I sided with Brighton for their trip to Old Trafford last weekend and had written a lot, in positive terms, about the Seagulls in pre-season, but also touched upon some issues with Manchester United ..............

 

Obviously I am keen on Brighton and they will have that late season 4-0 win over United firmly in the memory bank as they step off of the team bus today. Things have quickly turned sour at Old Trafford , even before Erik ten Hag has taken charge of a league game, with several players including Cristiano Ronaldo leaving a pre-season fixture before the match was over. The coach is said to be a perfectionist and "control freak" and nothing we have seen yet screams that we will see a return to the glory days at Old Trafford. Their numbers were not good last season, they had a negative, albeit minimal, xGD and were barely top 10 for xP, at times the players seemed disinterested and put in one or two disgraceful performances and whilst there has been a clear out of some dissenting voices, it feels like a big job at a club where there has been far too much player power. ETH might be and probably is a great coach, but he has never taken charge of a senior team outside his native country and we have to see how the early weeks of his reign play out.

 

Brighton won 2-1 and were deserved winners and United have a lot of questions to answer.

 

Brentford also made the off season notes (of course they did !) and I updated those ahead of their trip to the King Power to play Leicester City last Sunday...............

 

 

 

Brentford: The Bees went on a pre-season tour to Germany and played three games , drawing one and losing two , the last defeat was 4-0 to Wolfsburg and a bit of a horror show (nothing much wrong with the other two performances). I think we can forgive them that and they have played three games back in the UK and won them all, beating Brighton 1-0, Arsenal 2-1 and Real Betis 1-0 , in the latter they fielded what is likely to be their starting 11 for the opening game of the season and looked really sharp.There is no Christian Eriksen now, but the three players mentioned above in KLP, Hinkley and Strakosha all signed, along with a very experienced CB in Ben Mee and long time readers will know that I already held him in high regard and wrote multiple times about how important he was to Burnley. That was needed as central defenders Kristoffer Ajer and Ethan Pinnock both come into the season injured, update is that Ajer should be back before the end of this month, but Pinnock will be out for six months , possibly longer, but Mee is a direct and quality replacement. They look close to another major signing, most likely Mikkel Damsgaard from Sampdoria, the two clubs are very close to agreeing a fee, we do love a Dane! 

 

No one else of note has left and Josh DaSiva finally looks fit again after basically a  year out, Eriksen said he was stunned how gifted JDS was and praise cannot come much higher than that and Josh could take the EPL by storm if playing to his potential and it is like signing a £40m+ goal scoring midfielder . I think the five subs rule suits Brentford and their tactical nous on the sidelines and analysis department (who have input through the game), fluidity from the bench and across the squad, will change a lot of games.Bryan Mbeumo and Yoanne Wissa look really sharp right now.  The latter is probably fully fit for the first time since joining (missed his pre-season last year and then got COVID) , he scored 7 goals (xG of only 3.5) in his debut campaign despite playing just 1,273 minutes, he has been taking players on in pre-season, something we did not see last season, he can finish with either foot and is very dangerous cutting in from that left flank.Bryan hit the woodwork so many times last season it became a bit of a joke and he had just 4 goals from an xG of almost 10, he might easily have scored 12 or more , his all round game is great, he has looked good and is scoring in warm up games and he could have a huge season. Rico Henry (LB) and Christian Norgaard (DM) are top five in their position in the EPL in my opinion, Ajer if he stays injury free will be CB for a Big 6 club for "certain", David Raya is already a  Spanish international goalkeeper whilst still some way off his peak and will move to a "big club" soon and it all feels pretty good. Having dismissed (!) second season syndrome as a "thing", I expect them to go well and will be amazed if they get involved in the relegation scrap and a 8th-13th place finish seems far more likely. They were top 8 for xP last season , or better, depending on what site you think is most accurate, what you cannot argue with is that they were one of just eight teams with a positive seasonal xGD .

 

They trailed 2-0 early in the second half and it has to be said that the Bees were a no show in the opening 45 minutes, but those blue type highlighted notes played out perfectly, with Josh DaSilva from the bench and Thomas Frank and co on the sidelines, putting in MOTM performances. JDS was a game changer, scored a lovely goal and TF put on a tactical masterclass , both brave and inventive (switching from a four to a three at the back and replacing a CB with an AM was one of the least unusual!) and there was one period around the hour mark, when City were in possession deep in their own half and NINE Brentford players were pressing high in the Foxes third . They were close to completing the comeback, perhaps should have won and it was a remarkable turnaround and the options that TF has and fluidity of the squad is going to make them difficult opponents and a lot of points will be won in the final 30 minutes. Options increased further on Wednesday when the signing of Damsgaard (see above) was confirmed and I understand that their business is still not yet done and whilst not likely, it is far from impossible that they will break their transfer record for a third time this summer in a market they feel offers good value at present.

 

It is going to be very hot in London this weekend and even with a 17:30 kickoff, temperatures will be pushing 40 degrees on the pitch (forecast 35-36) , that is a concern for any team, but less for Brentford than for most, we have spoken of high fitness levels at the club for many seasons and just the way the club operate / run and work done in areas other clubs ignore , give them an edge when some of these "intangibles" come into the mix.

 

 

2 units Brentford to score "over" 1.5 goals 2.99 asian line.

 

Good luck!