Football News: Brentford v Liverpool

Brentford v Liverpool

That game could probably be called a Phyrrhic victory as a great result was slightly overshadowed by the team suffering three injuries to get it. The injuries to Nunez, Jota and Jones have come at a difficult time and to three players in good form, just as the season enters its final stretch. Whether it does cost the team in the next few weeks or not, right now the performance was very impressive. The intensity, the willingness to battle and chase, it was only bested by the noise from the away fans, who were excellent. It was a game where Liverpool gradually tightened their grip more and more as it wore on. It was just a gradual turning of the screw, more and more control of the ball and even the enforced substitutions failed to knock the team out of its rhythm. In fact the players who came on all played well and helped the team to the win.

The big issue for me is the openness at the back, there were a lot of risks taken and the two centre-backs were often left one-on-one at the back up against two attackers. When added to van Dijk’s liking for backing away and refusing to engage, opened up opportunities for Brentford to get a run at the defence and cause a lot more problems than they should have. It then allowed them to get into dangerous areas where they could look to ‘win’ a free kick. One thing they do very well is set-pieces around the box, it should have been part of the gameplan to keep those to a minimum, but it matters little when you get the result anyway. And that is the thing, even when this team is not playing well, it is picking up the results, when it does play well, like in this game, it overwhelms the opposition, even if there are still weaknesses in the plan.

I personally find Brentford really tedious to watch now. When they initially came up they were a breath of fresh air, they went at teams and took the game to them and it was refreshing to see. As time has gone on, they have become more pragmatic and less about winning by taking the game to the opposition and more like watching the worst of an Allardyce team. They have become focused on physicality when they do not have the ball, with the intention always to leave a little on players. That would not bother me so much if they were not so intent on throwing themselves to the ground if anyone breaths on them. If they were just physical, I would enjoy that. Instead it is just one-sided, they give it out and then whine and cry if they get anything back. It is…