Brentford (H) - Sat 9th May, 17:30 | PL | Pre-Match Thread

[Blue Maverick]

Pray Rodri is back. Be tempted to play foden right wing for this. He looked lively when he came on and semenyo has been poor recently.

Donarumma
Nunes khusanov guehi oreilly
Bernardo rodri
Foden cherki doku
Haaland

Semenyo was awful last night, same tbh as Cherki, I’d be tempted to start Savinho (I’m not his biggest fan) just to get down the Wing , we are at home

 

[sh249]

Have to hope like fuck that Rodri is fit.
Might be an argument for Stones coming in. Lack of composure at the back last night was frightening. Nunes, Khusanov and Guehi all nervy as fuck.
Semenyo and Cherki have both been poor last few. But not sure Savinho or Foden can be much better at the moment.

 

[ysmsa]

Priority fa cup for me. Pep needs to rotate a few league is over

Seriously?

The last long break and rest did us no favours at all.

Nico G was off it after his great performance in the semi final.

Throwing the towel in when we could go 2 points behind with 3 games left is the maddest thing I've heard.

3 of our last 4 are at home.

2 of their last 3 are Away.

 

[come-on-barney]

Seriously?

The last long break and rest did us no favours at all.

Nico G was off it after his great performance in the semi final.

Throwing the towel in when we could go 2 points behind with 3 games left is the maddest thing I've heard.

3 of our last 4 are at home.

2 of their last 3 are Away.

Next game we go strong again and see where that takes us. Dropped points and an Arsenal win this weekend, and we should absolutely prioritise the cup. I would say the odds favour a cup win over the league at that stage.

 

[Durham Blue]

If we want to shake it up a bit I’d put an attacking Ait Nouri in place of Nunes who made a few errors yesterday, and also swap out Semenyo for Foden. Just got to hope then that Cherki has a better day v Brentford and that Rodri is fit as I felt Gonzalez was our weakest player last night

 

[Father Paul]

Have to hope like fuck that Rodri is fit.
Might be an argument for Stones coming in. Lack of composure at the back last night was frightening. Nunes, Khusanov and Guehi all nervy as fuck.
Semenyo and Cherki have both been poor last few. But not sure Savinho or Foden can be much better at the moment.

I would say Johnny Boulders must start if fit. That was shambolic defending last night and he will steady the ship. A game that needs to be won and won well to keep the show alive.

 

[skillman]

Donnarumma

Nunes
Khusanov
Stones
NOR

Rodri (if fit) - Nico G if not
Bernie

Semenyo
Haaland
Cherki
Doku


I’d be tempted to get Kovacic in there too but not as a sole 6 that Pep seems to be adamant with - he’s too slow and gets caught too often to be the last man in midfield.

Would also be a temptation to have NOR in midfield with Rodri - or Bernie if he isn’t fit - and have RAN at left back. Just for something different.

Think the attacking 4 is settled enough IMO.

 

[ftg89]

Trying to transfer my son’s ticket to my mates son. Transfer option is greyed out? Anybody able to do it?

We are currently flexi but haven’t transferred any yet. I know we can do it 3 times…

 

[hertsblue]

Referee: Michael Salisbury. Assistants: Marc Perry, Scott Ledger. Fourth official: Rob Jones. VAR: James Bell. Assistant VAR: Ian Hussin

Have a horrible feeling we will lose this one. No doubt after they made all the chances and missed them all v the Rags, they will suddenly become clinical. We will need a few goals to win as we have the worst set piece coach in the PL and we can't defend set pieces as well as score from them, and we all know how good they are at set pieces.

Oh and no surprise, Arsenal get their pet official, Darren England on Var at West Ham

 

[noseve]

Priority fa cup for me. Pep needs to rotate a few league is over

Not yet, it isn't. Flat out on Saturday, keep Arsenal honest.

Maybe strengthen the bench a bit against Palace, then 100% go for the Cup.

We're still only 1 shock result away from being right in the title race again. A loss from Arsenal and we have it in our hands.

 

[blue b4 the moon]

Not watched last night's game as I was in the air but, from a bit of reading on here half+ of the team didn't turn up and as usual Oliver had one of his games (maybe we don't pay him enough).

Anyway onto Brentford, the Prem isn't terminal yet, we need to blast these so the throbbers have to work.

They've got a hard game midweek and then a desperate, some would say desperately poor West Ham.

We've got to put a final marker down in this game. Drop anymore points and we're fucked....3 points 4/5 goals and see what the throbbers have left for West Ham.

 

[balotelli's back pocket]

Donnarumma
Nunes Khusanov Guehi O'Reilly
Rodri Bernardo
Cherki Foden Doku
Haaland

 

[Ban-jani]

Semenyo was awful last night, same tbh as Cherki, I’d be tempted to start Savinho (I’m not his biggest fan) just to get down the Wing , we are at home

Might be in my own entirely here but felt Semenyo played well in his general moments. Held on to the ball well and linked up with other players.

He didn’t assist or score so it was the opposite of his usual, where he looks clumsy but scores or assists. He looked tidier but didn’t get his goal involvement.

 

[Sergio<3]

How about we play with the urgency and intensity of the last 10mins from the Everton game from the first whistle, instead of 500 sideways passes waiting for the off chance of getting to the byline and not picking someone out with the cross,never know we might actually blow these away 5-0

 

[bluemc]

I think we need to freshen things up a little after last night, get heads straight again and bring in some more experience when it comes to playing under this pressure.

I'd bring Stones in (if fit) to replace Guehi, not as punishment for last night's mistake but to give him a breather. Let Jonny talk Khus through the game. Guehi back in for Palace as Stones won't be able to play both.

I'd also play Phil on the right side in place of Semenyo. Semenyo has been very good in the main but again I think he'd benefit from a breather as he was rather ineffective last night, granted against a packed defence. Let Phil play on the right drifting inside to help centrally, with Nunes providing the width when we attack. I know Phil's form hasn't been great either but after a new contract, give him the show of faith of a start and let's see if he can play himself into a bit of form at home. He's also got a good record against Brentford.

Hopefully Rodri is fit to play but even if he is, will he be able to play Brentford/Palace/Chelsea in the space of 8 days? I'd go with Rodri for Brentford/Chelsea and rotate Nico back in for Palace.

 

[DTKOAG]

Think this is a more difficult game than Everton.
Bang on form with a chance of Champions league qualification if Arsenal win it this year.

 

[super_city_si]

Wonder if Pep looks for experience in this one. One or two of Stones, Dias , Ake will surely come in. Probably Foden too. Trouble is midfield, we need Rodri the metronome badly.

 

[Blueeye]

Think we will win and win our last to games think Bournemouth will be the one we drop points to who are fighting for champions league spot and have not been beaten for something like 10 games

 

[Father Paul]

I think we need to freshen things up a little after last night, get heads straight again and bring in some more experience when it comes to playing under this pressure.

I'd bring Stones in (if fit) to replace Guehi, not as punishment for last night's mistake but to give him a breather. Let Jonny talk Khus through the game. Guehi back in for Palace as Stones won't be able to play both.

I'd also play Phil on the right side in place of Semenyo. Semenyo has been very good in the main but again I think he'd benefit from a breather as he was rather ineffective last night, granted against a packed defence. Let Phil play on the right drifting inside to help centrally, with Nunes providing the width when we attack. I know Phil's form hasn't been great either but after a new contract, give him the show of faith of a start and let's see if he can play himself into a bit of form at home. He's also got a good record against Brentford.

Hopefully Rodri is fit to play but even if he is, will he be able to play Brentford/Palace/Chelsea in the space of 8 days? I'd go with Rodri for Brentford/Chelsea and rotate Nico back in for Palace.

Basically any chance of catching the gooners and probably winning the cup boils down to Rodders being fit. We are nowhere good enough without him and we desperately need him to stay around and stay fit.
As for Guehi, he deserves to be dropped that fuck up was far worse and far more consequencial than the Nunes one against the rags last season.
Currently I doubt if it makes much difference whether Phil, Samenyo or Savinho are stuck out on the right wing. We should just try to set up as many chances as possible for Erl and hope he can convert two or three. Any sort of a win will do and then pray that the Hammers can give us one last crack of the whip.

 

[Blumooniac]

Full strength and loads of goals, please. Need a big atmosphere to help. It ain't over till the fat lady sings...