A Fierce Strike Duo, Wing-Backs with Three Lungs, and Two Long-Throw Centre Backs. How Brentford Blew Arsenal Away on Their First Day at School.
There’s so often just a certain something about a newly promoted team. The new kids on the block with success in their sails and a youthful, fearless spring in their step. In the hands of Thomas Frank, a man with 18 modest years as a youth coach in Denmark, Brentford personify this entity beautifully. And, whilst the nostalgia chaser in all of us might softly and slightly shamefully long for the imposing and impressive Arsenal of old, this opening day surprise was a cheerful thrill to say the least. Smile-fuel on opening night.
Of the countless eyes following the long-awaited return of Premier League football, many were eagerly fixated on the prospect of Championship Golden Boot winner Ivan Toney. The 25 year-old is fresh off the back of a record-breaking 31-goal season in Brentford’s promotion campaign of 2020/21. He and 22 year-old Frenchman Bryan Mbuemo would form a dynamic, threatening front two in the Bees’s 3–5–2 setup.
In the early stages, it seemed that if one thing was guaranteed to come from this game it was a goal for Bryan Mbeumo. A left-footed right-winger deployed as the pacey, technical half of Brentford’s strike partnership found himself in behind the Arsenal back four after a simple move that would be repeated to knock on the Gunners’ door for the rest of the first half.
The imposing figure of Ivan Toney dropped in between Arsenal’s defensive and midfield line to fetch a loose ball, and dispatch it in front of the on-running Frenchman, who thundered against the post.
This exciting combination of Brentford’s front men featured promisingly throughout the first half, and promises to entertain the growing group of Brentford admirers in the weeks and months to come.
It’s become a somewhat self-destructive trait of post-Wenger Arsenal to try and play out from the back in a controlled and commanding way, regardless of any evidence that suggests it is a method beyond their reach. Brentford made sure to press Arsenals back line at goal kicks and in any phase of play where the back line would be starting the attack deep inside their own half. The high-energy coverage of the front two in particular, along with a chorus of ‘ooo’s and whistles from behind the goal made for some familiar tense viewing as a wide-eyed Bernd Leno placed the ball for each restart. Toney and Mbeumo combined for 18 pressures in the attacking third, 8 of which directly led to a turnover in possession (FBref.com). A newly promoted team that gets right in the face of one of the big boys, what’s not to like.
Another name that has bounced around Twitter threads and rumour mills for what feels like an eternity is lightning fast 24 year-old Rico Henry, who makes up half of Brentford’s exciting, hard-working pair of wing backs. He and Sergi Canos, the man who accounted for 7 of the 19 minutes of Premier League experience held by the entire squad prior to the season opener, are a critical and impressive cog in the Bees’ machine.
After their initial front-line press, Brentford dropped into a deep, narrow, five-man back line to deal with the three-pronged attack of Pepe, Balogun, and Martinelli. Which, despite Arsenal’s xG of 1.5 (Brentford xG = 1.3), worked well enough to earn a Premier League clean sheet, a feat always worth celebrating.
This becomes impressive when you realise the work they also do in attack.
Rico Henry showed a fantastic burst of speed and clever attacking know-how in the 10th minute to create a half-chance for new boy Frank Onyeka.
As for Sergi Canos, his attacking output is best showcased, obviously, in his history making strike that gave Brentford the lead in the 22nd minute…
The Goals
For all of their youth and bravery and in-your-face-ness, both of Brentford’s goals came in the old-school form of long balls.
As the ball is played back to David Raya, Brentford stack the left side of the field in anticipation of a long-ball. The target man in this case, the well-advanced Ethan Pinnock, who won 100% of his aerial duels on the night, flicks a relatively uncontested header in behind for Mbeumo. Sergio Canos has made the effort to travel the entire width of the pitch from right wing-back to hug the left touchline as the ball is played:
When Mbeumo’s cross is half-cleared by Ben White, Pinnock is there again to head the ball towards the still unmarked Canos, who does the rest.
Brentford’s second was a source of joy for every single viewer that wasn’t an Arsenal fan.
In the way that a thick moustache or a wavy mullet is beautiful in its grease and dirtiness, a goal from a long-throw is truly a thing of beauty. The idea that in their first top-flight fixture since 1947, Brentford Football Club seemed to step out of their lower division time machine and launch a long-throw past Mikel Arteta, a student and colleague of football mastermind Pep Guardiola, is in equal parts glorious and hilarious. But it actually gets better.
In the first half, centre-back Ethan Pinnock summoned the towel of death, and dried off the ball before launching a rocket of a throw into Arsenal’s penalty area. Usually, that would have been enough to satisfy the masses, but in the 73rd minute, substitute Mads Bech Sorensen, another centre back, lined up for another Rory Delap special. He fired in the throw from the left sideline, and after a bouncing through a scrimmage at the near post, was headed home by a galloping Christian Norgaard.
If two long throw centre-backs isn’t the final magnet in Brentford’s jubilant opening performance that draws you toward them, you may be on your own.
One game down, and Thomas Frank’s men are, so far, exactly the vibrant burst of energy and excitement they were hoped to be. A twinkling star in a new season that has already lit up football faces that have waited a long 82 days of off-season. The Bees could not have dreamt up a better start. And the Premier League could not wish for a more exciting team to welcome into the 2021/22 season.
