Brentford (A) | PL | Post Match Thread

Blue2202 said:
Sorry but you can’t tell me you’re happy watching us capitulate again. The fact this is continuing to happen far outweighs any positives from the overall general performance.

No matter how good Brentford were we had a two goal lead with 10 mins left and we allowed them back into it. Ultimately it’s another 2 points dropped and we’re lucky other teams around us also dropped points.

At this stage of the season it’s about results you have to be able win and see out games when not at your best - and not just against fodder sides like Leicester and West Ham.
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This is a footballing philosophy thing….

Pep’s side defend by retaining the ball and keeping it as far away from our goal as possible. He simply won’t put 11 men behind the ball and defend for their life - its not the way pep way to
Play and we are ill-equipped to do that…

Our problem is through lack of confidence, energy and quality we are unable to retain the ball and press high… so you either stick to your principals and play through it knowing it will come good when the energy and players come back or sacrifice your system thats worked for so long

I don’t think we capitulated - Brentford could have scored 5-6 during that game at any point - they took their chances in the final 10
 
Bluefen said:
This is a footballing philosophy thing….

Pep’s side defend by retaining the ball and keeping it as far away from our goal as possible. He simply won’t put 11 men behind the ball and defend for their life - its not the way pep way to
Play and we are ill-equipped to do that…

Our problem is through lack of confidence, energy and quality we are unable to retain the ball and press high… so you either stick to your principals and play through it knowing it will come good when the energy and players come back or sacrifice your system thats worked for so long

I don’t think we capitulated - Brentford could have scored 5-6 during that game at any point - they took their chances in the final 10
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Oddly, I think tonight he wasn’t wedded enough to those principles. At 2-0 up, pass the opposition to death and take your time. That means taking off a transitional threat for someone who retains possession. Eg going to false 9, keeping it in the corner, taking short corners etc.
 
I be honest Ortega for the header he got a hand to it maybe he should be saving that 1 it seems we just need to get that defence settled. Do we change our shape at the back and see if that helps but we have the best man for the job. He will sort it.
 
Ajm1985 said:
Oddly, I think tonight he wasn’t wedded enough to those principles. At 2-0 up, pass the opposition to death and take your time. That means taking off a transitional threat for someone who retains possession. Eg going to false 9, keeping it in the corner, taking short corners etc.
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Agree the game became very stretched and end-to-end typified by that Bernado hack away when he had bags of time for a more composed response

Is this a leadership thing to calm the team down and take control of- there’s plenty of historic leaders there
 
One thing I’ve noticed about us, when the balls in a wide area and a decent position for one of our players to cross it, the movement inside the box is non existent. There are 4 or 5 statues standing. Haaland mainly but also others.
Aguero could teach these lads a thing or two.
 
Bluefen said:
This is a footballing philosophy thing….

Pep’s side defend by retaining the ball and keeping it as far away from our goal as possible. He simply won’t put 11 men behind the ball and defend for their life - its not the way pep way to
Play and we are ill-equipped to do that…

Our problem is through lack of confidence, energy and quality we are unable to retain the ball and press high… so you either stick to your principals and play through it knowing it will come good when the energy and players come back or sacrifice your system thats worked for so long

I don’t think we capitulated - Brentford could have scored 5-6 during that game at any point - they took their chances in the final 10
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If you’re suggesting Pep’s philosophy is preventing us from adequately defending a 2 goal lead against any half decent opposition with 10 mins left we have bigger problems than we think.

It’s simple game management, go down, waste time and run the clock down - especially when we really need the result. Just like most teams do against us from the start of every game.

I don’t think you can argue it’s not a capitulation when it’s continually happening now. At this stage of the season results are more important than performances.
 
Yet more shambolic City defending in the last 15 minutes spoilt what would have been a good result for us, despite us being two goals up, and looking reasonably comfortable before Brentfords fightback ..... but, once again, we simply struggle to defend, impliment effective game management, and throw two more important league points away ... and we'd have thrown all three points away had that Brentford shot not been hoofed off our goaline towards the end!

Arsenal won on this ground .... so did Forest ... and the chances are that, in four days time, the next visitors to this stadium, Liverpool, will win there too.

Pep can try to claim he was ' satisfied' with this and that, but really he's fooling nobody .... there were one or two plus points tonight, but the players and teams that get the best results are the ones that go ' the extra mile' to make it happen ..... and right now, despite league wins over Leicester and West Ham, we are lacking really convincing performances.
 
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Blue2202 said:
If you’re suggesting Pep’s philosophy is preventing us from adequately defending a 2 goal lead against any half decent opposition with 10 mins left we have bigger problems than we think.

It’s simple game management, go down, waste time and run the clock down - especially when we really need the result. Just like most teams do against us from the start of every game.

I don’t think you can argue it’s not a capitulation when it’s continually happening now. At this stage of the season results are more important than performances.
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The fact is it happens consistently at the end of the game when the players are most fatigued mentally and physically…. Agree we could park the bus that’s the pragmatic thing to do - but you ain’t going to see a pep side do that… it’s exactly the same when we need a goal at the end of the last several seasons you never see us lump it into the box
 
Great game of football.

Very disappointing we drew that after being 2-0 up, should of made a few changes bringing more speed into the midfield.

We could have had 5 or 6 tonight, and Brentford could have scored more than 2.

Quite a few players can hold their heads up after doing well tonight but should have finished with 3 points
 
Most dropped points…
in the PL…
from a winning position…
in the last 15 minutes…
during the 2024/25 season…

NOT GOOD READING!

P.S. With those added points (8), we would be a solid 2nd and the word “crisis” would never have been uttered!
 
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BeerIsTheBest said:
Nor am I Geoff. But my view is this is a short term burning problem. Perhaps we don’t need the top draw long- term replacement. Maybe a stopgap who you could sell on in a year or so. Just someone with legs and energy. A simple destroyer perhaps. Screen the back, tackle and make a simple pass to the more creative players. Oh for a young Gerry Gow.
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Yes, I agree. I just don’t know who.
An old Gerry Gow is all we ever saw in a blue shirt
 
Eaststander1 said:
Yet more shambolic City defending in the last 15 minutes spoiled the result for us, despite us being two goals up, and looking fairly comfortable before Brentfords fightback ..... we simply threw two points away.

Arsenal won on this ground .... so did Forest ... and the chances are that, in four days time, the next visitors to this stadium, Liverpool, will win there too.

Pep can try to claim he was ' satisfied' with this and that, but he's really fooling nobody .... there were one or two plus points tonight, but the players and teams that get the best results are the ones that go ' the extra mile' to make it happen ..... and right now, despite league wins over Leicester and West Ham, we are lacking really convincing performances.
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You should check Brenford's record at home in the Premier League.

I was satisfied with the point and performance because I can see City improving and I expect further improvement when DIas and Bobb return
 
We created lots of opportunities tonight which was good. We fluffed many of them which was not good. We looked all over the place defensively throughout the game and it was only due to last ditch tackles & blocks that we were leading.

However, yet again, the substitutions made seemed to hand the initiative to Brentford, this is an alarming current theme. One goal invariably leads to another as we start to panic in defence. At 2-0 up in the 82nd minute should mean 3 points, but yet again, just like Brighton, Feyenoord, rags and tonight we can’t see it out. This is the problem? That’s 11 points thrown away from comfortable winning positions. This would never happen a couple of seasons back, it seems we’ve forgotten how to control the game, to see out a game; and it’s increasingly worrisome.

I’ve said it before and I say it again, Akanji is as weak as piss, always seems to be at the scene of the crime. He was facing the ball, Norgard was facing away but still managed to score. Akanji front and centre of many goals we concede.
The sooner we can get Dias & Stones fit the better. Really pissed off!
 
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leighton said:
I be honest Ortega for the header he got a hand to it maybe he should be saving that 1 it seems we just need to get that defence settled. Do we change our shape at the back and see if that helps but we have the best man for the job. He will sort it.
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Popadum wrists.
 
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