Brentford FC quickly shone into limelight after a headline-grabbing opening night win against Arsenal on their Premier League debut, a more strong Bees side saw them push Arsenal to the corner securing a more important win at home from Mikel Artetas Arsenal project.
it is at this point that Premier league fans and the footballing world quickly became aware of their rise through the divisions, their obsession with stats, their high-risk tactics which are so fun to watch.
But what gets lost amid all the front-foot fun is that Brentford are also a decent defensive outfit, and their proficiency at both ends of the pitch will serve them well this season.
The Bees recorded the fewest expected goals against in the Championship last year, building on their solid 2020/21 campaign. The formidable duo of Pontus Jansson and Ethan Pinnock have welcomed Kristoffer Ajer into their three-man backline, and he already looks comfortable on and off the ball in the Premier League.
Photo credit: Brentford FC
Things Started going right for Brentford in 2007, 60 years of Financial struggles this is after current owner Matthew Benham’s involvement in the club began.
Brentford held Crystal Palace to a 0-0 draw at Selhurst Park on Saturday, restricting their hosts to seven shots and never looking in danger of conceding after Conor Gallagher struck the post after five minutes. From there on in, the Bees played with confidence and stability, though lacked the creativity to break the Eagles down too much themselves.
The cliches about the Selhurst Park atmosphere are still true despite this new era that Patrick Vieira is at the forefront of – as full crowds return, south London will not be an easy place for teams to go, particularly ones who were playing in the Championship last season.
But Brentford held their own. They looked at the very least like they were Palace’s equals and had been for some time. Playing up to a boisterous home crowd, as Thomas Frank so often does, is one thing, but facing up against one requires more.
Photo Credit: Brentford FC
When the Bees were always on the cusp of promotion, they were often labelled soft, but their opening two games at the top level show that they have everything needed to turn that reputation around.
They play from the back the way that Mikel Arteta has long hoped his Arsenal side can, sticking to their principles and their trust of the process never dips. David Raya may be shorter than most Premier League goalkeepers (and that will probably get exploited at some point), but his tremendous kicking ability has helped Brentford out of some sticky situations. An eleventh outfielder only adds to the bodies capable of playing under intense pressure.
Patrick Vieira said this week that Brentford’s win against the Gunners did not surprise him, and so it will be no surprise that they managed to come to Selhurst Park and clamp down Wilfried Zaha. The Bees won’t be buzzing about a draw at Palace, but it’ll stand them in good stead in the long run.
Speaking after the game, Crystal palace manager Patrick Vieira said that they as a team were disappointed by the results as they expected to win.
“I think they were really good today. We played the ball forward, we tried to create chances, to score goals. You have to give a lot of credit to Brentford. They defended really well and at times they put us under a lot of pressure. There is a lot to build from the performance today.”
Vieira pinpointed the reason behind the lack of penetration: “At times we didn’t make the best decisions when we were in the Brentford box. We didn’t have enough bodies inside the box. But that is something we have to keep working on to allow ourselves to have more chances to score goals.”
Both managers, though, were full of praise for the crowd that packed Selhurst Park and maintained a lively atmosphere despite the lack of goals.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login