Brentford performance

[Robert N. LiM 6,276]

It got lost in the news of DF's departure, but how did we actually play against Brentford?

From following online and watching the highlights it sounded as though we were pretty good in the first half and clung on through a mixture of guts and luck in the second. Is that fair? Any reasons to be optimistic as we look forward?

[The Real Buh 3,765]

It was a proper away performance. Gutsy, niggly. They hated us by the end and that’s a great sign.

The main thing for me is a lot of players suddenly “woke up” and remembered how to play football but probably the most crucial thing was that we actually looked like we were putting some effort in. You could see the chasing down and working hard for one another. That’s crucial, absolutely crucial!

[Satriales 993]

The players reactions at the end of the game, they looked so happy/relieved to get the first win. I wish it wasnt the international break I think they could have carried on the momentum.

[cambridgeshire canary 7,797]

We played well in the first half (mostly the first 30 to 40) which is something we tend to do against the lower teams, but we did switch off and got sloppy and nervous throughout most of the second half.

 

Also Brentford were poor throughout the first

[mannings bandy legs 439]

1 minute ago, Satriales said:

The players reactions at the end of the game, they looked so happy/relieved to get the first win. I wish it wasnt the international break I think they could have carried on the momentum.

..but we were hanging on at the end..and it was Brentford. But improvement.

[Satriales 993]

2 minutes ago, mannings bandy legs said:

..but we were hanging on at the end..and it was Brentford. But improvement.

That is true, I think if Pukki managed to stick that chance away for 3 nil it would have been game over.

[yellowrider120 917]

28 minutes ago, Robert N. LiM said:

It got lost in the news of DF's departure, but how did we actually play against Brentford?

From following online and watching the highlights it sounded as though we were pretty good in the first half and clung on through a mixture of guts and luck in the second. Is that fair? Any reasons to be optimistic as we look forward?

I was there and your summary is very accurate. Much more spirit shown and I wonder if the players had got wind of what was going to happen and responded accordingly.

[GodlyOtsemobor 2,830]

Playing for their places for when the new boss comes in? 🤔 

[Baracouda 47]

Thought it was similar performance to others this season, but we took our chances (Normann scored a great goal) and we took the lead, didn't make silly mistakes, Krul got 'lucky' with two great saves.

Edited November 8, 2021 by Baracouda

[Jim Smith 2,610]

It was better. I'd say a definite step forward (certainly in terms of application and desire) but you still wouldn;t say we were anything close to our best. In the end quite endebted to Krul for a few top draw saves he pulled out. That said Pukki should have put the game to bed at the start of the second half when he pulled his shot wide. 

Very much enjoyed the away following though. Our best away support for quite some time in terms of general lairiness and vocal support. 

[Yellow Fever 4,415]

2 minutes ago, Baracouda said:

Thought it was similar performance to others this season, but we took our chances (Normann scored a great goal) and we took the lead, didn't make silly mistakes, Krul got 'lucky' with two great chances for Brentford.  

That's my take. Yes improved performance and we took two chances, missed a third.

Then we got lucky for once (VAR) and Krul made some good stops.

[gazinOZ 4]

Was always going to be tough at Brentford despite, or in light of, their 3 losses on the spin and injuries. The first goal was very crucial and what a fabulous solo effort from Normann it was! For a team seemingly devoid of confidence you could see the uplift it gave us. Normann is some player and looking more at home with each game. Big shout out to Omo, Williams and Milot also but it would have been a point only if not for Krul. 

I was waiting for Normann to use his long throw prowess, it's a good weapon to have as was seen by Brentford using it to good effect numerous times.

Winning breeds confidence and whilst there is room for a lot more improvement I'm looking forward to the rest of the season now and hoping for the bounce a new manager can offer.

Gutsy performance at last and no-one could say the players didn't give their all.

[pete 371]

Not a PL performance, maybe mid table Championship.  Two poor clubs both will be around relegation places come end of season.  More wins only likely if opposition are as poor as Brentford.  Toney was poor in the extreme only Championship standard at best.

[Petriix 3,215]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and state that it was almost identical to the Leeds game. We had a great first half, a good chance on the edge of the box which this time went in, and a good run from Pukki, almost identical to vs Leeds where Sargent inexplicably didn't play the ball through. Poor marking for the Brentford goal, midfield went missing. Krul made a couple of saves rather than letting the ball in. Then we faded at the end and ran out of ideas.

[It's Character Forming 1,204]

Last season we were generally much better at game management when we took the lead IMO. I know the standard is higher, but this was Brentford and we were hanging on.

[paddycanary 579]

An injury-hit Brentford too off the back of 3 losses. Great to nail the 3 points, but there won't be many easier games. I expect ourselves & Brentford to make up two of the three relegation spots.

[Badger 2,745]

I  know its anathema to some but the statistics are here:

https://eplanalysis.com/analysis/epl-stats-gallery-brentford-vs-norwich-city/

(If you are interested in this sort of stuff, there's loads more at the site - 24 pages of it!)

Brentford had an higher XG (2.29 to 1.78) - we finished better than they did 😀

The below suggests we were hanging on a bit at the end (as per radio commentary) - you can see why it was a stressful listen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Passing stats -Normann gave the  ball away most, but were probably  harder passes (he had most passes into the final third for us 8).

 

Edited November 8, 2021 by Badger
Corrected some of the alignment

[GenerationA47 864]

4 hours ago, Baracouda said:

Thought it was similar performance to others this season, but we took our chances (Normann scored a great goal) and we took the lead, didn't make silly mistakes, Krul got 'lucky' with two great saves.

This, although I felt silly mistakes were happening all the time, as they seemed to be allergic to keeping possession. Lost count of the sloppily executed and poorly chosen passes our boys were making. Shocking really, in comparison to how Norwich were with accuracy last time I was at a game  in person.

At least it was not directly in goalscoring positions for the other team, which I appreciate you’ll be  referring to.

[Robert N. LiM 6,276]

1 hour ago, Petriix said:

I'm going to go out on a limb here and state that it was almost identical to the Leeds game. We had a great first half, a good chance on the edge of the box which this time went in, and a good run from Pukki, almost identical to vs Leeds where Sargent inexplicably didn't play the ball through. Poor marking for the Brentford goal, midfield went missing. Krul made a couple of saves rather than letting the ball in. Then we faded at the end and ran out of ideas.

This was precisely my impression from the highlights. Webber made an interesting comment about how it was performances, not results that would be important, and it struck me that we weren't that much better vs Brentford than we'd been against Leeds. Obviously the decision had already been made regarding DF, but I suspect that not much happened in the game to make SW doubt the decision. 

[Robert N. LiM 6,276]

38 minutes ago, Badger said:

I  know its anathema to some but the statistics are here:

Thanks, v interesting. Also suggests the result was a little fortunate. Play like that every week and we go down.

[Badger 2,745]

6 minutes ago, Robert N. LiM said:

Thanks, v interesting. Also suggests the result was a little fortunate. Play like that every week and we go down.

I think so 🙁

[SwindonCanary 457]

We played well in the first half , went 2 up and looked in charge . Second half was different we did not seem to want to keep the ball,  especially when we let in the goal, it was kick it up field even if a Norwich player was nowhere near it= that's got to be the managers instructions.

[Yelloow Since 72 56]

Good first half, Brentford raised their game second half. The comparison with Leeds is appropriate except that Krul made excellent reflex saves as compared to an uncharacteristic error against Leeds.

The major difference for me was Normann's performance, rightly commended on MOTD. His goal could have been Emi, dribbling past several defenders and then placing it perfectly inside the post. Classic Emi. Then to top it off he played a perfectly weighted through ball to put Pukki through on goal resulting in the penalty. Again, classic Emi. He's only played 6 matches but looks better and better with each one. To cap it off, both Normann and Krul were included in the PL Team of the Week. Well done both!

[Robert N. LiM 6,276]

3 hours ago, Yelloow Since 72 said:

. His goal could have been Emi, dribbling past several defenders and then placing it perfectly inside the post.

Just like Emi's goal against Brentford last season, wasn't it? 

[littleyellowbirdie 3,138]

6 hours ago, Robert N. LiM said:

Thanks, v interesting. Also suggests the result was a little fortunate. Play like that every week and we go down.

The element nobody seems to take into account in these analyses is the confidence that comes from winning; this has been something completely missing until now and goes a long way to account for why we've seen so much nerviness in the second half in games. There's every reason to think securing the first win will go a fair way to resolving that.