than pass it when Brentford were really pressing. Redeemed by that Cruyff turn.
Gunter 5 - Can't really remember anything of note. Picked out a good cross for Kermorgant.
McShane 5 - Won his headers, but definitely got worse as the game went on and lost his cool.
Moore 6 - I thought he was okay on the ball, can't remember any glaring errors
Obita 5 - Seemed to stop for Brentford's first. Similar to the Brum game, kept stopping and turning when the opportunity was there to run forward with the ball. Frustrating.
Van Den Berg 4.5 - Quite poor, must be his worst game for us. Some suicidal stuff, having said that, one superb tackle to deny an almost certain goal so I can't quite bring myself to give him lower. Almost certainly would've got sent off in the second half.
Evans 6 - Alright, seem to remember quite a big gap in between McShane and Moore so perhaps didn't come deep enough. Unlucky not to score.
Swift 5 - Seemed to let the crowd get to him and was trying some stupid balls and shots to prove a point. Better second half but needed to be quicker.
Harriott 7 - Played well I thought, lively, quick, always eager to attack. Also unlucky not to score. I'm eager to see more of him.
Beerens 5 - Quiet, aside from a couple of times near the end of the first half where he cut inside and shot. Other than that, wasn't really an outlet at all.
Kermorgant 6 - Was always fighting a losing battle in this system. Should've maybe had a hattrick though, so he did actually have some chances. Just unlike the Brentford frontline, not clinical enough.


Subs:

Quinn 7 - Excellent I thought, should've started.
Samuel and Mendes N/A Not enough time. Should've come on sooner.