Brentford 2 v Aston Villa 1 Post Match Thread

[Drummond]

I thought our tactic of putting Luiz on the the keeper at corners (and then us giving away needless fouls as a result) was bloody stupid and Luiz didn't look happy doing it either.

He'll do far better with a proper holding player in the middle. Hi, Ramsey, Sanson and McGinn can all play the '8' with a decent '6' behind them, Against some teams though, we can play with 3 '8's.

Jesus I feel dirty having typed all that number crap out.

[Risso]

I thought our tactic of putting Luiz on the the keeper at corners (and then us giving away needless fouls as a result) was bloody stupid and Luiz didn't look happy doing it either.

He'll do far better with a proper holding player in the middle. Hi, Ramsey, Sanson and McGinn can all play the '8' with a decent '6' behind them, Against some teams though, we can play with 3 '8's.

Jesus I feel dirty having typed all that number crap out.

You're right though. Yesterday Luiz, Ramsey and McGinn all looked too similar I thought.

[paul_e]

I thought our tactic of putting Luiz on the the keeper at corners (and then us giving away needless fouls as a result) was bloody stupid and Luiz didn't look happy doing it either.

He'll do far better with a proper holding player in the middle. Hi, Ramsey, Sanson and McGinn can all play the '8' with a decent '6' behind them, Against some teams though, we can play with 3 '8's.

Jesus I feel dirty having typed all that number crap out.

You're right though. Yesterday Luiz, Ramsey and McGinn all looked too similar I thought.

first half we were 3 '8s' and 2 '10s' and we completely overloaded them, they were chasing shadows in midfield until their goal (which came from nothing). 2nd half they started using their wing backs a lot more to drag our players out of the centre but we were still competing fine, we just seemed scared to 'do stuff' around their box. plenty of times we had the chance to get in early crosses but we slowed play down and tried to get closer, which gave them the chance to get 6-7 behind the ball.

[LeeB]

The ball he played into Targett, with his weaker foot, was fabulous and should have ended with the ball in the net and not passed back safely into the keepers palms.

I like Targett but he should be docked his wages for that, he just had to pass it across the box

[eamonn]

Do we have any "6's" in the yoofs that like they could cover for Nakamba if we don't make any moves for a stopper in January?

[paul_e]

Do we have any "6's" in the yoofs that like they could cover for Nakamba if we don't make any moves for a stopper in January?

I liked the look of rikhy in that role last year, and he has just been recalled from loan.

[Virgil Caine]

Do we have any "6's" in the yoofs that like they could cover for Nakamba if we don't make any moves for a stopper in January?

I liked the look of rikhy in that role last year, and he has just been recalled from loan

I'll stand to be corrected but I understand he wasn't getting any match time. If he didn't impress enough at a Tier 5 club it might be questionable to hope he would be ready for the Premiership.

[paul_e]

Do we have any "6's" in the yoofs that like they could cover for Nakamba if we don't make any moves for a stopper in January?

I liked the look of rikhy in that role last year, and he has just been recalled from loan

I'll stand to be corrected but I understand he wasn't getting any match time. If he didn't impress enough at a Tier 5 club it might be questionable to hope he would be ready for the Premiership.

Absolutely, I don't think he's ready to play in the premier league but him or Iroegbunam are the 2 you'd think might make it. So the question is whether either is ready to be the cover for such a big role. Personally I'd sign someone and then let those 2 fight for the spot on the bench whilst Nakamba is out. If either manages to step up in that time then we have a new decision to make in the summer.

[eamonn]

It makes you wonder what Dean's plans were for Sanson this time last year - Ramsey hadn't fully broken through yet but Smith clearly believed in him. Was it a bit of insurance in case Dougee went back to Citeh/elsewhere? Otherwise, the overload of number 8s (Meatball too) suggests a lazy, profligate signing strategy.

[Chris Smith]

It makes you wonder what Dean's plans were for Sanson this time last year - Ramsey hadn't fully broken through yet but Smith clearly believed in him. Was it a bit of insurance in case Dougee went back to Citeh/elsewhere? Otherwise, the overload of number 8s (Meatball too) suggests a lazy, profligate signing strategy.

Wasn’t the story that the club had earmarked him for the summer but financial issues at Marseille meant he was available earlier?

[Beard82]

It makes you wonder what Dean's plans were for Sanson this time last year - Ramsey hadn't fully broken through yet but Smith clearly believed in him. Was it a bit of insurance in case Dougee went back to Citeh/elsewhere? Otherwise, the overload of number 8s (Meatball too) suggests a lazy, profligate signing strategy.

Wasn’t the story that the club had earmarked him for the summer but financial issues at Marseille meant he was available earlier?

To me it always felt like a "Sales" purchase - apparently recently he was valued at 25m, and we got him for like 8m.  I think only when we got home from the store we realised we didnt actually need it

[paul_e]

Given the shape we've played under both Smith and Gerrard signing Sanson and the emergence of Ramsey means 4 players for 2 or sometimes 3 positions. It's not exactly Chelsea style hording.

[Ads]

If we can get a good defensive midfielder will give us balance. Dougie himself is a young lad playing out of position. He's said itself he's an 8. Having 4 quality 8s is needed. Marv as back up for the new boy and that's a good balanced midfield.

As an aside, Brentford are doing what they must, but Christ they're an ugly side these days.

[dcdavecollett]

Part of Dougie's problems, apart from being played out of position, is that he hasn't had a proper summer break since he joined us.