Brentford Dangerous on the Break
Early signs showed that Brentford were direct and keen to punish any misplaced passes. We could see quite early on that Sunderland were being given much more time on the ball compared to the Spurs game.
In the first ten minutes it did seem like we were slightly lackadaisical at times with our passing from defence and midfield, leading to some quick breaks. Thankfully Brentford were not able to take advantage. With so many games in such a short space of time – and with so many of our first team missing
– it’s natural that more mistakes would creep in as tiredness and fatigue hit.
After the first ten minutes you could see visible improvements as we ramped up the pressure on Brentford with a high press. One common thread in the analysis of our games has been praising the press and how well drilled the team are. This was no different in the first half and start of the second, with mistakes starting to be made in more advanced areas from our opposition. There were also some early signs that our long throw-ins from Mukiele were causing confusion – one in particular where Kelleher was fortunate to get a free-kick for dropping the ball…
Brobbey’s Strength Shines Through
Watching Brian Brobbey lead the line, you can’t help but be impressed by the strength and determination that he demonstrates. His hold-up play is superb, along with the intelligence of the runs that he provides. It was a shame that we didn’t take advantage of these runs and the opportunities they present.
The only thing that is particularly frustrating to see is the lack of protection that he gets from referees and officials. We keep seeing instances where centre-backs are climbing all over Brobbey and clearly committing fouls, but we don’t get the decision as he doesn’t fall to the floor. It’s embarrassing to think that we need to either tell Brobbey to pretend to be more impacted in order to get decisions in his favour or rely upon blatantly obvious fouls to occur, such as the penalty incident.
Le Fée’s Moment of Madness
I don’t have many words to express what we witnessed with that penalty. It was simply a truly awful, baffling decision that should never have been made when we were in a losing position. We all know what it led to, and you can only hope that it’s something that the team learns from.
Despite this though, knee-jerk reactions like those demanding that Le Fée was taken off immediately are hardly helpful. Taking off your most creative player when 1-0 down is not going to help our cause, regardless of how annoying the decision itself was.
Punished by a Lack of Link-Up – Have Our Fringe Players Wasted Their Chances?
Whilst Brobbey was making some excellent runs and holding the ball up well, there was a lack of support evident from midfield. It seemed that Régis Le Bris was suitably unimpressed with our wing play, making changes just after the 50-minute mark. Although there are some encouraging signs of a partnership forming between Mayenda and Brobbey, I am left feeling that some players haven’t really taken advantage of the chances that AFCON has provided.
Romaine Mundle snatched at some chances that at this level have to be taken advantage of. Likewise we’ve seen inconsistent performances from Simon Adingra which have helped demonstrate why he hasn’t been a regular starter despite his potential.
From a defensive standpoint we have often debated on who the best back four would be. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Trai Hume dropped for the next game, with the ideal defence consisting of Mukiele, Ballard, Alderete (though he had a shocker today), and Reinildo.
The Cup-Tie Dilemma – Do We Go with a Strong Line-Up or Give Players a Much-Needed Rest?
The FA Cup game comes at a really interesting point in the season. For me it’s a chance for players to get some much-needed rest and for us to prepare for the next Premier League game. It’s also a perfect opportunity for our AFCON contingent to start returning from the tournament and get back into the swing of things.
As much as I, like many others, would love to see a successful cup run, I can’t help but feel that this would be something better suited to next season. For now the focus should be on simply trying to finish in the highest position possible in the league table and taking advantage of the fantastic start that we have had.
Let’s keep our heads…
Finally, I think it’s always worth ending with some perspective. Yes, the performance was poor. Yes, the penalty resembled something that you see from those horrendous TikTok streamers on FIFA, but ultimately we’re on 30 points with 21 games played. One thing we’ve always seen is how Régis Le Bris and the team have learned from bad experiences, and this should be no different.
