Greville Waterman’s thoughts as Brentford emerge above the radar.
So how do we all feel a mere two games into a new season? It is still quite a bit too soon to get carried away, start screaming from the rooftops and jumping for joy, and I am all too well aware of the dangers of hubris and counting chickens, but it cannot be denied that the early signs for Brentford are very favourable.
Unlike previous years when the Bees went into a new season seemingly holed below the waterline after a series of high profile departures, Brentford’s squad has now never been stronger with quality, cover and depth in almost every position. Interestingly enough despite the variety of options available to him, Head Coach Dean Smith opted for an unchanged team and substitutes for the first two Championship matches.
Rotherham were swept aside by a combination of quick passing, movement and pace allied to a quality of finishing far more clinical than we fans have been used to seeing. Brentford scored five on a sweltering afternoon and quite frankly it could have been far more. “It was only Rotherham though,” sneered the sceptics, but surely a lot of the doubters have been silenced after Brentford’s performance at promotion favourites Stoke City last Saturday.
Facing a Premier League squad in all but name, the Bees took the game to their much vaunted opponents and made them look plodding and toothless.They even recovered from the blow of a defensive aberration that gifted the lead to the home team, totally dominated proceedings, silenced a vociferous crowd, and but for a few attacking shortcomings and a series of fine saves from Jack Butland would have come away with a victory rather than a draw which was far less than they deserved.
The defence has so far been largely untroubled with Bentley barely having a save to make. Dalsgaard, Barbet, Konsa and Mepham have gelled into a cohesive unit, all comfortable on the ball and keen to surge forward at every opportunity. It is noticeable that all are over six feet tall and it is a long time since the Diddy Men of Brentford boasted four veritable giants in the back four and I believe we are better for it given the barrage of high crosses that we are likely to face in most matches. New signing, Julian Jeanvier has yet to be blooded and will likely make his debut at Southend in the Carabao Cup and Moses Odubajo is now a fully-fledged Brentford player and will hopefully soon be as fit as possible and in contention for a place.
Brentford are justifiably renowned for discovering and extracting gems from the lower leagues and it is already patently obvious that Ezri Konsa will shortly be joining that number. Smooth and silky on the ball, as is required from a Brentford centre half, he also knows how to defend and his partnership with Chris Mepham, two inexperienced twenty year olds will be something to savour.
Given the uncertainty over Ryan Woods’s future, Josh McEachran has been given the opportunity to cement his place sitting in front of the back four and despite his early exit on Saturday with a tight hamstring he has so far looked the wonderful footballer he is, seeing and delivering passes of a quality and precision rarely seen at this level of the game, and just as encouragingly, anticipating and winning challenges and generally looking far stronger and more robust. Could this finally be his year to deliver on his immense potential?
Romaine Sawyers has quite simply regularly demonstrated his God-given ability to thread passes through the eye of a needle and he certainly caught the eye of the envious Stoke City supporters who were distinctly unamused to discover that he was a Bosman free signing. Lewis Macleod is also now fully fit and provides a cutting edge from midfield that has been lacking in recent years.
Brentford rely on breaking the opposition press and breaking forward speedily and in numbers and wingers Sergi Canos and Ollie Watkins have a vital role to play. Canos seems to have recovered his Mojo after an injury-ravaged season, knowing full well that he has the immensely talented Said Benrahma breathing down his neck and waiting for his opportunity off the bench. As for Watkins – what a player and talent he is. Southampton apparently offered around £11 million for him in the close season and were swiftly rebuffed. Totally the right move as his value will surely double this season given the electrifying start he has made. He is so strong, quick and direct and is totally two-footed as thunderous goals with both right and left feet in his last two games prove. He is now being compared in his impact and ability with Dele Alli in his MK Dons days and his future could well be as bright as Alli’s. Watkins is so dangerous cutting in from the wing that it seems likely that the previous plan to play him down the middle is likely to be put on hold for the time being which means that Neil Maupay will need to stay both fit and sharp as we posses very few alternatives apart from the untried Marcus Forss.
The rump of the squad is likely to be given a runout at Southend to give them much needed minutes and it will be interesting to see if Ryan Woods will be included. It seemed a foregone conclusion that he would finalise a move to Swansea on Transfer Deadline day but for whatever reason, Swansea were not prepared to pay the asking price and Ryan is left in limbo. Will another club or even Swansea come back with a loan to purchase move before the end of the month or will he be reintegrated into the squad where he will surely be welcomed with open arms? I suspect that the club was reconciled to his departure as he had given us almost three seasons of dedicated service, we had improved and developed him and it seemed that his valuation was going to be met and that the time had come for him to move on maybe to better things but certainly for more money. Most importantly, in McEachran and Kamo Mokotjo his replacements were already in the building.
It is still early days but the auspices are favourable. Their ability has never been in question but the players also appear to be mentally stronger and more confident and resilient and it is telling how well they recovered from the blow of going a goal down in such ridiculous circumstances at Stoke having dominated the early proceedings.
For me the most disconcerting development to date has been that pundits and rival supporters alike have finally discovered Brentford and recognised how well the club is run, the quality of our football and the talent we possess, and Brentford have been widely tipped to make a serious promotion challenge. Worrying indeed, as I far prefer us to exist and flourish well under the radar and I positively relish the “teams like Brentford” and “pub team” insults and other such disparaging comments that we have been widely subjected to since promotion to the Championship in 2014.
Can Brentford thrive under the additional pressure of being in the spotlight? All will be revealed in the coming weeks. Exciting times indeed!
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