Brentford home

[Foxin_Mad]

1 minute ago, Paninistickers said:

I get your logic, but two things. Whatever his data says, remarkably it spews out the same formation for every opponent, regardless of the opponent's strength, weaknesses, formation and personnel. 

 

Second, the focus appears always to benin Ayew. Incredibly, the bigger problems are Vardy and of course, the wonderful BdcR (who touched the ball twice - one of which was a toe poke out for a throw in - in the opening 41 mins v the arse. I don't care how good the stats say he is, one touch every 20.5 mins is unacceptable) 

 

 

Actually football data analytics isn't quite that simple, they will be monitoring his running and positioning without the ball. Im not saying its good, far from it but likely better than some of the absolute shite we have on the bench.

[ClaphamFox]

2 minutes ago, Paninistickers said:

I get your logic, but two things. Whatever his data says, remarkably it spews out the same formation for every opponent, regardless of the opponent's strength, weaknesses, formation and personnel. 

 

Second, the focus appears always to benin Ayew. Incredibly, the bigger problems are Vardy and of course, the wonderful BdcR (who touched the ball twice - one of which was a toe poke out for a throw in - in the opening 41 mins v the arse. I don't care how good the stats say he is, one touch every 20.5 mins is unacceptable) 

 

 

I actually think Ruud’s one concession to making us more attacking tonight will be to replace BDCR with Facu and play Ayew on the left. 

[lcfcfoz]

3 minutes ago, ClaphamFox said:

I actually think Ruud’s one concession to making us more attacking tonight will be to replace BDCR with Facu and play Ayew on the left. 

This will happen i think

[kiddo]

Goal fest tonight. 2-2.

[st albans fox]

Brentf are better than palace 

But if we get some luck then anything is possible - think Bournemouth, think West Ham. Just need mads to get back to form and their strikers to have a mare 

[StriderHiryu]

1 hour ago, ClaphamFox said:

@StriderHiryu, who tends to analyse these things in some depth, has suggested that Ayew is indeed better defensively than either Buonanotte and Mavididi. Not necessarily because he makes lots tackles or blocks, but because he works harder off the ball and is better aerially, which is very useful when defending set pieces. His ability to hold up the ball also gives us an outlet when we’re under pressure.

 

Presumably Ruud and his staff will have access to tons of data about each player’s performance that we do not. Maybe that data shows that Ayew is one of those players whose work rate helps the team in a way that isn’t always obvious to the naked eye?

 

This is not to say that Ayew should definitely start - we need to win games and that means we need to create more in attack. Personally I’d prefer to see Buonanotte ahead of him tonight. But maybe Ruud’s persistence with Ayew isn’t quite as incomprehensible as some people seem to think? 

Let me say that my stance is that I would start Buonanotte over Ayew every day of the week, and this is something I say on pretty much every stream.

 

As for the numbers, Ayew is much better in terms of clearances and aerials won:

 

 

In terms of attacking output, Facundo is better, although statistically it's nowhere near as much as you might think it would be:

 

 

In terms of off the ball work, I would say that Buonanotte is quite questionable in his positioning. See the amount of times earlier in the season that Justin was caught 2v1 on his side and he has a tendancy to drift around too much which causes problems on transition. But to be fair to him, he puts in a shift, presses and is good at supporting the press.

 

On the ball he has skill and flair, but often times is head down and plays hero-ball instead of making the pass. You could say this about other players in the squad too though!

 

One thing about Ayew that he doesn't get credit for is that he's useful to have for defending set pieces. I did a piece on this for the Arsenal analysis, but against a team that is exceptional at scoring from set pieces, we kept them quiet.

 

Ruud seems to see Bilal and Facundo as battling for the same position, which is a bit of a shame. I'd have love to have seen both Bilal and Facundo in Maresca's system from last year, but with Fatawu out, we aren't going to see that this season. 

 

 

[Ric Flair]

1 hour ago, ClaphamFox said:

I agree that it doesn’t seem very obvious at all, which is why I’ve been in the camp that has wanted Facu to start ahead of him. And I’m still in that camp. But Ruud comes across as a fairly rational person - the type of coach who likely pays attention to data. So I still wonder if there might be some method in his apparent madness. I’d be interested to see any stats showing how many goals we’ve conceded with/without Ayew on the pitch, for example…

I see why Bounanotte isn't playing RW but to get both him and Bilal in we have to go to a narrow 4-3-2-1 with attacking full backs or preferably 3-4-2-1 and Bounanotte and El Khannouss given free roles behind Vardy or Daka. 

[Paninistickers]

31 minutes ago, Foxin_Mad said:

Actually football data analytics isn't quite that simple, they will be monitoring his running and positioning without the ball. Im not saying its good, far from it but likely better than some of the absolute shite we have on the bench.

We simply can't afford to have players in the team who's only responsibility is running off the ball and positioning.

 

I agree that's important, but to the extent of taking almost zero part in the game...the cost/benefit is too high. 

 

Would any other manager in the PL sacrifice one of just ten outfield positions to a non participating player? 

[LVFox]

I'd look at Bilal on the left and Buonanotte in the 10. He's got better energy to get beyond the striker and I don't think moving Bilal to the left would take too much away from his game.

[Happy Fox]

We win this 2-1 I reckon, if Daka starts, and Vardy is subbed on the 60th minute.

 

Goals from Bilal and Vardy, Brentford's consolation from Wissa.

 

[Pliskin]

Is it an option to play BDR over Ayew and start one of Mavadidi or Facu? 
 

We absolutely have to have some pace on the transition today, otherwise we’re going to get picked off at ease. Brentford are a decent counter attacking team, however they will leave bags of space to exploit behind their back line. I want to see us carry on stepping higher up the pitch with the defensive line, but we need to ensure we’ve got pace in the final third. We absolutely can’t go into this game playing Ayew, BDR and Vardy together……

[FoxinNotts]

2 minutes ago, Pliskin said:

Is it an option to play BDR over Ayew and start one of Mavadidi or Facu? 
 

We absolutely have to have some pace on the transition today, otherwise we’re going to get picked off at ease. Brentford are a decent counter attacking team, however they will leave bags of space to exploit behind their back line. I want to see us carry on stepping higher up the pitch with the defensive line, but we need to ensure we’ve got pace in the final third. We absolutely can’t go into this game playing Ayew, BDR and Vardy together……

Everything is an option! I'd personally go with:

 

Bounanotte (RHS)  -  El Khannouss (No.10)  -  BDCR (LHS)

 

Bring on Ayew on the right or up front, if we are trying to protect a lead, to hit the deck and hold the ball up.

 

If we're chasing the game, bring on Mavididi for more pace on the break.

 

Simple really. Just play the players to their best attributes.

[Chico1958]

Ruud and Us could learn a lot from Nuno, Frank, Moyes and to some extent Silva.

 

Forget about Possesion, Defend and Go Direct. Simples. 

[Skidmark]

Please score a goal.... (hopefully don't concede one too) 

[Sol thewall Bamba]

18 minutes ago, Happy Fox said:

We win this 2-1 I reckon, if Daka starts, and Vardy is subbed on the 60th minute.

 

Goals from Bilal and Vardy, Brentford's consolation from Wissa.

 

We haven't gone 2 nill up at any point this season have we? Oh no Palace we did. 

[HankMarvin]

Should be sacked if we lose,

should be sacked if we fail to score for a 6 consecutive home game.

[Pliskin]

7 minutes ago, Chico1958 said:

Ruud and Us could learn a lot from Nuno, Frank, Moyes and to some extent Silva.

 

Forget about Possesion, Defend and Go Direct. Simples. 

Yep. So much of Forests work this season is similar to us when we won the league. If you can get it right, it is sometimes unstoppable….. 

[moseeds]

anyone else getting a 'The quantity of tickets owned by XXX exceeds limitations...' error when trying to buy Brentford ticket? I am only buying 1 ticket for myself but keep having this error for days now. Wondering if anyone else got it and if they managed to get rid of it to complete purchase?

[foxfan92]

Arghhhh. Apart from the enforced change at right back it's going to be the same team that we keep playing and losing with isn't it????

 

Even when we've been awful in the past I've always stayed optimistic and seen a way to smile through the bad times.

 

Rodgers tenure changed something, the last season he was in charge I saw a team that shouldn't implode. This wasn't like it was in the past when we yo-yoed our way between leagues.

 

And right now I'm almost apathetic. I've missed 2 games this season, and I wasn't that bothered, (especially when I saw the scoreline).

 

That's not like me. But damn it, we need to show we want to win by recognising we need to change the tactics and personal. 

 

Yes we're woefully weak across the squad, but I still believe there's a starting 11 in there that can compete in enough games to help us scrape over the line.

 

But we have to act now (and it shouldn't have taken this long).

[jim5000]

12 hours ago, dannythefox said:

Can’t see us beating them but law of averages says we’ll win a home game soon 🤞🏻

Ah, but the law of Leicester says “we’re not winning again this season”

[Daggers]

4 hours ago, Raj said:

Just watch the game with the Benny Hill theme tune in your head.

Works a great for me🤣👍🏾

 

 

AKA Rudkin's Ringtone

[jim5000]

1 hour ago, Twitcher said:

Winning this today. Still going down of course, but yes, we win this one. Probably 2-1

Bit early to be on the beers!

[justfoxes]

Unfortunately not able to get to this one as Taking the wife to see the scouse comedian Paul Smith so will have phone on silent for the scores here’s hoping we can get the win and 3 points as we Fuching need the win maybe RVN can play Jake Evans who definitely knows how to score !!!

 

COME ON YOU FUCHING FOXES PULL YOUR THUMBS OUT TIME TO START A WINNING STREAK!! 

[Electric Yetis]

The club have pissed me off once again.

 

For almost every home over the last couple of seasons I have bought my youngest son a ticket. He is the only one in the family without a season ticket.

 

We normally do it so that my ticket is swapped to his name so he sits with the rest of the family and I sit elsewhere in the Family Stand, as near as possible. It's been done every match this season without issue.

 

I have just called now after he decided he wants to go today and the jobsworth woman is refusing to do it and saying I need to cancel my usual seat and move so that the two of us are sitting together. The main reason he wants to go is that he can sit with his cousins.

 

I explained this has been done regularly over the last few years and has never been an issue before, even having spoken to Jim in the past. She refused to budge and said this is not right and it wouldn't have been done before.

 

F*** them, they've just lost a sale.

Edited 21 February by Electric Yetis

[Haywood_6]

Heading up from Farnborough for this one, mainly just to spend time with my dad. Truth is i’ve started caring less about the football most of them don’t even deserve to wear the shirt. I’m actually sick of the sight of our players. Just hoping Brentford have a shocker and we somehow get lucky. But does the starting 11 even matter anymore? We're going down anyway. This squad just isn’t Premier League quality. It's cannon fodder.