Brentford FC and the lost minutes.
Since the Brentford 18/19 season preview, we’ve completed the calendar month of August and finally halted the movement of players. At this point, 6 games in, and with the tedium of the first international break over, I’d like to reassess the final sculpting of the Brentford FC squad, looking at the additional movement since the preview and as such, the key members of the final group that will take the club up to January 2019.
Incomings — Julian Jeanvier, Moses Odubajo, Josh Dasilva,
Departures — Ogbene (Exeter — loan), Tom Field (Cheltenham — loan), Ellery Balcombe & Theo Archibald (Boreham Wood & Forest Green — loan) Ryan Woods (Stoke — loan to permanent)
Previewing the 18/19 season, I considered the squad flexible and settled. It felt well balanced, competitive and ready to make a dent on the Championship.
There was a different mood this close season. While an air of inevitability surrounds all departures at Brentford, the feeling this time was that of, if players were to leave, it would make perfect sense. There would be necessary tweaks, chances given to current players and upgrades to keep the model ticking over.
Assessing the squad, an immediately obvious area to strengthen was CB. Egan & Bjelland both ranked top 10 for minutes played last season. They were integral cogs in the machine, featuring heavily but heavily flawed. Konsa arrived early from an ever present season at Charlton. He’s been imperious since his debut, further enhancing a growing reputation.
Julian Jeanvier joins off the back of winning a second division title (French Championship if you will) with Reims. Jeanvier is an exciting prospect. He moves with eye catching balance and poise and has a yard of pace always in reserve. Equally comfortable playing with both feet, he looks like a packaged Premier League defender and joins a growing list of Brentford players you’re convinced can make the step up to the top flight. He’ll be waiting to pounce for his chance to start in the league.
He’s tasked with ousting one of either Konsa or Mepham, who’ve formed a youthful, footballing CB pairing. Both can tackle but both are equally exceptional with the ball at their feet. Egan particularly struggled in possession and many still won’t believe Konsa may have cost a quarter of the price Sheffield United paid for the Ireland international. There’s little comparison. Konsa is hovering around the 85% mark for passes completed and is so far featured at the top of Brentford’s pass combination list. Jeanvier has a real challenge on his hands.
Moses Odebajo returns to the club in a complete win-win scenario. His return is low risk with high opportunity. He’s a talented player returning from serious injury and if he reaches anywhere near pre-injury form, Brentford will have added another multi-million pound asset to the ranks. Moses also gets to rehabilitate himself in a friendly environment with a history of getting long-term injured players back to something like normality on the pitch.
Barbet continues to hold down LB in the absence of the injured Rico Henry. While he’d prefer a CB position, I see him fixed to fullback for the foreseeable future. As Brentford CBs have stepped up in class and with the transfer of Chatzithedoridiz to Greece and Tom Field embarking on a loan move to Cheltenham, the club are stating that unless there’s a catastrophic batch of injuries, with support from the flexible Josh Clarke, LB is where Barbet will play.
Moving slightly further forward, an elephant in the room sat at the base of the midfield.
Ryan Woods was the only significant departure to join the summer list of Egan, Bjelland and Jozefzoon.
So what do Brentford FC lose with the Woods move to Stoke City?
To start, only three players completed more minutes in a Bees shirt in the 17/18 season. He was a fraction short of an ever present and one of the first names on the team sheet. His short passing ability, his range of passing, an ability to wriggle away from pressure and create space, the accuracy with either foot or the knack to control a game from deep are all brief cameos of his many qualities. He’s metronomic, tenacious and he’s been Brentford’s closest thing to a standout leader.
I won’t eulogize on too much more, but when Woods picked up the ball in a Brentford shirt, there were moments of complete football clarity. Both fullbacks pulled wide with inverted wingers arching runs from out to in. Attacking midfielders moved into positions between the lines, ready to receive the ball on the swivel. It’s how dominant attacking football teams build momentum and pressure and it’s been going on at Griffin Park (or insert any football league ground Bees play away at here), for years.
The analytical side of me has always looked at the Brentford model with caution. There’ll eventually be players that are moved on that won’t be upgraded successfully. It’s impossible to have a 100% strike rate and no errors, plus as the general squad level improves, to upgrade a player, you’ll soon be forced to shop at a higher calibre outlet. So far, the model of selling at peak value and rebuilding with two or three players of a general higher quality has been a hit. The value of the squad is higher than it has ever been with assets on Brentford’s books dwarfing that of 18months ago. The model is going to be asked a different question; is it easier to identify and upgrade wide players in comparison to CFs or central midfielders?
The divisive Josh McEachran has been at the club for a number of seasons. With an impressive start to the campaign, there’s a feeling something may have finally clicked. Given the chance to step out of the huge shadow cast by Ryan Woods, the opposition so far faced could be viewed as mixed, with the season opener against Rotherham almost a bye. Taken into account, the level of performance and consistency from McEachran in the first six games has not yet been seen in a Brentford shirt. There has to remain serious questions over his ability to be able to deliver the kind of minutes needed as a deep lying midfielder in a competitive Championship season. Brentford seem to be taking a gamble on Josh being able to find a level of robustness to get him through a 30+ game season. Completing 30 games in a season just once in his career, the evidence is very much stacked against him. Concerns are amplified by the relentless increase in the necessary physicality and pure athleticism needed to excel in today’s game. Has this reached levels that are beyond him? I’d like nothing more than this notion to be proved wrong as Josh has one of the best left feet in the division. Given an ounce of time, there is a player that can dictate matches with his passing. Currently partnering Lewis Macleod, both have a history of missing huge swathes of football matches, plagued by injuries from the serious to the obscure. Alan Judge in the absence of the injured Marcondes will be asked to top up energy levels in the latter stages of games.
While reservations surround the longevity of a Josh McEachran and Lewis Macleod midfield partnership, to try and recover a little bit of the positivity around the club, Mokotjo (The General) and Nico Yennaris should dovetail to offer the midfield the athleticism and defensive cover such an attacking side needs. Much is known about Nico’s box to box qualities, but surprisingly, playing more than a thousand more minutes than Josh McEachran in 17/18, The General is a busy midfielder and far less aggressive than his nickname suggests. While he’s no defensive sitting duck, his best work is probably done transitioning the ball into the final third. Mokotjo has a deceptively, delicious strike on him and isn’t shy in pulling the trigger around the box. He may evolve into a player that screens the back four, but that would ultimately feel unnatural.
Mulling this over, and with there being just the one midfield addition in Josh Dasilva, I believe it’s not possible for a single current player at the club to step into the team and take over the Ryan Woods role. He was far too efficient in what he did, effectively patrolling too much space. I believe the entire midfield balance has to evolve. Brentford with Woods at the base played a 4123, or a 41221. In his absence, the team will look to evolve into a more elite styled 4231. Robust enough to withstand pressure but, on the break or in possession, able to offer the team overloads and triangles to break any side down. Solidity is extremely important when you’re an attacking side and the personnel to continue to offer the Bees their flexibility is key.
Special mention to Saïd Benrahma at this point.
Brentford may have uncovered another chance-creating gem. In only a handful of minutes, Benrahma already looks like a player that would be comfortable in the Premier League. Two footed, highly intelligent and incredibly strong on the ball, it surely won’t be long until he’s locked down a wide forward position.
In direct competition with Sergi Canos he may have already surpassed his Spanish teammate’s performance. Canos has flat lined over the last year with his development admittedly stalling. Having a player like Benrahma around for competition will only up his levels, as to remain in the side or eventually win his position back, Canos must improve and find a level of accuracy with the ball and the positional intelligence that can elevate him beyond his current level.
To the furthest, sharpest point of the side, the CF position is a little worrying. At the close of the window, the area felt incredibly light.
Since the start of the 18/19 season, Maupay has done everything he can to quash doubters, proving that in his absence the side lose a genuine goal threat, a legitimate focal point and their first line of defence.
Brentford have a number of wide forwards and attacking midfielders who can execute what is required from a №9 in a tactical sense, but if Maupay is to find himself out of the side via injury or (another) ban, the squad is extremely light in finishers and lacks a player to replace his predatory instinct and positional intellect. Forss is thought of highly but will need plenty of time to blossom. It does feel about six months too soon if he is to be called upon for a significant stretch. Qualities like Maupays selfless running, the understanding to drop into midfield and release wide runners while still posing a goal threat is unrivalled. Barring a stupidly petulant moment that nobody can quite understand, there has so far been only highs. An idiotic red card during the Aston Villa game (in front of live Sky cameras), is the only low. Outside of this, he has started the season like an unstoppable stampede, boasting a return of five goals and three assists.
Maupay has become integral which makes the last minute loan to Exeter for Ogbene even more surprising. Leaving a lot of people with raised eyebrows, Ogbene seems like an obvious alternative to have around. He has quick feet, a presence, raw pace to burn and an ability to travel long distances with the ball. These qualities would compliment the first choice striker or finish off a dejected defence, head ached by the tenacity and bastardy of a dogged Maupay.
The club have decided that Ogbene, for the first part of the season, will be better off at Exeter, a completely understandable position but still questionable. If he gets starts and a number of minutes at St. James Park he’ll certainly learn something, but he’ll first need to force himself into a winning team. If Ogbene spends large periods on the bench, could his time be better spent staying and training at Brentford, alternating 2nd string striker minutes with Forss?
Like Reece Cole to Yeovil, which unfortunately went rather rapidly south, Ogbene and Exeter will need to be assessed closely.
Losing players that have amassed significant minutes during a previous season is always going to be a risk. How they’re replaced remains key. Replacements must be of a higher standard so that an effect of the loss is minimized. If players can’t be improved, the team must have an evolutionary plan to negate the undoubted impact.
The feeling after 6 league games is one of serious optimism for the Bees. Brentford’s underlying numbers are already indicative of a side at the premium table of chance creators. Early signs are extremely positive but we await the impact of the lost minutes with caution.
