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Match Review Tuesday: A frustrating afternoon at Old Trafford
25 Plays1 day ago
This is your Match Review Tuesday, where we break down our defeat to Manchester United at the weekend in what was a game of two contrasting halves of football. We discuss whether United were there for the taking, key performers and how we could have done better in pursuit of a route back into the match.
Host: Daniel Toppin
Lydia Batalona
Instagram/X/TikTok: @gspnbrentford
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Transcript
00:00:10
officialgspn
Hello and welcome to the Daily Brentford Podcast with myself, Daniel, where today we will be reviewing defeat at Old Trafford at the weekend. I am joined by Lydia. We are slightly late for our review podcast this week due to availability issues, but now we've both recovered and we've come together to talk about the weekend. How are you?
00:00:30
Lydia
Yeah, good. As you said, I've been busy, but I thought the weekend, even though I did have a positive prediction, I wasn't too bummed out with defeat.
00:00:43
officialgspn
Yeah, I was I was sitting there going I predicted to two. too So if we just score right at the end here, then I would have been right.
00:00:49
Lydia
Yeah, that'll be perfect.
00:00:50
officialgspn
But it didn't quite happen. I don't think we even really came close towards the end. and But we'll get into it in a second. Just before we get going, guys, we're a brand new company. So we're looking for your support over the season and beyond as we continue to bring you the best and most in-depth coverage across the entire network, whether this is a five star review on your favorite podcasting platform.
00:01:10
officialgspn
or a recommendation to your friends, we are very grateful for any support that we receive. So then, let's start first of all with the team news. It looked like a back four to me in the first half, which is a bit of a change from how we set up against other big six sides. What were your thoughts on that and would you have made any changes to the lineup?
00:01:31
Lydia
I think at first, I know my dad was skeptical that he'd started Shada, but then Shada, I think he had quite a good chance within the opening five minutes. So I thought I'd probably stick with that as well. I'd say that it was slightly surprising how Frank started the bat. And then again, I do think that We were defensively quite good in the first half, so kind of answered my questions regarding that.
00:02:06
officialgspn
Yeah, I think it may be quite a strong signal of where we see Manchester United compared to these other top teams because I don't think we would have set up in a back four like that against any of the other big six. And I think that is quite symbolic of where perhaps Manchester United are at. And I think in the first half, particularly they did not really look how you would expect Man United to look. I thought they were almost there for the taking a little bit. And if they weren't playing in red and if they weren't playing at Old Trafford, I don't think you'd be able to tell that they're, you know, allegedly in a top six team watching that first off. But we'll we'll come on to that in a second. Of course, on the bench we saw Johan Wisser back
00:02:57
officialgspn
I don't expect that he was fully fit. I think if he was fully fit, he probably would have started up front instead of Shada. How big do you think that is?
00:03:03
Lydia
and
00:03:05
officialgspn
Obviously, I know he didn't, when he came on, he didn't do too much, but how big is that going forward for us?
00:03:11
Lydia
I think like everyone was focusing on Whistler and Brian after Tony left so I think if anything they can go back to, we talked a lot on the podcast before he was injured about their like partnership and up at the front. So I think it's promising for the team as a whole. And obviously he's like a well-liked guy and it's good that he's back. But I do think if anything, like maybe it will sort of force people like Shada and Cavallio to take advantage of his like coming back to fitness kind of thing. So maybe we'll see some goals from them. I don't know. But um yeah, it's obviously,
00:03:55
Lydia
It's good that he's back, not in full fitness yet, but that he's looking towards that way.
00:04:00
officialgspn
Yeah, i think I think it's important because I think Sharda, I don't think is an out and out striker. I think the only two out and out strikers we have are Whistler and Tiago and obviously Tiago's been injured. We still haven't seen him yet. So I think it's important for Whistler to be back. I think he's the best finisher at the club. I think, you know, he was matching Brian for goals up until the time he got injured. um And I think he's actually, he's had come back fairly quick from from that injury. and unlike most players that we we seem to have to get injured.
00:04:31
officialgspn
So it it was good to see him.
00:04:31
Lydia
Yeah, you seem to have got to see them for like years at this point.
00:04:35
officialgspn
Yeah, it was good to see him. I wasn't actually very confident that he would make the matchday squad, but he did. I'd probably expect him to start next week now. And I think it allows Shada to maybe move back to the left hand side and compete with for that position with KLP.
00:04:51
officialgspn
um and you know hopefully he feels more comfortable there and hopefully in his favourite position we can start to see more from him, obviously that's been lacking in the last few games.
00:05:04
officialgspn
From a Man United point of view, it was Ericsson and Casselmira in midfield, as we expected.
00:05:10
Lydia
Yeah.
00:05:10
officialgspn
It was Johnny Evans in defence, although he wasn't a left back, Martin Ezzes a left back and he was a centre back. And I had quite a good feeling before the game because I felt like there was potential for us to overrun them, given that they probably don't have the legs anymore, especially Ericsson and Casamiro, to really get across that midfield. And I was feeling positive about the game. And even as the game kicked off, I was still positive. I thought if anything were on top in the first half and it didn't feel like a game, like I was saying before, it didn't feel like a game away at a top six side.
00:05:48
officialgspn
Did you share that feeling, and especially in the first half?
00:05:53
Lydia
Definitely in the first half. um I think obviously we already knew that we do tend to dominate in the opening, say like quarter of the game. And then I think it was around that time that Ericsson's corner was like, he had a pretty decent chance. So maybe that's when I started being like, okay, maybe we need to be slightly concerned. I don't know, maybe they heard and Ericsson was like, I need to prove my running ability and my stamina. But I think definitely at the start, I was more hopeful. And I thought it was still asked to pay for.
00:06:31
officialgspn
Yeah, I think it it's a strange feeling in going to Old Trafford. I feel like everything about the place, everything about what their fans sing about and the current team on the field, which don't, you know, are not living up to obviously players they've had in the past.
00:06:45
officialgspn
They look very average for a lot of this game, I think. Obviously, I know Brentford lost this game, but we also sometimes go away and lose to the likes of Crystal Palace. And it felt like kind of one of those games because
00:06:59
Lydia
yeah
00:07:00
officialgspn
I didn't think there's that impressive. Obviously, everyone knows as well, it's well documented that old traffic probably needs a bit of work done to it.
00:07:06
Lydia
Yeah.
00:07:07
officialgspn
And it is just almost like a time machine going there.
00:07:10
Lydia
You feel the roof falling on you at any point.
00:07:10
officialgspn
If if I like ours in 2005.
00:07:15
officialgspn
No, I don't think it was raining during the game. so And I was a bit further back, so I was safe.
00:07:19
Lydia
Okay, that's always good.
00:07:20
officialgspn
I was safe on the water. um After the break, we'll be going into the game starting with that first half.
00:08:11
officialgspn
Hello and welcome to part two. So then let's go into the first half. There was no early goal this time, but Kevin Charlotte did have an early chance inside the opening three minutes and failed to make contact with it. It was a good cross into the box. He swung a foot out, completely missed it.
00:08:31
officialgspn
And I can't help but thinking after a couple of volleys that he scored recently in the opening minute of games that someone like Brian may have scored that if he was in that position. what I know he's spoken about it a bit a bit already, but what are your thoughts on Shada more generally? Because I think he probably has struggled more than anyone in the last few games.
00:08:54
Lydia
Yeah, I think, so with the question would Brian have scored probably now, I think he would have, but we can't forget that how many missed opportunities he had in his first few seasons with us and the frustrations that were there. So if that's only anything to go by, I think that once Shada gets some like consistent goals and then maybe these like teasing issues will be solved.
00:09:24
Lydia
I think maybe, obviously coming to the prime is is like a big, big change. um And that's got to mess up your, if you're used to always scoring and then to go into like such a drought, it would be difficult to maybe get back from that. But I think he's young, he's a young player. He's surrounded by people like Whistle and Brian, who you can look up to. so Hopefully the day will come when he gets lots of girls.
00:09:55
officialgspn
Yeah, I think at the moment he's got a touch of Adama Troyori, I think, who he's very he's very quick, but his end product's lacking. I think, I said before, he's too quick for his own good at times, but equally he did.
00:10:06
Lydia
Yeah. He reminds me of Canos a little bit in that regard, as in just like the speed and then it's slightly sloppy and a little bit all over the place.
00:10:20
officialgspn
Yeah, I think he's got a higher ceiling, I think. his' he's quite tall, he can jump, like he can get very high take to head the ball in the box.
00:10:29
Lydia
Yeah.
00:10:30
officialgspn
A couple of times, like he's not scored these chances, but he can leap and he can get a header onto goal.
00:10:36
Lydia
Yeah.
00:10:39
officialgspn
And he just needs to refine things, I think. I think he needs to slow down a little bit sometimes, get the ball under control and focus more on his technical ability, even when he's running through on goal.
00:10:51
officialgspn
Slow down before you take your shot. because it's just all a bit quick, it's all a bit erratic, and it's a bit quick for even him at times. And I feel that obviously he's struggling with confidence as well.
00:11:05
officialgspn
Hopefully it will come. He's got the potential, but I think we need to take him out of that number nine.
00:11:09
Lydia
yeah
00:11:12
officialgspn
I think we will be taking him out there now, now with his back. And I think maybe if he's just even on the bench for the next few games, and he comes on for KLP on the left,
00:11:23
officialgspn
with half an hour to go against a tiring defence and he can use that pace. I think, you know, if we're saying good things about him, he's only in a lot of those situations that he gets in in the first place because he's so quick.
00:11:34
Lydia
Yeah. Mhm.
00:11:37
officialgspn
But it's when he gets there that it's a big ah bit, obviously he's not not taking his chances at the moment.
00:11:39
Lydia
Yeah.
00:11:44
officialgspn
But it's that. I mean, he scored a brilliant goal last season against Crystal Palace. Then he got injured, which obviously set back his progress. So hopefully you can just stay fit and you can start to regain that confidence.
00:11:55
Lydia
Yeah.
00:11:56
officialgspn
and The goal at the end of the first half, obviously again from Ethan Pinnock, I think we maybe deserved the lead at halftime. I don't know what your thoughts were. um Of course, also Manchester United had a lot of competitive complaints about Delict continuously going off and on the pitch in the second half.
00:12:17
officialgspn
in the first half, sorry, because he had blood on his shirt and the referee kept telling him to go off. um Of course, he saw another assist as well from Damscoff for the goal. So what what were your thoughts about the goal and the controversy about Dilek being off the pitch at the time?
00:12:32
Lydia
I think. Obviously I understand why Manu fans are annoyed but at the same time like blood is blood the referee is seeing what they're seeing like if the ref thinks that he needs to go off then he just needs to go off like at that point obviously I know that Manu under a lot of pressure um but it worked to our advantage so I'm not complaining about that and I think sometimes managers like Tenhar getting
00:13:05
Lydia
I think he did get booked in the end later on, but there's no point like having a hissy fit on the side. I mean, I know pretty much all managers do, but if it was the other way around, the ref would, we'd be annoyed. So like the ref's just doing what he has to do.
00:13:22
officialgspn
I think it was their medical team that need blaming because he was ah that was about the fourth time he was told to get off the pitch.
00:13:29
Lydia
Yeah.
00:13:30
officialgspn
Why are they not just wrapping his head up in a bandage so it doesn't keep bleeding? what Why are they doing it like that? Again, it is a little bit symbolic of where Manchester United are at. I think it's all a bit of a mess.
00:13:40
Lydia
Yeah.
00:13:42
officialgspn
Why aren't they just treating him properly so he doesn't bleed again? I don't think it's usual tool for players to be on and off as quick as he was in that first up.
00:13:49
Lydia
Yeah. it's It's just a bit, and as a Dutch person as well, I will say Dutch people are direct. So if anything, Delicht and Tenharg should have, I don't know, they're just talking too much and they just need to get on with it.
00:14:04
officialgspn
Yeah. I mean, I think, I think Tenhar got booked when the goal went in.
00:14:07
Lydia
Yeah.
00:14:08
officialgspn
I mean, in terms of the goal itself, another assist from Dam's guard, he's really starting to put in the numbers now to back up his performances. Again, for one of the, he was one of our best players. And I thought that was a brilliant header from Pinnock.
00:14:20
officialgspn
It was a bullet header into the top corner.
00:14:20
Lydia
Yeah.
00:14:22
officialgspn
I don't think many teams are stopping that. So it was an amazing time to score as well. And at that point, I really was thinking they're there to be, um, to be taken, but of course it didn't.
00:14:33
officialgspn
turn out to be the case which is what we'll be talking about after the break.
00:15:06
officialgspn
So then welcome to part three, so second half. This is how teams feel when we score inside the first two minutes against them.
00:15:19
officialgspn
They started so quick.
00:15:21
officialgspn
um What changed from your perspective on um how Manchester United performed and how we turned up in the second half as well?
00:15:22
Lydia
and
00:15:30
Lydia
I think obviously Tenha could have had strong words with them over half time and you could definitely see that. i'm I think they became, they obviously became more of a threat and even just watching, you can see their pace was up, things like that and I think for us maybe we were getting a little bit too comfortable and we weren't able to adapt to that change as quick as we should have or could have. um So yeah, I'd say as soon as they scored, then I was like, okay, here it comes pretty much.
00:16:07
officialgspn
Yeah, well, in in the first half, I didn't think Manchester United really pressed us at all. And that confused me because I thought anyone watching Brentford this season and how we're trying to play this season, you would press us because you would see how Tottenham did it, for example, and how they had so many opens in the first half because they got the ball off us high up the pitch. I don't know why it took Manchester United until the second half to do that.
00:16:34
officialgspn
I don't understand why TenHog seemingly didn't allow his side to press in the first half, but they did after half time and it started to force errors. We couldn't really play out again and we had a 15-20 minute period where we just didn't turn up and also didn't change things to stop the flow of the game and almost instantly we were punished and I think it was a good finish from Granatjo, obviously first time, Volley,
00:16:51
Lydia
and Yeah.
00:17:02
officialgspn
um but he was left a bit unmarked out that side. And that brings me on to Vandenberg versus Garnaccio, especially in that second half.
00:17:14
officialgspn
I thought he really struggled. What what were your thoughts on on that battle?
00:17:17
Lydia
Yeah. He definitely struggled. And I think he had some great crosses that again, his team much didn't get to, but it just shows that he was kind of like tormenting Vandenberg a bit and that he was just getting the better of him. So I think it was kind of obviously he was, Vandenberg was struggling against him.
00:17:45
officialgspn
Yeah, I think.
00:17:45
Lydia
But at the same time, Ganachos, I think he's shown that he's such a good player. So it would obviously be hard.
00:17:53
officialgspn
Yeah, I think for all we've criticized by united for, I think there's still a team who have brilliant players, individual players, they're not.
00:17:59
Lydia
Yeah. I think he's quite young as well.
00:18:03
officialgspn
Yeah, he is. Yeah, we're not they're not necessarily always a good team, but I think they have good individual players and go on that show.
00:18:05
Lydia
Yeah.
00:18:10
officialgspn
He was very, very good. He was very direct.
00:18:12
Lydia
yeah
00:18:13
officialgspn
He was. very quick he was running at Sepp all the time and I think Sepp was a bit cautious about not being as quick as him never really got close enough to him but never really got his foot in and Garnaccio was able to run rings around him and possibly for maybe the first time this season we were caught out for not having proper full backs on the pitch and obviously we had centre backs playing that position really.
00:18:20
Lydia
Mm hmm.
00:18:40
officialgspn
I also wonder whether if we had set up with a back five, whether he would have had more support and wouldn't have been left on one-to-one with him. um And obviously a back five is how I probably would have expected us to line up at the beginning of the game, and given that we're away at Manchester United.
00:18:55
Lydia
Yeah.
00:18:57
officialgspn
And for all the criticism he's got, I think Rossev, at times, some of his best games that he's had have been against the best teams, where defensively he's been quite good, even if he's not very good with the ball at his feet.
00:19:12
officialgspn
I know he came on eventually, but it he didn't come on during this period and maybe we could have made an adaption slightly sooner um in that regard.
00:19:24
officialgspn
um Do you think in terms of the goals themselves, do you think we could have dealt with either of them better? I thought i thought they were both pretty good goals. um I think it was more the general play I was a bit disappointed with.
00:19:36
Lydia
Yeah, I'd say, yeah again, seeing it on match of the day, they look like pretty decent goals. And I think Fleckin did make some good saves throughout the game. So I don't think he could have done much more, to be honest.
00:19:53
officialgspn
Yeah, I think it was strange again because after the 2-1 goal I didn't really feel that United really went out to keep scoring to put us to the sword. I thought their reaction was to protect what they have which again I think is quite unusual for a big 16 away from home.
00:20:15
officialgspn
I couldn't imagine even the likes of, you know, even Spurs doing that um against us or obviously City and Liverpool as well.
00:20:16
Lydia
Yeah.
00:20:24
Lydia
I think it definitely shows where United's at, at the minute.
00:20:29
officialgspn
Yeah, they even went to about five towards the end. and But I thought, having said all that, they did it well.
00:20:32
Lydia
Yeah.
00:20:36
officialgspn
They did do it well. um They slowed the game down so much. We played the game at their tempo. We weren't able to speed it up. We barely had any shots. We had Carvalho screwed one wide. Jarnmolek belted one over when maybe he could have been a bit more cub composed um and tried to pick a corner. But otherwise, I don't think we had any chances. And I think it was very frustrating and the second half of that second half, because I don't think we're being blown away
00:21:11
officialgspn
but I think they were quite happy for us to have the ball in certain areas and and they were happy just to wind the clock down.
00:21:15
Lydia
Yeah.
00:21:18
officialgspn
and What was your immediate reaction then following that, on following the game?
00:21:25
Lydia
um
00:21:28
Lydia
Okay, well to be honest, Was I watching the game on a slightly dodgy site? Maybe, yes. So throughout the game, I was, at first I really did think, okay, we still got a chance. But then when they were slowing it down, like it was, like you said, frustrating, definitely frustrating. And it is, as a one-off maybe, I'd accept, like, we're not getting any points, but it's the fact that we haven't got points, you know, from,
00:22:00
Lydia
other games where I think we did deserve to get something out of it is like all the accumulation of it, which is just frustrating.
00:22:08
officialgspn
Yeah, I think we've competed in all the away games this season, but obviously we haven't got any points in any of them, which, you know.
00:22:15
Lydia
Yeah. I think if you add them up, if you look at them individually, it's like, okay, we shouldn't, I'm not expecting a win, but if it's like not getting any points from City, Liverpool, Spurs,
00:22:30
Lydia
now united, it's just annoying.
00:22:33
officialgspn
And we took the leading three of those games and, you know, at City we could have been free in the lap after 20 or 30 minutes.
00:22:35
Lydia
yeah
00:22:39
officialgspn
I think Spurs had chances second half to equalise. United, I think they were there there for the taking for long periods. so I guess you can look at it from two ways. You can look at it from a positive point of view to say that you know these are some of the most difficult fixtures we'll have all season. And we've competed, but also you can look at it from a point of view that we've it maybe missed some chances to get some results that will really stand ourselves out from other teams in our position and really help us look towards that top half. um Because you know if you are to maybe sneak into Europe,
00:23:15
officialgspn
I think maybe you do need a few results against some of the big boys but we've got them all at home to come second half of the season so hopefully we can avenge some of those results that we've um that we've received.
00:23:26
Lydia
Yeah.
00:23:30
officialgspn
We're now going into a stage where we have five or six games against teams in and around us or teams in the bottom three or four so I think there's a reason to be positive still. I think there's still reason to think, you know, after that period of games we should be aiming for the top half. How do you think, though, we can get to that next level? How do you think we can progress a bit more despite being impressive in spells this season but not always getting the result?
00:23:59
Lydia
I think it is obviously about sustainability and about consistency. And I think as we, you know, we were saying about Whissa coming back, that's obviously see a good sign. Other people coming back from injuries, people being able to play it like Charlotte, being able to play in positions that they're perhaps more suited to. um And I think that that will hopefully make our like good spells in the game longer.
00:24:30
Lydia
And so if anything, it's just hoping that people get stay uninjured and seeing what happens when we have our key players back. Then I think that's when we can be more confident. But don't think we're in I don't think we need to worry, basically.
00:24:50
officialgspn
No, but from any, I think my point of view and maybe a lot of other Granville fans' point of view, we do want to be able to look up the table.
00:25:00
officialgspn
We do want to be able to try and aim for, you know, Europe potentially or just see how high we can get.
00:25:00
Lydia
Yeah.
00:25:06
officialgspn
And I think if you're always looking behind your shoulder every season, I think it can then become a bit of a slog. Like Everton fans are probably going for it at the moment and Palace fans maybe as well to an extent.
00:25:17
Lydia
Yeah.
00:25:18
officialgspn
um continually finished 14th and obviously that they're struggling this season as well. um I would like Brentford to keep trying to progress and I know how incredibly difficult that's going to be and I still think we can do it.
00:25:32
officialgspn
i think I think obviously players not being injured will help. It will allow Thomas Frank as well to make more changes off the bench and hopefully be more adaptable in those phases of the games where we are bogged down.
00:25:45
officialgspn
I thought, for example, we should have brought Ross Devon earlier against United.
00:25:45
Lydia
Yeah.
00:25:50
officialgspn
I also think we probably have lost some of our defensive solidity in changing the style of play and whether that comes from not having natural full backs, that might be you know one of the causes, but I do think generally we're slightly easier to play against on the defensive point of view, which is why maybe these results against these big sides have dried up, whereas in the past we were always quite good against the big sides.
00:26:20
officialgspn
But equally, I feel like the way we're playing now maybe is better against the lesser teams who we can consider ourselves more equal with because we can control those games better.
00:26:20
Lydia
Yeah.
00:26:30
officialgspn
And obviously we are getting good results at home against against those teams.
00:26:30
Lydia
Yeah.
00:26:33
officialgspn
so It'll be interesting, obviously, we've got it switched next week so we can see again how we how we fare against the sides, you know, at least we can consider equal, perhaps, you know, it's which themselves are obviously in a much much more dangerous position than us at the moment um and yet to win this season.
00:26:51
officialgspn
So hopefully that will provide the biggest opportunity to bounce back, but I'm still always a little bit and anxious about about saying that and about labelling Brentwood his favorites for any game.
00:26:57
Lydia
Yeah.
00:27:02
officialgspn
but That will do for today, and we'll come on to the itrich game later in the week. That was Daily Brantford podcast for today. We hope you enjoy today's episode. And once again, we would be extremely grateful for your support as this will enable us to go bigger and better moving forwards.
00:27:17
officialgspn
Daily Brantford can be found on X Instagram and TikTok under the handle at GSP and Brantford. We'll be back again tomorrow where we'll have a wildcard Wednesday in store, I think around Griffin park, which Lydia is going to plan for us.
00:27:30
Lydia
Yeah.
00:27:32
officialgspn
Until then, from myself and Lydia, thank you for being with us.