Brentford are back on the road with Tuesday’s trip to Bournemouth coming hot on the heels of that incident packed win at Burnley over the weekend.
The 4-3 triumph at Turf Moor is one which will go down in club folklore. As much due to the see-sawing of the scoreline as the fact that VAR got not one but two calls right. Incredibly, both in the Bees’ favour.
All the subsequent bleating about how it wasn’t fair, the system had ruined the most incredible comeback of all time, nothing more than noise from football fantasists. Obscuring the fact that Ashley Barnes had ‘scored’ his ‘equaliser’ after the ball had been brought down into the shooting position via his arm. An effort which, for the record, came in the 99th minute of the game’s 97 minutes
I feel for the Burnley fans, to an extent. Had Brentford thought they taken the lead after reversing a 3-goal deficit and then equalising with the last kick of the game, only to see both denied by the slenderest of margins, after the longest of waits, we’d be beyond raging.
Another rant about refereeing standards incoming. However, both decisions were ultimately correct – something most observers seem to be overlooking in the emotion of the situation. Keith Andrews and his team have perhaps ridden their luck after defensive sloppiness to rival that in the Brighton game, but the huge positive, aside from the win, was the irrepressible driving force of the Bees when on the front foot.
That attacking intent will be key to taking anything back to West London from the South Coast. Start again like we did on Saturday, and this should be another thriller. The real point of caution being that Bournemouth are actually any good. Not a team to be underestimated by any stretch and one that I still love seeing in the Premier League.
It only seems like 5 minutes ago we were playing each other in League Two (2008-09 to be precise), and look at where we are now. The Kings of ‘teams like….’. Upsetting fans of the perceived ‘big clubs’ who may have won things decades ago but are now nothing more than bloated corpses feasting on past memories and faded dreams. Sleepwalking their way from mediocrity to the Championship despite a belief that top-flight status is something that should be confirmed by how big your stadium is or what trophy the club may have lifted back in the 1970s.
Brentford have evolved. Bournemouth, too. Lean, hungry, and hoovering up every point with a joy that comes from remembering how hard you’ve fought to get here. Looking forward to where the crazy train will stop next, but not going off the rails.
With the Bees still in the hunt for Europe – to the extent that a win will move them above sixth-placed Chelsea following that rarest of things on Sunday, Arsenal winning a game in March – the Cherries may have their own aspirations for next season. They’re in the top half of the table, on an eight-game unbeaten run, and go into this one knowing that their own winning the game would take them to within a single point of the Bees.
Perhaps more than ever, the outcome will be determined by tactics and positivity. Both teams knowing the reward for victory. Sitting back a fool’s errand. Piling on the early pressure the key to success. Exploiting our pace with Schade, Dango, and Thiago, a most potent attacking three.
Damsgaard, who had a phenomenal game at the weekend, and Jensen to pull the strings in the midfield. The only change likely being the return of Caoimhín Kelleher in nets following his stint on paternity leave at the weekend. Albeit, I do wonder if we might see a start for Jordan Henderson, too? His experience and quality of passing through the middle could prove a potent weapon for Keith.
The one thing you can be sure of is that all eyes will be on VAR and then some. No matter what moral high ground the Bees have after the weekend, there is still a palpable sense of injustice from certain quarters as to what played out. It’ll take a brave set of officials to give anything from Stockley Park unless it is beyond obvious. Which, to be fair, I still feel both decisions at the weekend were.
Then again, with Craig Pawson as our man in the middle and Darren England on VAR, anything could happen. Let’s just hope we don’t need either party this time around. If for no other reason, Keith must have used all of his ‘Get out of jail, free’ cards.
In all seriousness, I think this one has all the hallmarks of an absolutely cracking game of football. We say that a lot, but with two very evenly matched teams – as much as anything else in intent – and the game played in an old school stadium that we know so well from over the years, the atmosphere will be equally bouncing.
Don’t forget it all kicks off at 7.30pm. Bring it on and may thoughts of a European adventure continue…
