My review on the game whilst trying to be rational.
Most have said Biss, Maddison and Udogie were good. I concur. Sanchez and VDV I thought were good too given that they had to step in at short notice. VDV did a lot of mopping up of long balls, but I'm concerned if he's not available who is going to fill in, again need someone as a replacement.
Some saying the Brentford goals were unlucky. I don't see it like that and I'm pretty sure Ange will also be annoyed with a couple of points in how we defended those.
Although Son tracked back for the penalty, I thought Brentford played around us too easily to get into the box. Son was a fraction late getting back.
Second goal is where Ange will be disappointed. I thought Deki was poor going forward as a few people have mentioned but actually Rico Henry was running off him every time. I felt sorry for Emerson, who was playing CM then dragged out to defend against Henry. He wasn't getting help from Deki and it felt like Skipp was getting bypassed too. This was the first problem in the second goal we conceded. I also don't think Ange will be happy with the marking, we had a numerical advantage defending that situation, Sanchez and VDV were just marking space. In that situation one of them needs to step out and mark Wissa.
Reminiscent of Poch where we had possession but recycled from one side to the other. We looked threatening on the occasions we played line breaking passes. Against low block teams, I think we should play Maddison and GLC behind Richy. We also need to keep the width. Got so frustrated with Deki cutting inside, only got to the byline once and against a good 1v1 defender like Henry didn't really look like getting anything out of that duel. Solomon would have been interesting to see. We do need another option there, Olise would be great.
On Vicario, I mentioned after the Shakhtar game that a quick way to prevent the long ball being an issue is to play sweeper keeper. Someone is obviously reading my posts. It looks scary, but that's mainly because Vicario isn't yet used to playing that style and indecision makes it look kamikaze. But I certainly think playing that sweeper keeper role today prevented some chances for Brentford which will go unnoticed. His early distribution was a positive change from Lloris.
Lastly Brentford stylistically don't suit us.
We looked nervous on the first 20 minutes, passes were slow and inaccurate. We then settled and starting playing a bit.
Brentford is notorious for keeping the grass on their pitch longer than most and on a summers day with it being drier it makes passing difficult for teams that want to do this. Brentford couldn't care less given they play long and direct. This is combined with nerves from our part was why we struggled with some of the passing and interplay.
Also need to be less reliant on the Bissouma - Maddison link up, teams will quickly look to block this, we desperately need our wingers to help here.
All in all not a bad start to new era which is stylistically different to the past 4 seasons. Our pre-season prep was hindered and I think we need more time just bedding in. But Levy needs reinforce some key areas in the last few days of the window.
Most have said Biss, Maddison and Udogie were good. I concur. Sanchez and VDV I thought were good too given that they had to step in at short notice. VDV did a lot of mopping up of long balls, but I'm concerned if he's not available who is going to fill in, again need someone as a replacement.
Some saying the Brentford goals were unlucky. I don't see it like that and I'm pretty sure Ange will also be annoyed with a couple of points in how we defended those.
Although Son tracked back for the penalty, I thought Brentford played around us too easily to get into the box. Son was a fraction late getting back.
Second goal is where Ange will be disappointed. I thought Deki was poor going forward as a few people have mentioned but actually Rico Henry was running off him every time. I felt sorry for Emerson, who was playing CM then dragged out to defend against Henry. He wasn't getting help from Deki and it felt like Skipp was getting bypassed too. This was the first problem in the second goal we conceded. I also don't think Ange will be happy with the marking, we had a numerical advantage defending that situation, Sanchez and VDV were just marking space. In that situation one of them needs to step out and mark Wissa.
Reminiscent of Poch where we had possession but recycled from one side to the other. We looked threatening on the occasions we played line breaking passes. Against low block teams, I think we should play Maddison and GLC behind Richy. We also need to keep the width. Got so frustrated with Deki cutting inside, only got to the byline once and against a good 1v1 defender like Henry didn't really look like getting anything out of that duel. Solomon would have been interesting to see. We do need another option there, Olise would be great.
On Vicario, I mentioned after the Shakhtar game that a quick way to prevent the long ball being an issue is to play sweeper keeper. Someone is obviously reading my posts. It looks scary, but that's mainly because Vicario isn't yet used to playing that style and indecision makes it look kamikaze. But I certainly think playing that sweeper keeper role today prevented some chances for Brentford which will go unnoticed. His early distribution was a positive change from Lloris.
Lastly Brentford stylistically don't suit us.
We looked nervous on the first 20 minutes, passes were slow and inaccurate. We then settled and starting playing a bit.
Brentford is notorious for keeping the grass on their pitch longer than most and on a summers day with it being drier it makes passing difficult for teams that want to do this. Brentford couldn't care less given they play long and direct. This is combined with nerves from our part was why we struggled with some of the passing and interplay.
Also need to be less reliant on the Bissouma - Maddison link up, teams will quickly look to block this, we desperately need our wingers to help here.
All in all not a bad start to new era which is stylistically different to the past 4 seasons. Our pre-season prep was hindered and I think we need more time just bedding in. But Levy needs reinforce some key areas in the last few days of the window.
