FRANK’S DECISION PAYS BIG DIVIDENDS FOR BEES
I WAS at Griffin Park on Wednesday to watch Brentford terrorise Aston Villa.
Since Bees head coach Thomas Frank changed formation to a 3-4-2-1 a couple of months ago, they haven’t looked back and the players look to be enjoying themselves so much.
Keeper Dan Bentley was excellent with and without the ball, with his quick restarts setting the Bees on lightning counters and this set the tone with a terrific tempo that Villa couldn’t cope with.
With wing-backs Sergi Canos and Moses Odubajo offering pace and power added to central midfielders Romaine Sawyers and Kamohelo Mokotjo, who are both brilliant on the ball, Villa struggled to get any sort of foothold in the game.
Said Benrahma and Ollie Watkins operate in the inside half-spaces behind the prolific Neal Maupay and were hard to pick up with the Villa full- backs unable to go in and mark them as Brentford had the ability to hit their wingbacks wide.
It meant an uncomfortable 90 minutes for former Bees boss Dean Smith, though, ironically, they had the two best chances on the break but were unable to take them.
In the end, hitman Maupay proved the difference, finishing superbly to claim all three points late on.
Despite being just 5ft 7ins, he links the play ever so well and is a brilliant platform on which to play through. He was kicked from pillar to post, never lost his composure and in the end got the goal his hard work deserved.