Brentford lost 1-0 at Walsall yesterday in a performance well below the
expectations of supporters who'd followed our pre-season form.
Uwe Rosler - hampered by his failure to bring in a left back and denied
the services of the injured Farid El Alagui and Richard Lee - selected
an unbalanced starting XI who conceded the decisive goal within eight
minutes.
Shaleum Logan started at left back whilst a midfield diamond of
Saunders, Douglas, Reeves and Forrester (in which JD appeared to be
playing on the left) put in a fairly insipid shift. Reeves, for his
part, was sent off after 25 minutes for a lunge with studs showing after
Douglas had lost possession.
Centre backs Craig and Dean were pulled out of position for the goal and
despite a valiant saving block by right back O'Connor (who had a decent
game throughout) the ball was soon fired into Moore's net.
Moore made some decent saves throughout the first half and Brentford
emerged after the break with a three man defence - with Kev at the
centre - whilst Logan and Weston were shifted to wing-back. Logan looked
more comfortable on the right.
Substitutes Diagouraga and Forshaw - on for Saunders and Forrester -
made a real impact on the game and it no longer looked like we were
playing with ten men. Our best chance fell to Dave but he struggled to
find the necessary finish whilst Clayton Donaldson - who showed touches
of class as ever - failed to capitalise on an opening he created late in
the game.
Spurs loanee Fredericks made a late appearance for a cameo debut to
forget - his game punctuated by missed tackles and shanked passing.
Let's hope there is better to come.
Uwe confirmed after the game that Farid should be fit for next
Saturday's game at Bury and that he hoped to have a left back in this
week. He's also spoken of a box to box midfielder so there might be one
of those coming too although Forshaw deserves a start next weekend.
All in all it's a disappointing defeat in a cup we've regularly
underperformed in. The league is most people's priority but let's not
forget the benefits to a club from great cup nights like the win over
Everton two years ago - galvanizing the support during a period of mixed
league form.
Beesotted is still shocked that we've gone into the season without an
experienced left back whilst the lack of forwards at the club showed
yesterday due to El Alagui's injury. Let' hope we can bring in Paul
Hayes sooner rather than later.
Bees - Moore, Logan (Fredericks), Kev, Dean, Craig, Saunders (Dave),
Forrester (Forshaw), Douglas, Reeves (sent off), Donaldson, Weston
Unused Subs - Gounet, Dallas, Legge, Redwood
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