Gerrard’s career came to an end after an awful performance by Villa at Craven Cottage. A new era has begun; Villa Park is the setting, and Brentford is the opposition. There’s is plans for a new North Stand, a new badge, and now a new manager. It’s time for a new Aston Villa!

I spoke to @LuisAdrianoUK to find out more about Brentford’s start to the season.

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Thomas Frank has reportedly quickly shut down the reports linking him to the Villa job stating his desire to stay loyal to Brentford. How special has the relationship between Frank and Brentford been?

Since the moment crowds have been allowed back post-lockdowns, it’s a bond like nothing I seen before. TF connects by ensuring the players show appreciation to the fans after matches whatever the result has been. If we win at home Freed From Desire gets played and players & fans celebrate together.  

Brentford have kept clean sheets in three of their four last matches. How important has the defence been this season?

It’s been decent. Clean sheets against the likes of Man Utd & Chelsea show how organised they can be. Top top keeper in Raya, Ben Mee has been an astute free transfer signing and looked very assured. Not the fastest player clearly so needs to continue reading the game well to remain as effective. Ethan Pinnock is now fit again and can be a colossus after coming back a game to early at Newcastle. It’s a travesty how the consistently excellent Rico Henry hasn’t even made one of Gareth Southgate’s England squads. 

Ivan Toney is often highlighted as Brentford’s best player and arguably rightly so. Has there been any other players that have impressed this season that maybe don’t get as much credit?

Rico gets credit from most quarters other than Southgate but special mention this season to midfielder Mathias Jensen. Even his biggest critics, and there have been many, are now seeing how sublime some of his passing is. We’re without fellow Dane Christian Norgaard who we thought we would miss but Jensen, along with others such as Vitaly Janet and in the last couple of games Frank Onyeka, are showing we’re maybe not as dependent on Norgaard as many of us feared.

Finally what’s your score prediction? 

We need to be careful of the bounce from Gerrard going but I’d like to think we will have too much and will come away with a win. I think we will concede, probably to Ollie Watkins, but will grab 2 or 3 ourselves. Toney is busting to show Southgate he’s worth actual minutes in an England shirt so will be looking to score again. I’ll go with Villa 1 Bees 3 which will probably help you guys out.

@LuisAdrianoUK

OPPOSITION FOCUS | THOMAS FRANK

Villa has been big fans of Brentford in recent years, frequently turning to them in the transfer market. From Hogan to Konsa to Dean Smith, now Thomas Frank is on the bookies’ list of possible Villa managers. Although we’re unlikely to see Frank in claret and blue, I’m going to look at the job he’s done so far.

Many outside fans were quick to write off Brentford again, despite their positive start to Premier League life. Having said this, Frank’s team has continued to prove the critics wrong, with them currently sitting in tenth. A lot of that is down to Frank’s consistent style that the players and fans buy into.

Last season, Frank saw a change in formation from a 3-5-2 into a 4-3-3. Although many were sceptical, the move turned out to be a stroke of genius from the Danish managers. The partnership that Mbuemo, Toney and Wissa have developed is up there with the best in the league. Let’s have a look at how the team plays.

The best place to start is at the back of the pitch with the goalkeeper. Raya is, in my opinion, one of the most underrated goalkeepers in the league. Not only is he a top class shot stopper, he’s saved 45% of the shots he’s faced, he’s also an integral part of Brentford’s build up play. 

In front of Raya, Brentford’s defence was improved drastically with two improvements in the market. The former Burnley captain, Ben Mee, has bought some much needed leadership within the team and has impressed. 

Add to the mix a pacy young Aaron Hickey and you have a solid defence. Brentford rely on their fullbacks, Hickey and Henry in their attacking play. They are tasked with getting the ball high up the pitch in a quick slick fashion.

So how do Brentford attack? Well that’s quite simple. Get up the pitch … quickly. The midfield and defence link up quickly to counter against high pressing teams. The clinical nature of the before mentioned front three means that Brentford don’t miss out on many chances and also don’t make too many errors in their own half.

It is clear that Frank knows his team’s strengths and weaknesses in terms of his style of play. By playing to those strengths and weaknesses, Frank has seen his team comfortably go against the English giants and even embarrass some.

MY PREDICTION

The sacking of Steven Gerrard makes this one a particularly difficult match to predict with Aaron Danks in charge. However, Villa have historically struggled against Brentford, which means they won’t be a pushover. I’m hoping that the Villa crowd can get behind the players once more and push Villa on for the win. I don’t think we’ll get a win, but I’m confident we can pick up a point courtesy of Archer in a 1-1 draw.

AUTHOR | ELLIS BURNETT

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Author’s UTV PODCAST archive ellisburnett – UTV Podcast | An Aston Villa Blog

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An insight into 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗢𝗣𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 as @ellisavfc05 chats to Leeds United fan @Jake___2003

And under the 𝗢𝗣𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗙𝗢𝗖𝗨𝗦 spotlight this week is Jesse Marsch.

AVFC #LUFC #LEEAVL

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