Brentford vs Arsenal

[Mr Soul '68]

Great performance, but that lap of honour at the end was cringy.

Not in the least. That lap of honour was well deserved. I'm sure if it had been our first home premiership game after lockdown, against Arsenal, and we had beaten them 2-0, then Mick and the boys would have done exactly the same

[AfricanBluebird]

Brentford have a clever model that works for them.

Scrapped the academy because the bigger clubs were nabbing their players for nothing.

They would do the hard work in finding and training youngsters. Then the bigger clubs in London would pick off the best players.

The flipped it around.

Instead they invested in their B team - and now pick up players from all of the bigger clubs reserves and U18's and U23's to play in their B team. The B team doesn't play in a reserve league. But they do have a large pool of players (from ages 17 to 21 years old) and play a series of friendlies. From good non-league teams to Rangers and Celtic or U23 league teams.

The B team and first team play exactly the same style. So the migration from B teams to the first team is seamless. The youngsters see a clear path to the first team.

I am not sure if that would work in Cardiff but it works for Brentford very well.

[NYCBlue]

I just hope our board was paying attention. Because that's how you do it.

[Seabird]

Not a hope.

[Citizen's Nephew]

Mind you, I have some sympathy with any Arsenal player to an extent because it must be so hard playing in front of that bunch of supporters. Pre Wenger, the good Arsenal sides I saw were built on solid defence first and foremost, hence the old ~"1-0 to the Arsenal" song, but that all changed under the Frenchman and their fans now want Wenger type football, but also demand that it not be accompanied by the sort of results that typified his last few seasons in charge.

The old Highbury Gooners were much more football savvy. When they moved to the new stadium there were a lot of armchair supporters on the waiting list for season tickets and a completely different crowd started going. This coincided with social media 'influencers' and 'super-supporters' plus that *bleep* Piers Morgan stirring the pot. Hence the Wenger Out brigade. Wenger, in my view, was/is one of the greatest managers and should never have been hounded out of the club. It was awful the way Gooners instigated his forced resignation.

I remember reading some figures about the demographic of old Highbury season ticket holders (like a mate of mine) and it was something astounding like 70% lived within a five-mile radius of the ground. That always impressed me for a London club and that was still in the early 2000s. It's not like that anymore.

[NYCBlue]

The old Highbury Gooners were much more football savvy. When they moved to the new stadium there were a lot of armchair supporters on the waiting list for season tickets and a completely different crowd started going. This coincided with social media 'influencers' and 'super-supporters' plus that *bleep* Piers Morgan stirring the pot. Hence the Wenger Out brigade. Wenger, in my view, was/is one of the greatest managers and should never have been hounded out of the club. It was awful the way Gooners instigated his forced resignation.

I remember reading some figures about the demographic of old Highbury season ticket holders (like a mate of mine) and it was something astounding like 70% lived within a five-mile radius of the ground. That always impressed me for a London club and that was still in the early 2000s. It's not like that anymore.

This. He changed football. He changed footballers.