All good things come to an end. Brentford finally surrendered that quite wonderful unbeaten home record on Saturday afternoon with Nottingham Forest running out 2-0 winners at the Gtech.
No complaints. Despite the injury enforced absences to two of the regular defence (in Ethan Pinnock and Sepp van den Berg) it was the visitors’ set up that was to prove Brentford’s eventual undoing.
Five across the back. Four across the middle. Forest content to absorb but The Bees finding it virtually impossible to break the defensive walls. Their steel far too strong. Then twice breaking with speed to cut through the home backline with incisive precision and deadly accuracy.
A goal in each half did for their Bees, despite their own bright start which saw Mikkel Damsgaard coming closest to breaking the deadlock. His shot well hit but perhaps lacking the power to fully test Matz Sels in nets and the ‘keeper was able to push it away for a corner.
Wissa also doing well to force a chance from nowhere after a rare moment of defensive confusion from our visitors but, in truth, these opportunities were few and far between.
Forest brutally disciplined in their game plan. A touch of force also incorporated at times, with Wissa in particular being the victim of one first-half elbow slam to the side of the face. The Forest fans’ second-half bleating about referee Michael Oliver something the Bees faithful had long sucked up.
Let’s not even attempt to put this down to the ref though. We’ve had far worse performances this season. The simple fact is that Brentford lacked the guile to get past opponents who showed just why they have climbed to third place in the Premier League table. Opponents who took their chances with ruthless glee when they arose.
First, Ola Aina as half-time approached. Stealing in at the back of the box completely unmarked to guide home Neco Williams ball across the face of goal. One which on reflection could well have been cut out before it was played or even whilst it was in transit. It wasn’t and instead the full back made no mistake.
Their lead doubled early in to the second half. Instead of the much hoped for stirring Brentford comeback, there was Anthony Elanga to take advantage of a heavy touch from KLP. The ball nicked off his toes and no mistake made from just inside the box. A low shot curled past defenders and the diving Flekken.
0-2 and Brentford left an absolute mountain to climb.
It was to prove a task too much, even for Thomas Frank’s normal mastery of tactics and squad selection. The changes from the bench unable to make any real impact. Only Kris Ajer bringing a moment of potential hope as his shot from eight yards out was somehow saved by Sels.
It was a quite brilliant stop, so nailed on had the goal felt as the ball was struck, but as it was pushed clear one almost felt as though any route back into the game had gone with it. A gut-punch blow to morale from which there was no recovery.
It ended 2-0 to Forest. Brentford beaten by a team who, dare I say it, deserved to win. At least that is the consolation, no matter how scant it may feel. A chance to move immediately forwards before the game with Brighton rather than up all waking up still incensed by some game-changing transgression that had gone unpunished.
That trip to the Amex for our Christmas game is next up. Until then though, the top five player ratings. As always, five points being awarded for star player, four for second place, three for third etc with the totals added up game-by-game to find an overall winner for the season.
2024/25 Brentford Player Ratings from Matchweek 17 (vs Nottingham Forest)
1st (Star Player: 5 points) – Mikkel Damsgaard
After a brief hiatus from his usual top five appearance, Mikkel is back with a bang.
An absolute stand out performance from the Danish midfield maestro. A country mile clear of any possible rival for top slot, such was his vision, his range of heatseeking passes and his running with the ball. Simply magnificent.
Had he managed to find the back of the net with that early opportunity things might have played out differently for The Bees but don’t let that take anything away from Mikkel’s display. On an afternoon of few real chances, at least he was even able to carve one out for himself whilst his final cross tally was in double figures.
If only we could clone him.
2nd (4 points) – Christian Norgaard
It was another of those Norgaard performances we almost take for granted these days.
Christian doing, again, what he does so well. Stopping the play coming our way. Turning defence into attack. Top of the tackle count by some distance but his presence in trying to drive through the middle, in picking out his team teams, apparent.
He was everywhere in that middle third. Mikkel was star performer, no question, but he and Christian were still well clear of the others. A dominant performance as the captain very much felt his presence felt. On an afternoon where there was no place to hide, he gave it his all and was visible by his endeavours.
3rd (3 points) – Bryan Mbeumo
You can’t knock the effort Bryan put in to this one.
Brentford were forced to work so hard for everything. At times The Bees were pressed and closed down to the point of being unable to move. Yet Bryan never stopped trying.
His connection with Mikkel the clearest opportunity that Brentford would have to score. Time and again the Dane picking him out. His own precision in passing rewarded with Bryan doing what he does so well, to the extent that Mbeumo’s final stat count shows a quite stunning 13 crosses played in.
Let’s hope the transfer talk that has been slowly building is nothing more than clickbait.
4th (2 points) – Mark Flekken
Another of those games where had it not been for Mark, the GD column would have been heading further South.
Pulled off two quite magnificent stops to keep The Bees in the game. One from a Chris Wood header particularly impressive and worth top five entry on that basis alone.
On a frustrating afternoon that saw the Bees creativity stifled for such huge swathes, Mark’s constant vigilance kept Brentford in it.
5th (1 point) – Ben Mee
Not bad for a veteran 😉
A cry of ‘Meeeee’ greeting his pre-match announcement as the legend returned to the starting XI. His opportunity may have only arrived through injury to others but he was more than able to step back into a position that had been his for the last two campaigns.
We’d all expected Ben to retire at the end of last season but thankfully he signed that extension. He’s lost none of his drive, enthusiasm or ability to put in that crucial block. When the call came from Thomas it was like he’d never been away.
2024/25 Brentford Player Ratings – Top 5 Overall (after Matchweek 17)
All of which means that heading in to the game on the South Coast game, Mikkel Damsgaard moves further clear at the top of our chart. Captain Christian leapfrogging Nathan Collins to retake fifth place.
1st – Mikkel Damsgaard (47 points)
2nd – Mark Flekken (38 points)
3rd – Bryan Mbeumo (33 points)
4th – Keane Lewis-Potter (29 points)
5th – Christian Norgaard (27 points)
