Bored on a Sunday, so I watched the 90-minute replay. Here are my thoughts, and breakdown for things that may, may not, have been missed. I hope you keep an open mind as I am literally just watching the clips and noting what is happening. I wanted to bring something a bit different to the table, so I hope this doesn’t come off as negative or positive - just...in between...and maybe let some light in on what was a dark Saturday.
Tactics:
Johnasen as a False-9? Well, this allowed him and TC to interchange, and then allow us to put more bodies in the midfield defensively. Johansen's tenacity was pressuring them into bad decision making all around. In addition, Johansen's run into the box, in which he missed the ball, let the ball back post for Kebano to score.
First half goals:
We got scored on by diving into tackles, trying to press way too high. It started with Sess who didn't track back, and instead chose to pressure extremely high + narrow, whiff on a tackle, then Johansen missed, then Norwood. This series of events resulted in Ojo to follow Watkins dribble past Cairney, McDonald, before laying it off to Canos. Fredericks gave no room for Canos to go outside, but acres of space inside, then poor technique when Canos did tuck inside resulted in him easily get into a threatening position - not to mention Ojo was exhausted and let Canos glide by him.
What could have been:
Even after we got scored on, we continued to put pressure on them, and played quite well. Ojo should have scored or put more on the header in the box before half-time, would have completely changed. Credit to Ojo though because a couple minutes before that he used Cairney as a decoy and got a shot off, right at the keeper, but well struck.
Poor decision making:
Second half, Odoi injures himself right away. Doesn't stay down long enough for trainer to be permitted on. Chose to hobble and walk it off, but it was clear immediately he should've stayed down and asked for trainer. Immediately, Brentford sought to Watkins, who easily beat Odoi and the shot was struck wide, thankfully. It was in this moment that again, Odoi should have gone down, and asked for a trainer. He didn't. He even bends over to go for another feel, and continues to walk it off. Button kicks the ball long (because Odoi wasn't an option) and Odoi is STILL hobbling and limping about.
The ball comes back down our left side, and Sess is beat, causing Odoi to make a decision, and obstructs Clark, professional foul, even though we had cover if Odoi was beat - but unfortunately he's already on a yellow card. Extremely lucky. As we know, ref, TC and Odoi have a talk. After the talk, Odoi's no longer hobbling, and running back just fine.
We defend the first cross from the free kick, it gets sent back in, they strike the post, it finds their striker perfectly, we have Kalas on the right post, on the line, ball is struck to the middle, and Odoi runs onto it...doesn't extend his foot or slide...the ball rolls past him and it's 2-1 Brentford.
The red card was a result of a miscommunication between Cairney and Fredericks. Cairney's pass was intercepted right as we were building numbers. How often does our attack ever stall with TC? Never. We had committed many players forward, like we had done all match. The pressure was absolutely on them to defend. They intercepted it, quick counter to Yenarris, who took advantage of the error, sped down and found Watkins, who had been fouled before by Odoi, a nice move, forced Odoi wrongfooted, and obstructed. Again, Odoi had cover, but chose to obstruct Watkins again. Second yellow, sent off, we know the story.
Manager's decision:
Following the red card, we have decent reset from Fredericks to Norwood, who sent in a great long ball to Kebano. Unfortunately, Kebano was offsides, his 3rd of the match. I think this is where Slav got frustrated, and started telling Fonte to warm up. I think his emotions of frustrations from the series of events got the best of the manager, and instead of being calm, he made a poor decision and subbed out Kebano. Kebano shouldn't have been subbed, he was simply the collateral of the manager's overall frustration. Kebano, unknowingly, didn't help his cause when during the sequence of TC hitting the cross bar, he had a chance to strike the ball first time in the box, but chose for a delicate touch that was simply the wrong choice - and the ball was pushed away. Credit to Kebano though, he continued to pressure and the ball was not well cleared, and Johansen picked it up - but opted to cross the ball in low, and the finally cleared. After Button's poor pass out of bounds...Kebano was subbed for Fonte.
When Fonte came on, I believe Slav should have prepped AK to come in for Johansen. The false-9 tactic needed to be pulled out, but Slav kept with it. While Johansen's pressure continued, the overall mentality of a 3 forward system should have prevailed - and would have been more positively received. Instead, Johansen gets pulled in the 76th min, and De la Torre comes in, not AK...
The perception of Fonte:
For this portion, since many hate Fonte, I'm going to just grade him with a +/- 1pts. He's judged on what he doesn't do, which is scoring goals, and less about what he actually does. He's subbed in for Kebano in the LW spot, but also swaps with Ojo on RW, not striker or CF mind you as Johansen remains in the False-9.
- Fouls Brentford player (-1) | -1
- First touch + layoff to Sess into space (+1) | 0
- Let's Clark run past him on defense (-1) | -1
- Gets into the box, along with Ojo, Sess bad touch, no cross (+1) | 0
- Nice dribble onto the right top of box, but hesitant pass into space for Fredericks comes up short (-1) | -1
- Button GK, beautiful touch and pass by TC, Fonte holds up 2 defending players, gets fouled (+1) | 0
- Buton GK, long, Fonte lays off to Norwood (+1) | +1
- After we conceded the 3rd; Graham comes on, sends ball into Fonte, back facing goal, and tries to lay off to Norwood instead of collecting and shooting (-1) | 0
- After we defend a shot, Fonte is forced to drop back, collects loose ball, is fouled (+1) | +1
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REALITY FINISHED: +1
FAN'S PERCEPTION: Didn't take any shots, or score goals = -100 :) - I'm at this point as well tbh.
Player Grades (A-F):
GK Button - (C) - Made some point blank saves, and some easy ones, but his 2 or 3 bad short passes were magnified even though he sent the ball long 2-3 times as well. The 1st goal was still suspect because it went right under him.
DF Kalas - (A) - Not sure what he did wrong. Even though he is consistently a target for criticism. He showed some great height and anticipation defensively.
DF Odoi - (D) - Not just for the red card, but also defensively he was suspect, which is unfortunate because I felt very comfortable having Odoi as the LCB. He is a much better player than what he displayed in this match. Time to forgive and move on.
FB Sess - (B) - Didn't do much wrong in the first half, but a key lapse in judgement made the counter attack leading up to the goal, very easy for Brentford. He should have retreated instead of trying to pressure too high - and out of position. He had some bad touches when we really need to maintain attacks in their defensive third, but he also sent in some dangerous crosses. Hopefully we will see him in a more advanced role going forward.
FB Fredericks - (B) - Even though he let Canos cut in a bit too easily, overall, Fredericks played excellent. He cut in and out f the defense when needed, and he sent in a mix of crosses. His recovery speed defensively was crucial when we were down to 10-man as well. I'm usually hard on Fredericks, but he played a good match.
CDM/CB McDonald - (B) - No mistakes from K-Mac. Even when he got beat on the backpost (and Button saved) he was actually elbowed in the back of the head. For what he was forced to do in playing CB, he did remarkably well. For when he was playing CDM, he was a force in the center. Completely shut down Yennaris from doing anything.
CM Cairney - (A) - Hard to fault our captain for much at all. He directed play, he tried everything, and even struck the crossbar of what was a delicious “Cairney” strike.
CM Norwood - (B) - Norwood interchanged with Cairney and Johansen multiple times. His versatility and awareness were troublesome for Brentford. When he dropped back, he launched dangerous passes into space. When he went forward, he kept the ball circulating in the defensive third. I can see why Slav has a hard time dropping him.
LW Kebano - (A) - Played on another level. Touches were so soft, and speed with the ball were exceptional. His finish was a great adjustment to his body, and cool slot in goal. He tried a bit too much in some areas, but I’ll never fault a player for standing out and at least trying something different.
RW Ojo - (B) - Continued his theme of cutting inside and shooting on sight. He also had a right footed shot that was quite well struck - surprised me. Defensively he was a bit all over the place, and caught ball watching on the first goal, however it was understood how gassed he was considering he ran from the opponent’s defensive third all the way into ours. Should have done better with the header chance, but we know that’s something he needs to work on in his game - and I’m sure he will.
CF Johansen - (B) - Playing a false-9 is no easy task, but Johansen did it very well. He pressured very hard, and he dropped back to collect as often as he could. We haven’t played with a false-9 player who is a known midfielder like Johansen, but he not only played the false-9 he also played a free roaming role, as indicated by the types of runs he made off the ball (including our goal).
(Sub) LW Fonte - (C) - Relative to the position he was put in, the LW role in our system has to drop back to defend just as much as it has to play the anchor role to support our wingbacks. On top of that he has to get in the box when said wingback takes over, especially on the opposite side. Fonte as a LW allowed him to be less stagnant at the top of the box, and was always on the move as he and Ojo switched back and forth to make their runs. The fact that he gave up his one and only chance to yet again try to set up a teammate, is why he gets a letter grade deduction. I’m frustrated with him because he’s not going to be considered worthy of anything until he starts scoring - and to do that he needs to shoot.
(Sub) CF De La Torre - (D) - Hate to give a low grade to him, but he wasn’t ready to come in. He was slipping all over the place and was looking very hesitant in the false-9 position. I think he needed more touches to get warmed up to the match, but the situation was a bigger obstacle to begin with.
(Sub) LW Graham - (B) - He was direct and taking on players. He was confident from the week’s performance in U23 and it showed. The only issue I had is that he was brought in so late. I hope this means that Slav will give Graham more chances.
Final Thoughts:
I know it's easy to question the entire scope of the decision making, but the chain of events of that red card completely skewed the overall perception here. It's not that I agree with the decision making (Fonte for Kebano, De La Torre for Johansen instead of AK), it's just that we were shortchanged by our own player's decision making - and everyone is charging on the manager. While that is of course valid, I just think there are other areas, as I outlined, in which it didn't come down to purely the manager.
I hope this approach is welcomed. While I anticipate it is unpopular, I believe that a different perspective aides in getting through tough times like these. It helps me, maybe it will help others. I wanted to make a video but spent more time writing this up instead, and frankly, I ran out of time :) . COYW!