Frank calls for Bees to cut out ‘strange goals’
Thomas Frank said Brentford must stop conceding “strange goals” after a defensive mix-up saw them fall behind in the 1-1 draw at Huddersfield.
Mads Bech Sorensen equalised early in the second half after Lewis O’Brien had given Huddersfield the lead, following a mix-up involving Mads Roerslev and keeper David Raya.
“The big thing we need to try to do better this season is to stop conceding these goals,” the Bees boss said.
“The strange thing this season is I think we may have defended better as a team. If you look at our goals against, if you look at touches in our box, if you look at shots, we are in the top two.
“But for whatever reason we have conceded a lot of strange goals and I think it was one of those today.
“I wouldn’t blame either of them, but it looks like the communication could have been earlier or quicker or better between the two of them.
“But even after Mads decided to stop the ball and play it forward, there was no danger.
“Then he decides to play Christian (Norgaard) which I understand he did in that situation as the Huddersfield player was maybe two or three yards behind him so it should be a safe bounce pass.
“But he saw it early and pressed forward good and O’Brien got the ball, although he was not aiming to put his shot the other side, I am 100% sure he didn’t do that.”
When asked what sparked the Bees’ bright performance straight after the break, Frank said: “We all knew we could do even more in the second half so we adjusted a few things, did a little bit more rotation centrally and had the winger closer to Ivan (Toney).
“We knew that we had a tempo that they could not cope with. But we still lacked the quality and coolness to bang them in the final third. I think we have that, but we didn’t do that enough in the second half.
“We played a decent game, not a top performance, but one of those that in many games is enough to get three points.”
Looking at the Bees’ automatic promotion prospects, Frank said: “If you look at the last three games, I think we performed to get nine points, if you look objectively on the chances and the situations and the way the games went, but we only have three.
“We need to look at our performances and the things we have done well, adjust the things we didn’t do so well and keep the noise away from our heads. This is the Championship, bigger things have happened.”
Right-back Henrik Dalsgaard missed the game with a knee problem and is expected to remain sidelined for Tuesday’s match against Birmingham.
Frank said: “He has got a minor knee injury, which will most likely keep him out for the Tuesday game with Birmingham and then we will see what happens going forward.”
04/04/2021 @ 11:36 pm
The reason Brentford have been conceding these strange goals recently is because teams are learning to press Brentford really hard when they play out from the back.
The other area of concern which has been identified is when opposing teams launch ariel balls into the Brentford penalty area between the penalty area and 6yrd box. The goal keeper whilst an excellent conventional goalkeeper is succeptible to crosses in this area and has a tendency to punch rather than clean catch.
The other concern is whether Brentford would be able to compete and secure the threshold 38 points to ensure Premier League survival consistently.
That implies strengthening in key defensive positions is imperative and the board of directors must prepare a detailed financial impact assessment of the investment required compared to the financial rewards of sustainable Premier League football.
Which clubs wage structure model would Brentford follow Leeds, Aston Villa or Wolves 3 clubs who have come up from the Championship however what funds have been made available for players and what is their revenue statement.
Everyone agrees the Premier League is an expensive league to survive in so for the Board is Premier League just a taster or sustainable and balanced for years to come.