Standard Start to Life as a Saints Goalkeeper
Brentford away at the Gtech Community Shit Corporate Name Stadium. Apart from the shit corporate name, there is a lot to admire about Brentford and the way they have performed in the last few seasons, firstly making the Premier League and then thriving in it under the expert management of Thomas Frank.
No matter how much I try there is nothing to dislike about Frank. Last year he had to deal with the Ivan Toney situation with his gambling ban but he kind of shrugged off the loss of his most home high-profile player and guided Brentford to safety, relatively comfortably. This year they have started with a win at home to Palace and a defeat at Liverpool, both without their talisman striker who has now decided to commit career suicide and disappear off to Saudi Arabia. I have no idea who he has signed for and I couldn't give a shit and nor could he. It’s a sad state of affairs when players in their prime decide to take the money and run. Most Brentford fans are happy to see him go because the saga has been all anyone has talked about for the last year or so.
So, let's stop talking about it. The actual Brentford team is worthy of discussion with Johan Wissa, Kevin Schade and Bryan Mbuemo being very dangerous strikers. I’ve always been impressed by Christian Nørgaard in midfield and though they appear to have four central defenders at the back with no full backs - the reason for that is the long-term injuries that have befallen Aaron Hickey and Rico Henry. Yes, Thomas Frank has certainly had a lot to deal with and has still managed to keep Brentford‘s head above water. There is an alternative universe starting 18 months ago where sport Republic appointed their former Brentford manager to take over at Saints when Ralph Hassenhuttl left. Instead of that, we went down a different route and we are only just recovering.
To that end, the transfer window closed the day before the game and we quite ridiculously managed to add Aaron Ramsdale as a permanent signing. I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet just how huge this is for a club of our size with the Premier League being as it is these days. 12 months ago he was Arsenal‘s first choice goalkeeper as they finished second in the league and was second choice for England and putting as much pressure on Jordan Pickford's status is England number one as anyone else has done over the past few years. Mikel Arteta had other ideas though and Rambo become second choice to former Brentford keeper David Raya and here we are. We have been the beneficiaries of Arteta's hard-nosed decision which got him no further up the league.
Also through the door at the end of the window, late into the night when everyone had gone to bed, was Maxwel Cornet on loan for the season from West Ham. We have taken a bit of a gamble here because he’s basically not been fit for the last year and a half and has not done anything at West Ham since he moved from Burnley. He really isn’t going to find it easy to get into the team. Whilst Cornet was a punt from left-field, we also had the feelgood story of Ryan Fraser signing on a free transfer. The Wee man is back and his popularity is there for all to see. He too will find it hard to get in the team but we are certainly struggling less with winger today than we were yesterday.
On that score, one of our struggling wingers, Sam Edozie was rumoured to be joining Rangers on loan for the season but for whatever reason, it didn’t happen. Would it be rude to suggest that it looked like it was going to work and he couldn't make his mind up and there was no end product. As I write, ABK and Tall Paul are still here, as is Kamaldeen Sulemana. It’s hard to see any of those players getting anywhere near a Premier League squad this season.
We have ended the transfer window with about 29 players who could reasonably expect to be in the first team squad. It’s too many but with the Turkish and Saudi transfer windows still open, we could see some more outgoings in the next few weeks.
To today and team news and a very loud "meh" from me. Ramsdale makes his debut but other than that there is no changes. Same formation and no one that impressed against Cardiff made the side - so no Archer, Fernandes, Dibling, Ugochukwu etc. Best we can hope for is that Armstrong and Brereton Diaz have slightly less than the 50 yards between them today.
One thing that surprised me about the Ramsdale deal is why he would want to play behind the defence that is going to give him absolutely shit loads to do. I guess it’s a chance to look impressive. That comes to fruition within two minutes of the kickoff as Damsgaard puts in a dangerous cross from the right, which dissects our defenders and Mbuemo is bearing down on goal but Ramsdale is off his line really quickly to block. Brilliant start to the new man.
When we stop panicking, we make good ground of the right and KWP bears down on goal from a narrow angle. As we all know, KWP is our main goal threat in this formation and his shot his blocked by the foot of Flekken. Smallbone swings over the corner and Aribo must score as has the simplest of jobs nod it into the net… but he gets in too early and the ball is just behind him, meaning he still gets something on it and it loops over the keeper towards the back post, hits the bar and drops down. There are half arsed appeals for a penalty but no chance.
Brentford look very dangerous on the break whenever we give them the opportunity and Mbuemo gets through again but he’s put off by Ramsdale and the ball runs away for THB to hack it clear. Next attack for Brentford and Wissa pulls some sort of freestyle turn out of his locker on the edge of the box before hammering in a shot which Ramsdale catches dismissively.
One difference to previous games is that Saints do actually look threatening when they go forward. A Brereton Diaz flick puts Aribo away down the left and his low cross into the box is cleared for a corner. Smallbone takes time off from running in treacle to put over a decent corner and it’s a free header for Jack Stephens a few yards out but he nods it over the bar with no fuss.
The 50 yard gap between our strikers is not there this week. BBD is still mainly playing wide left but Arma is in the middle and that nearly pays dividends as Aribo sends BBD gallivanting forward from the halfway line and he puts Arma in behind the defence but there’s absolutely no conviction and in the end, despite being ahead in the race, he doesn’t manage to get in a shot and Pinnock and Ajer combined to let the ball run through to the goalkeeper. And if you were being cynical you would say there was a chance to go down when Pinnock lunged in but not taken.
We haven’t had a fuck up as yet but KWP gets too close to Aribo and presents the ball to Damsgaard about 30 yards out and he races forward and tries to square it but THB gets across and gets a toe on it to knock it back to Ramsdale. Fist pumps all round and great defending in the end.
Ramsdale gives it short to Bednarek who takes a couple strides forward before passing forwards to Stephens, taking Schade and Wissa out of the game. Stephens plays it straight back to THB, just bringing the two Brentford forwards back into the game and closing THB down aggressively. THB should of course put his fucking foot through it but freezes in the headlights and loses it. Schade takes it on and smashes an effort against the near post and the rebound falls kindly to Mbuemo to run into the net. Fucking hell.
Saints respond and win a corner and when it’s headed out, because of course it hits the first man, Sugawara let’s fly from the edge of the box but it straight down Flekken’s throat. Saints have some urgency about them now and Downes wins the ball high up before finding Sugawara on the right. His cross deflects perfectly and it lands four yards out straight to Adam Armstrong and all he has to do is side foot it into the net but no, big lash, misses it, hits his standing leg and bounces the wrong way. Fuck me
Half-time and Russell Martin has clearly seen what I have seen and Smallbone and Adam Armstrong are both off. Smallbone has dropped a solid 2 out of 10 performance in midfield, demonstrating treacle running whenever possible and generally not being involved because, you know, Premier League level athleticism and all that. Adam Armstrong has had two good chances to score and failed twice. It’s not just the fact that he’s failed but how badly he has failed, not getting a shot in twice. On come Fernandes and Archer.
The new boys are in on the action straight away with Fernandes turning on the edge of his own penalty area and driving up to the halfway line before sending BBD away on the left. He takes the ball back and tries to slot Archer through and it’s a brilliant effort just a couple of feet in front of him allowing Flekken to pick it up. It’s significant because there is more attacking invention in that move then we have seen in 2 1/2 league games so far.
As we approach the hour mark, Russell Martin again goes for it with Tyler Dibling coming on to replace THB. One of the central defenders had to come off but personally I feel that the captain should’ve been looked at. It’s still fairly even. Mbuemo has a shot blocked our end before BBD has one the deflect from the corner that we waste, of course.
And then it happens again. Stephens and Bednarek try to knock the ball around with KWP and both of them go for the return pass with Bednarek trying to flick it to Stephens who is right next to him. Needless to say that doesn’t end well then by the time I open my eyes again, Mbuemo has stuck it in the net. Fucking hell what’s the point?
The game is over now because there is absolutely no way we are scoring two, but regardless, Dibling begins to make his mark down the right hand side dribbling in from the wing before hitting it with his left foot, forcing Flecken to parry it away to the offside Sugawara who lashes it over the bar anyway.
Brentford‘s next attack wins a throw over in the left-hand corner and it’s launched in towards all the 6 foot 6 central defenders they’ve got, flicked on and there is Wissa to bundle the ball and Ramsdale into the net. No question of it being a foul and that’s a hat-trick of absolutely fucking shit goes we’ve let in.
Lallana is on for Aribo and much to the annoyance of the contingent who are still determined to give him a hard time over what happened 10 years ago, he is again in a completely different level of class. With him, Dibling and Fernandes on the pitch we certainly have three more players who can all play at Premier League level. Lallana is immediately involved twice in the move that sees a Fernandes effort blocked by the keeper at close range.
As we approach 89 it’s now the Tyler Dibling show as he skips past players for fun before lending the ball to Lallana and getting it back. Superb vision to chip it over the defence to pick up Lallana’s run, nodded down and Sugawara crashes it into the net with the outside of his left foot. Absolutely brilliant goal. Pointless in the context of this game but at least we have our first goal of the season.
The end and sigh! That will possibly be the easiest win Brentford will have all year. They didn’t actually have to do anything to win that game other than press our defenders and wait for them to fuck up. All three goals we conceded were absolute jokes. For the first one, Stephens chose to go back to THB which is the first mistake because it should never have gone back to him. The second mistake is that THB didn’t put his foot through it and instead, lost the ball and there you have it. THB really struggled at the back. There was some good play, bailing KWP out the shit exactly two minutes before coughing up the first goal. As I said before though, it’s far too easy to put all the blame on THB for that goal. You really have to look at who put him in the shit in the first place. THB will get there in the end but at the moment the learning curve is very steep. Personally I feel that he needs to be playing regularly in a back four to have the best chance of reaching his potential.
For the second goal, Bednarek and Stephens both go for the same ball and then Jan tries a deft little flick in the centre of the defence which gives the ball away and we let in another goal. That’s the sort of flick that a number 10 would play to flick the ball through to a striker and it’s an absolute fucking joke to try and do it on the edge of your own penalty area. This shows how much the pace and the pressure in the Premier League gets to players when a 60 cap Polish international makes a mistake and a decision like that. The third goal was shit defending from a long throw. Okay, that can happen against Brentford because of the height they’ve got in their team but it’s another poor goal. So, three gifts and you aren’t gonna win any games if you do that, especially when you’re as average and blunt in attack as we are.
So, three shit goals conceded by our previously pretty reliable defence. What of our previously failing attack? In the first half we had chances to be fair but Adam Armstrong just illustrated again that he’s not good enough when it comes down to it in the Premier League. He had two 'attempts' in the first half, which ended with not having any conviction when running through for the first one and then playing an air shot 6 yards out when any connection would’ve been a goal. At least he was in the middle today and had a couple of opportunities, and not out on the right wing. Ben Brereton Diaz stuck to his brief on the left hand side and basically did fuck all and he has not done enough to convince anyone as yet.
What Ben did do in the first half was occupy the space that KWP should’ve been running into from left wing back. KWP was instead though, being the third centre half because Jack Stephens was loafing about in midfield and getting in the way. This is one of many things that we did today that is simply not going to wash at Premier League level. You can just about get away with Jack waltzing into midfield in the Championship but not in the Premier League. Quite frankly it’s embarrassing. Why go in there to be an extra passing option to break the lines, if all you're going to do is unbreak the lines and go backwards.
By Saints standards, Russell Martin has an embarrassment of resources bearing in mind the investment in the squad in the summer. He has to be brutal with some of his decisions. I think we have the players, despite still being a bit lacking in attacking areas, but he has to make some tough calls on certain players that he would rather not have to make. Adam Armstrong looks completely lost at this level. it doesn't matter that he scored the goal at Wembley - this is a different assignment. Will Smallbone played like he was 45 years old, second to every ball, jogging back behind the play and basically all the things that we suspected would happen when he played against Premier League athletes. It’s a shame and it’s not his fault but that’s just the way it is. You need to be athletic in midfield at Premier League level and Will just isn’t and he never will be. Joe Aribo started the game well but completely died after about 25 minutes and though he looks promising in patches, it’s just not enough. Again, the issues of playing both Smallbone and Aribo as a combination in midfield when neither of them can run... it will never work. There are better options than both of those two with Fernandes, Ugochukwu, Dibling and even Lallana all queueing up. At a push, you can fit in one of Smallbone and Aribo but not both.
When we eventually changed the formation at 60 minutes, we started to look better as an attacking force. Cameron Archer had decent initial impact before fading as we failed to give him the ball. Mateus Fernandes was the same but his quality is there for all to see and there is a player there who should certainly be integrated into the starting 11. Adam Lallana as expected, added some quality when he came on but the game was gone by then.
Tyler Waltzes Past Defenders As Per Usual
After the Cardiff game in mid week I said that we need to be cautious about throwing Tyler Dibling into the starting 11 but after his performance against Brentford, I have changed my mind a little bit because this is a team that needs a spark and he is it. He put in an absolutely ridiculously good performance from the bench, playing mainly from the right wing, beating a succession of players, created numerous crossing opportunities and was majorly responsible along with Lallana, for creating our consolation goal, which was expertly put away by Sugawara.
Su-ga-wa-ra, Southampton Goal Machine
Sugawara is an interesting player. I feel that when we inevitably go to a back four, he needs to come out the side and we need to move KWP to right back and bring in Charlie Taylor on the left. It was a brilliant goal that he scored but in a back four the spotlight he’s going to fall more in his defending and today it really wasn’t very good, especially in the first half.
The way Saints play and the way that Russell Martin wants them to play was always going to come on the serious examination in the Premier League and so far, all the pundits are being proved correct. One definition of playing out from the back is what we do which is keeping the ball 30 yards from our own goal and trying to entice the other team onto us and not being afraid to pass the ball into midfield and then pass it back to the defenders. I don’t think that’s on at Premier League level because our defenders are not good enough to deal with the extra pace and intensity that in general, Premier League attackers have. Once you break the lines at the back, you cannot afford to unbreak it and bring them all back into play again.
Another definition of playing out from the back is basically when the goalkeeper gets it he plays it short but if it’s not on he doesn’t do that and looks to distribute it another way, either drilling a pass towards someone or hurling it out with a long throw to someone. I feel that’s fine and that’s where we need to land, not with the play at all costs approach which we seem to have at the moment. So far, in three games, we have conceded five goals. If you forget the long throw for a second the other four have all been caused by us basically giving the ball away within 25 yards of our own goal. The number of goals we have scored as a result of playing out stands at zero.
We scored today by picking our way through an 11 man Brentford defence which as it stands, is the only way we are going to score because our build up is just too slow. With the international break now upon us, we simply have to use it to get a four at the back system nailed down. I genuinely feel that it would help us in the Premier League. The defenders won’t have so many options to knock the ball around at the back so will have to pass it into the midfield and it allows us to have another attacking player on the pitch. Obviously there's much more to it than that but that's just for starters.
It’s not the end of the world that we lost today. Obviously it’s not ideal and it’s only a completely wasted day if Russell Martin does not learn from it. Quite simply, he has to and I think we are about to find out exactly how ruthless he is prepared to be. He proved it last season with the Lumley/McCarthy decision, the beginning of Holgate decision and this season he’s proved in part that he doesn’t have favourites by not having Ryan Manning anywhere near a Premier League squad. I think he will prove is ruthlessness again by the time we come back after the international break. We need him to.
Up the fucking Saints
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