BRILLIANT BEES OFF TO A FLYER!
Brentford humble Gunners on PL debut
IT wasn’t even a shock. Not really. That a club playing its first game in England’s top division in 74 years should beat one with pretensions to form a Super League with Real Madrid? It merely shows how far Brentford have come, and how far Arsenal have fallen.
Brentford deserved it, too, no doubt of that. Arsenal only came into the game at the start of the second half and any momentum they built ended when Brentford scored their second goal on 73 minutes. It was a very Brentford goal to score, forged at a training ground beneath Heathrow’s flight path, and a terribly Arsenal goal to concede, a comedy of soft, defensive errors from players who should have learnt by now.
Forget corners, Arsenal can’t even defend throw-ins. How long have we been saying that now? Since long before the end of Arsene Wenger’s time. Since the days of Tony Pulis at Stoke. And what was true then is true now. Brentford substitute Mads Bech Sorensen launched one in, Ivan Toney rose with Calum Chambers and Pablo Mari, neither of whom showed the necessary conviction, and the ball bounced — actually bounced, like in a kids’ game — in the six-yard box. Ben White failed to deal with it and Christian Norgaard arrived with more intent than Arsenal’s defence combined to power it past Bernd Leno, who seemed as bemused by events as anybody.
And that was Arsenal done. Brentford, it must be said, were magnificent. Better in the firsthalf and resilient under pressure in the second when Arsenal tried to mount a revival. It will be claimed Mikel Arteta was without some of his best players, but two strikers stricken with sudden illness before the opening game of the season raises more questions about exactly what is going on at this club.
There’s the difference. We know what is going on at Brentford. The strategy, the planning, the vision. It’s taken a while to get here but they arrive with confidence many of their rivals will not possess. This should have been one of the shocks of this season, on day one. Yet little here truly surprised. It’s been coming — for both of these clubs.
This is Brentford on the ascendancy. Brentford with a philosophy and a self-belief that Arsenal simply do not possess these days.
What are Arsenal under Arteta? A team in transition? What, again. Arsenal appear to have been transitioning for a decade or more now. They are rebuilding a squad but that involves moving on many of the current personnel. And who wants players who failed to get Arsenal into Europe last season?
There was a world of difference in Premier League experience between these teams, but that did not show. If anything, one could have been forgiven for thinking the XI in red and white stripes knew more about the course and distance.
There was 19 minutes of Premier League football in these Brentford players before kick-off; nine of the starters were making their debut in this division.
Toney played five minutes of football, twice, as a substitute for Newcastle in the 2015-16 season; in the same campaign Sergi Canos got on for nine minutes for Liverpool at West Brom, on the final day of the season.
And yet, after 10 minutes of acclimatisation, it was Brentford who looked more comfortable with their surroundings, Brentford who were braver and bolder.
Arsenal were a makeshift team without Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang upfront, but that is no excuse. Kieran Tierney aside, in the firsthalf, there wasn’t an Arsenal player who went at the game like Brentford’s newbies.
The Scot had a speculative shot from range that counted as Arsenal’s only real attempt at goal, some bobbling loose balls in the box apart, and it was easily mopped up by David Raya in Brentford’s goal.
From there, Brentford’s energy and enthusiasm took over. Backed by home support high on both the occasion, the history and football’s return in front of those who love it most, they were superb. Everything one would hope from a newly promoted team.
This was the least experienced Premier League team since Reading’s arrival in 2006. Reading, you may remember, not only stayed up that season but finished in the top half of the table.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Brentford were always going to be bouncing off the walls for this, their opening game as the 50th team to taste Premier League football, but they were better than just lively. If anything their enthusiasm got the better of them at times, with players so keen to get at Arsenal’s stuttering defence they sometimes forgot to carry the ball with them.
In the 11th minute, a looping header from Frank Onyeka brought Leno into the game. A minute later, Toney sent Bryan Mbeumo away and his shot hit the outside of the near post. But pressure was building and, after 22 minutes, Arsenal cracked.
Chambers’ clearance from deep was poor and cut out by Ethan Pinnock, he then charged out to meet Canos, who easily cut inside and struck a low shot.
Should it have defeated Leno so soundly at the near post? Probably not. But Arteta’s side is full of players who wouldn’t make the grade at any other club with fantasies of playing in a Super League. To think, if the elite had got their way, this opening game could have been against the likes of Bayern Munich, with far better run English clubs looking on from outside.
Tails up, Brentford went for it again. Mbeumo sped forward, left the ball behind such was his enthusiasm, somehow regained it thanks to the clumsy defending of Mari, and then left suddenly one on one with Leno, snatched at his shot and screwed it wide.
Half-time was needed and Arsenal came out with greater impetus. Emile Smith Rowe was a handful and in the 51st minute a fabulous turn and direct run ended with a shot that forced the first save, proper, from Raya.
Brentford will come to expect storms like this in the Premier League — but, on this evidence, will be able to deal with them. BRENTFORD (3-5-2): Raya 6.5; Ajer 7 (Sorensen 71min, 6), Jansson 7, Pinnock 7; Canos 7.5, Onyeka 7 (Bidstrup 80), Norgaard 7.5, Janelt 6.5, Henry 7; MBUEMO 8 (Forss 86), Toney 7.5. Scorers: Canos 22, Norgaard 73. Manager: Thomas Frank 7. ARSENAL (4-2-3-1): Leno 5; Chambers 5 (Tavares 81), White 5, Mari 5, Tierney 6.5; Xhaka 5.5, Sambi Lokonga 6; Pepe 6, Smith Rowe 5.5, Martinelli 5.5 (Nelson 71, 6); Balogun 5.5 (Saka 59, 6). Manager: Mikel Arteta 5. Referee: Michael Oliver 6. Attendance: 16,479.