Nick Bruzon outlines the best 5 Bees from their Matchweek 11 draw against Chelsea and updates his Top 5 Brentford Players over the course of the season.
A quite wonderful evening of edge-of-the-seat football saw Brentford and Chelsea play out a 0-0 draw that left both sides wondering how they didn’t win.
It truly was a game that the word ‘pulsating’ was invented for. The atmosphere electric and the players up for it.
If Brentford went in to it with the news that Pontus Jansson and Aaron Hickey would be out until after the World Cup, they ended it knowing that their replacements were more than up for the task. A back five made up of Roerslev, Henry, Mee, Pinnock and Zanka left the field with their heads held high after a hugely
impressive performance at the back.
One could say similar about the midfield where that core trio of Janelt, Jensen and Onyeka worked tirelessly to feed Bryan and Ivan.
The Bees didn’t stop running. Didn’t stop tackling. Didn’t stop tracking back.
The contest so evenly matched it was easy to forget the talent and pedigree at Graham Potter’s disposal. Something more than demonstrated as his substitutes entered the field of play.
Just imagine having the resources to bring on the likes of Aubameyang and Sterling. Yet still they couldn’t break through against a Bees team who looked absolutely exhausted by the end of it.
The only thing Brentford couldn’t quite manage was to find the back of the net.
Just as in last season’s home game, Thomas Frank’s side found themselves up against a visiting goalkeeper in inspired form. Kepa Arrizabalaga channeling his inner Édouard Mendy to keep the Bees at bay. A brace of first half saves from Ivan Toney drawing gasps of frustration and cheers of encouragement from the home fans. An irrepressible force against the immovable object.
With penalty shouts also being denied for Brentford it was fast getting the feel of being one of ‘those’ nights yet still we pushed forward.
Bryan Mbeumo presented a glorious chance early in the second half but there was Kepa again to deny his header from close in. Even had he placed it either side, the ‘keeper would likely have found a means to stretch out a limb and push the ball wide. It was that sort of game.
As the clock ticked on and the subs kicked in, Chelsea found new gears.
From Brentford looking like it was only a matter of time before we made that decisive breakthrough, the points were left very much hanging in the balance. Wave after wave of surging blue tide repelled. The ball rarely in the visitors’ half.
A last minute of injury time VAR check for a penalty against the Bees turned down. It would have been rough justice had that been awarded but football turns on opportunity being taken when it knocks on the door rather than just plucky performance.
Thankfully, Brentford had more than sufficient about them to be able to snuff out this galaxy of stars. It was a point that was as hard fought as they come and a performance which sent supporters back home with broad smiles on their faces.
The downside being, as at the weekend, how on earth we whittle it down to ‘just’ a top five Brentford payers. It was about as wonderful and complete a team performance as they come.
Ivan Toney, despite not finding the back of the net, was everywhere. Bryan never stopped running. Frank the Tank having his best game in a Bees shirt. Zanka impressive.
The subs all playing their part as they brought fresh energy from the bench. Don’t @ me if I haven’t picked your favourite. 16 into 5 just won’t go but, in yours truly’s opinion, there can only be one star player…..
Brentford Player Ratings from Matchweek 11 (vs Chelsea)
1st (Star Man) Ethan Pinnock
My word he was magnificent.
Last time out we called him ‘The Colossus of Lionel Road’. On this performance he was more Demi-God than anything else.
Produced what was without a doubt the single best moment of the match with a millimetre perfect penalty box tackle on Raheem Sterling to slide under him, clear the ball and deny an almost certain goal-scoring opportunity late on.
Sterling crashed to the floor, not for the first time this week, but referee Mr. Gillett saw nothing wrong with the challenge. Rightly so. It was magnificent. Very much Bobby More on Jairzinho all over.
Prior to this Ethan had been untouchable. It was the cherry on the cake of a performance that reminded us all just how much we had missed him.
Pontus may be out until after Christmas but Ethan’s return to form and fitness was about as well timed as his tackling.
2nd – Ben Mee
Already we’re in trouble. Second place could have been any of the next four or those that missed out.
However, for me Ben was once more at the heart of the stand out moments.
We all agree that the entire team put in a shift and a half. Yet when you look back at those game changing incidents, Ben comes to the fore.
There were a couple of one-on-ones where he broke up the play at times another defender may have ploughed through his opponent or simply seen him go clear to bear down on goal.
If Ethan had been up there with Bobby Moore, one moment from Ben put us right back in mind of the time Tony Craig single-handedly held off five Oldham attackers at Griffin Park.
It’s not just his positional play or his tackling but also his playing the ball out of defence.
In finding a Jensen or a Janelt to take play down the other end. A calmness of passing rather than industrial strength hoofing, regardless of the calibre of opposition.
Another top, top performance from a man currently taking the title of ‘Mr Consistent’ from Christian Norgaard.
3rd – David Raya
He was on fire against Brighton and the flames are still burning strong.
Arrizabalaga may have grabbed the headlines but it was this keeper who made sure the Bees took the point our performance warranted.
He just had an air of confidence and solidity around him that money can’t buy. That training can’t teach.
A low save down to his right in the first half set the ball rolling but it was the final half hour, as Chelsea flickered in to life, where he really proved his worth.
Block after block. Parry after parry. Low save after low save. All the threat was coming from tight balls played low into the box but he was there to smother them all.
If the fans were on the edge of their seats, he had all the calm of someone chilling in a hammock.
The only moment of note, his dribbling the ball out of the box and around one of the Chelsea players – I forget who, such was the almost pant soiling moment of panic this produced. Do we not remember Newcastle?
Yet, equally, his pulling off the moment of brilliance gave an even bigger gee up to a home support already on fire. Perhaps once is enough, though!
4th – Vitaly Janelt
How hard did he work?
To be fair, you could say the same about all three of the midfield but Vitaly seemed to be the one on the ball every time I looked up.
The one at the centre of everything. Threading the ball forward with aplomb. Closing down the play when Chelsea had the ball. Creating opportunity when he pushed forward into the final third.
His passing really was a thing of beauty. Whilst there wasn’t to be an assist in the ‘traditional’ sense of the phrase, he was at the heart of everything.
He summed up Brentford’s team spirit. Brentford’s fighting spirit. Brentford’s refusal to stop running. The standing ovation when he was finally subbed off, indicative of the shift worked.
5th – Mads Roerslev
It really is a case of car keys in the bowl at this stage.
Frankly, any one of the team deserves the final spot. I was close to Rico and to Mathias yet thinking back about the game on the walk home, it was the memory of Mads that shone.
Second half especially as his defensive mettle was tested to the fore.
Again, the tackling was exquisite. The control on the ball quite delicious as rings were run around the visitors. Mads choosing to play it out rather than hump it high up the field. Choosing to turn defence into attack with more of those runs up the wing so favoured by our coaching staff.
His ball on to Bryan’s head for the aforementioned opportunity worthy of more than it received.
It can’t be easy losing a talent such as Aaron Hickey but Mads made it look calm as you like. Thomas Frank spared a sleepless night wondering how we’d cope.
Brentford Player Ratings – Top 5 Players Overall (after Matchweek 11)
All of which means that once again we have a change at the top. Ben Mee and Ivan Toney have traded pole position all season and now Ben is back at the summit.
David Raya’s hunting down of the leading duo over recent games continues. Rico Henry and Aaron Hickey are joined by Vitaly Janelt in a three-way tie for fourth.
1st – Ben Mee (25 points)
2nd – Ivan Toney (23 points)
3rd – David Raya (19 points)
T4th – Rico Henry, Aaron Hickey, Vitaly Janelt (11 points)
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2022-23 Brentford Player Ratings – Matchweek 11 by Nick Bruzon
