Brentford (A) - Saturday 5.12.20

[Uddersfelt Blue]

Can’t see a match thread for tomorrow’s game at Brentford.

Still recall the delight and disappointment at Griffin Park 3 years ago where despite winning 3-1 we were relegated to League 1. 
Well tomorrow we won’t be playing at Griffin Park but some shiny brand spanking new stadium in West London (what is it called?) and we will potentially be playing for a top 2 spot? 
 

Brentford have had a change of personnel since we last played them in London,  losing Watkins and Benhrama to the Premier League but still seem to be able to consistently produce the goods and with Ivan Toney signed from Peterborough in the summer, they have one of the better strikers in this League. He will be a danger.

David Raya likely to be in goal for the Bees and we need to put him under pressure as we all know he’s likely to oblige with a clanger of some sort. Maybe not but worth a try. 
 

Rovers haven’t played their best football in the last few games but if we can recreate some of our earlier form we can come away from ??????? with a result. Hopefully we will have Wharton and Douglas available for selection 

Brereton will be a miss after picking up what looks like a serious injury on Wednesday but it gives others an opportunity to stake a claim for his spot up front. Most likely Gallagher, Elliott and Armstrong to start. 
 

COYB

Edited December 4, 2020 by Uddersfelt Blue

[benhben]

This will be a very tough game. We have looked tired and jaded of late, Holtby and Johnson in particular. The defence and midfield need to be well on it and hopefully nick something on the counter. Don't think defending deep and containing suits us so I can see us conceding at least one, just a matter if we can outscore them.

                        Kaminski

   Nyambe     Lenihan     Ayala      Bell 

                   Johnson Holtby

           Elliot       Rothwell          Dolan

                          Armstrong

 

[Mercer]

Next 3 games will show us whether Rovers could be the real deal or just pretenders.

Think we got more than we deserved from our last 2 games and good penalty shouts for Millwall went our way - you need Lady Luck on your side.

Keep saying it but confidence and momentum everything in this league and now that we have some, at long last, I expect us to come away with at least a point.

COYB 

[philipl]

Hugely looking forward to this game which should be very different from playing Luton, Barnsley and Millwall and more like Bournemouth or Watford- hopefully with a different result!

From what I have seen of Brentford, they play open football, are a bit vulnerable at the back but clinical in the opposition area.

The fate of this match is in the treatment room. If we have to play Bell and/or Carter, we will lose.

Brererton is a big miss BUT the pace and dribbling of Armstrong, Gallagher, Rothwell, Elliott and Nyambe should be too much for that Brentford defence. If Johnson and Holtby have decent games by their standards we should have the platform to dominate possession and inflict damage of our own.

What we don't want is Raya to have the sort of MoM performance the Watford keeper put in against us.

Comparison of Raya and Kaminski, Toney and Armstrong, 2000 fans in their new home for the first time- this match is full of fascinating sub-plots. Just hope they don't pump crowd noise through the PA in addition to having those socially isolated hungry and thirsty souls...

 

[dingles staying down 4ever]

Is it me or are we watching Groundhog Day?

Just like the last two seasons we go to Brentford with the top 6 in reach and momentum building.

Here hoping that unlike the previous two seasons that momentum and confidence isnt crushed by the end of it by giving away leads.

Edited December 4, 2020 by dingles staying down 4ever

[tomphil]

Better just going to have a right go at these and meet them head on no need for too much tactical thinking as he's unlikely to outwit these lot.

Get on the front foot and in their faces.

I'd settle for a draw but head says 3 - 1  Brentford.

[Dolly blue]

Hope we don’t have to play Ayala. Thought he was extremely poor on  Wednesday....he needs to get his body fitter and his mind sharper....it doesn’t seem to matter enough .

[JHRover]

Brentford won 3, drawn 3 and lost 1 of their league games at home this season. That defeat was a collapse against Preston having been 2-0 up.

Having said that their wins have come against QPR, Coventry and Huddersfield with draws v Middlesbrough, Norwich and Swansea which tends to suggest they struggle against the better sides but find enough to dispatch the weaker ones.

All things done I'll be satisfied with a point here but really if we mean serious business above play off flirtation we need to get some wins against tough teams.

[TimmyJimmy]

Too many injuries, too many weary players playing a very good team away from home and with home supporters acting as the 12th man. I'm not optimistic.

[BlackburnEnd75]

It's a tough next three games.

With the fixture backlog we will have to rotate over the coming games. As mowbray alluded to we can't run Armstrong into the ground and he will need to be subbed at times. The injury to brereton has come at a bad time.

I'd go 

                    Kaminski 

Nyambe lenihan   Ayala     Bell

      Holtby    Trybull    Rothwell

Dolan           Gallagher        Armstrong

[chaddyrovers]

Brereton is fit

[Uddersfelt Blue]

Really? 

[philipl]

1 minute ago, chaddyrovers said:

Brereton is fit

Elvis lives!

[chaddyrovers]

11 minutes ago, BlackburnEnd75 said:

It's a tough next three games.

With the fixture backlog we will have to rotate over the coming games. As mowbray alluded to we can't run Armstrong into the ground and he will need to be subbed at times. The injury to brereton has come at a bad time.

I'd go 

                    Kaminski 

Nyambe lenihan   Ayala     Bell

      Holtby    Trybull    Rothwell

Dolan           Gallagher        Armstrong

Why move Armstrong from the 9 role where he has 15 goals from this season?

[Madon]

2 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Brereton is fit

He isn't for this game. Mowbray has said 1 or 2 weeks.

[ben_the_beast]

It won't happen but I'm a bit worried about Holtby. Thought he was extremely poor our last 2 games. Whereas he was our lynchpin before that. Does he need a rest. Or was it the tactics of Barnsley and Millwall. I actually felt more comfortable with Downing coming on and think he will have a role to play at the weekend. But he seems a good replacement for Holtby if he's struggling.

Bad timing that it's their first game in their new stadium with fans. Mowbray and the players will be well aware this is a big test. I hope they go out there to battle and enjoy the occasion. Don't be fearful. It'll be tough but we can compete. I expect to see space in behind for Arma on the counter attack too. Would love to see him in a foot race with Jansson. I think he's rash and could be liable to a last man red. We're good on the counter. We don't need to all out defend. But we do need to be more compact. It will play to our strengths. Lay the trap. We can win

[Bigdoggsteel]

We need an early goal or they could could run away from us with the buzz and support from the crowd feeding into it. 

We absolutely have to hit them with intensity. Having said that, I would prefer to lose ,than pick up injuries to key players. So controlled intensity and using our heads. It's a marathon,not a sprint. 

Prediction 2-2 

Edited December 4, 2020 by Bigdoggsteel

[oldjamfan1]

I honestly think people are overplaying the crowd aspect of this. Its 2,000 people spread all around the ground, not 50,000 baying for blood. Their players will hear every individual moan and groan as well.

[JacknOry]

Sticking my neck out and saying 2-1 to us. We normally choke this close to the playoffs but that has to change sometime. If no BB, I would Have Elliott left, AA central and Dolan on the right. SG can come on second half. Just think it will be an open game, so want quick and tricky players up there.

 

[Bigdoggsteel]

6 minutes ago, oldjamfan1 said:

I honestly think people are overplaying the crowd aspect of this. Its 2,000 people spread all around the ground, not 50,000 baying for blood. Their players will hear every individual moan and groan as well.

I would be interested to see a breakdown of results for those home teams who had fans in last weekend. 

Maybe it's just cos the Luton win stood out to me,but I think it will give teams a boost. Makes us scoring first very important 

[oldjamfan1]

5 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

I would be interested to see a breakdown of results for those home teams who had fans in last weekend. 

Maybe it's just cos the Luton win stood out to me,but I think it will give teams a boost. Makes us scoring first very important 

With our style, us scoring first is always important. I can't think of too many games where we have conceded first and gone on to win. A couple in the immediate post-lockdown period perhaps.

[DE.]

1 hour ago, philipl said:

the pace and dribbling of Armstrong, Gallagher, Rothwell, Elliott and Nyambe 

One of these is not like the others.

Anyway, Brentford have scored 22 goals compared to Barnsley and Millwall's 17 and 13 respectively, so defend like we did against the latter two and we're likely to be punished. Big improvements needed there. Brentford are fairly solid defensively too, having only conceded 13 goals so far this season, so we will probably need our attackers to be a lot less disjointed than they have been in the past couple of matches. 

Despite six points from our last two games, the performances were poor enough to leave me more anxious than confident about this match. Hopefully Brentford's style will work more to our advantage in terms of how we play. Regardless, we need to show more endeavour, as in the last game especially we were noticeably second to everything for long periods. 

At some point we need to be able to prove we can beat the better teams in the division. Whilst I would take a draw in this one considering the calibre of the opponent and the fact it's away from home, a win would be a huge psychological boost, whereas a draw/loss would just further reinforce that we can only beat the lesser teams in the division.

[Dreams of 1995]

I am anxious about tomorrow too DE, but usually that's when we play our better football. It is the games we should win comfortably that we struggle with.

This is actually a very interesting game on paper. I still think Raya is one of the best goalkeepers in the league and he will be up against Kaminski. We also have Ivan Toney vs Adam Armstrong so it really is a battle of the big boys really.

I like Brentford. I liked their old ground. Like us they try to play football and we won't see the dross we were served up by Milwall. Barnsley came and played some real good stuff and it caught us out early doors. Brentford won't be nearly as wasteful.

I am going for a 3-2 Rovers win.

Trybull in for Johnson (he finishes games better) whilst Rothwell comes in for Brereton. If Douglas is fit he plays because Amari'i Bell will be torn to shreds.

Kaminski

Nyambe Lenihan Ayala Douglas

Holtby Trybull Rothwell

Elliot Armstrong Gallagher

Our team picks itself these days and we have been fairly consistent with our "spine" when fit. The b/s "Tony Tombola" - which was rubbish when it was first brought about - can now be put to bed once and for all. Time for a new catchphrase.

[superniko]

1 hour ago, philipl said:

Hugely looking forward to this game which should be very different from playing Luton, Barnsley and Millwall and more like Bournemouth or Watford- hopefully with a different result!

From what I have seen of Brentford, they play open football, are a bit vulnerable at the back but clinical in the opposition area.

The fate of this match is in the treatment room. If we have to play Bell and/or Carter, we will lose.

Brererton is a big miss BUT the pace and dribbling of Armstrong, Gallagher, Rothwell, Elliott and Nyambe should be too much for that Brentford defence. If Johnson and Holtby have decent games by their standards we should have the platform to dominate possession and inflict damage of our own.

What we don't want is Raya to have the sort of MoM performance the Watford keeper put in against us.

Comparison of Raya and Kaminski, Toney and Armstrong, 2000 fans in their new home for the first time- this match is full of fascinating sub-plots. Just hope they don't pump crowd noise through the PA in addition to having those socially isolated hungry and thirsty souls...

 

Not sure I have the same views on a Brentford defence that has only conceded 2 goals in the last 7 games. Albeit against nobody as lethal as ourselves. 
Agree with the rest though, leagues top 2 scorers, open match, a few fans back in the ground. Just a shame life isn’t normal as it would have been a great Saturday away trip. 

[DE.]

6 minutes ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

I am anxious about tomorrow too DE, but usually that's when we play our better football. It is the games we should win comfortably that we struggle

Generally I'd agree, but it feels like that was more true in past seasons than this season. We've won most of the games you'd expect us to win this season, barring one or two, whilst we have lost or drawn most of our matches against better teams. Beating Brentford tomorrow would be a real statement of intent and give me some genuine belief that we can seriously challenge for promotion this season. 

Edited December 4, 2020 by DE.