Brentford fielded 10 different players against Dagenham from the team who drew against Port Vale at the weekend but BillytheBee feels this is all part of Uwe’s ‘work in progress’ as he puts the final pieces of his championship jigsaw puzzle together
Brentford came away with a 3-2 victory against Dagenham and Redbridge in the Capital One (League) Cup after an 94th minute (not again) winner from Farid Al Alagui.
This was always going to be an interesting test. Uwe Rosler said at the recent fans forum that he was going to play around with the team for the first two matches and then play his strongest team against Sheffield Utd.
And so he did changing 10 men from the team that drew with Port Vale with Kev O’Connor feeling like it was Custer’s last stand – being the lone player left in the side from the weekend’s events.
Dagenham has never ever won a league cup match and Brentford hasn’t won a competitive game in open play since Portsmouth so something was going to have to give tonight.
In came Nugent in central defence to partner Kev. The Cardiff loanee was brought in as cover for Harlee Dean and Tony Craig to be fair and this was to be his first big test.
The Bees got the better of the early exchanges with Oleyeke taking command in the centre of midfield and showing enthusiasm and energy a plenty. Reeves and Fillo had good chances to put the Bees ahead.
In midfield, Reeves, Oleyeke and Dallas were all looking lively and fighting for every ball. Saunders playing in a more attacking role was like the elder statesman amongst the young apprentices. Bees were in control but it was looking a trifle disjointed.
Then out of the blue, Dagenham got a break. Scott’s shot is blocked. The follow up into the area, Nugent and Bonham obviously failed to communicate – Bonham was expecting to collect the ball – and Nugent puts the ball into the back of his own net. The linesman flags for offside but the referee Pat Miller overruled him and gave the goal – much to the disappointment of the Bees faithful.
Brentford 1 Dagenham 0
From that moment on, Dagenham had their tails up and took their direct game right to Brentford. Nugent almost got caught out once again as he was wrong-sided by the attacker who failed to deliver. He was looking extremely nervy at this stage and Dagenham were doing their best to put him under pressure to every opportunity.
Hayes was doing a sterling job of covering at the back whenever he got the chance – clearing a number of attacks and crosses into the box. Meanwhile Oleyeke was showing he had some fight, losing the ball, fighting back, winning the ball back then taking on two players and beating them before his final pass let him down.
Fillo was putting in a good shift and got more and more into the game – creating a number of really good opportunities for The Bees. Dagenham’s main game plan was to scythe him down at any possible opportunity.
The Bees never really had full control this first half. The midfield was industrious but there was nobody taking the ball, holding it and passing it off. We were losing the ball a lot to the opposition. We were also crossing into the box but the Dagenham central defenders were dealing with the attacks easily clearing them back upfield.
More chances for Oleyeke, Saunders, Dallas and Hayes with Barron acrobatically heading the ball over his own bar after more reticence from Bonham to show his authority in the box and Brentford went into half time one goal down.
HT Brentford 0 Dagenham 1
Uwe made a half-time substitution bringing on Tony Craig for Kev O’Connor. He needed to give Craig some precious competitive match time. He also possibly needed to get Craig in beside Nugent, despite them both having two left feet, to mentor him and guide him through the 2nd half so that his confidence wasn’t too shot to bits.
The Bees looked more lively this half and, despite Dagenham hitting the crossbar after Bonham missed collecting a cross, were looking like they could nab an equaliser at any minute.
Uwe flipped the script bringing on Farid El Alagui for his first competitive match of the season and his first game on Griffin Park soil since his injury 10 months ago. The industrious Olyeke came off with Hayes moving deeper in midfield to give a bit of missing solidity in that area – this worked very well.
Farid immediately gets lively getting in the places where he will be a pain in the arse. He’s like a 16 year old kid playing carefree in the local park. He’s everywhere.
He gets shoved over in the area. Penalty? No free kick to Dagenham. He falls under pressure from the defender on the edge of the area after a great bit of trickery from Fillo. Free kick? No he gets booked for diving.
The referee doesn’t know what he’s doing.
Dallas does good work down the wing on and his cross is headed out for a corner. From the resultant dead ball, the ball is played into the area and after Dagenham failed to clear it, Farid picks up on the loose ball and fires home the equaliser on 62 minutes.
Brentford 1 Dagenham 1
Minutes later, Brentford are on a quick break. Ball crossed in by Dallas to an unmarked Fillo who runs in and beats the oncoming keeper.
Brentford 2 Dagenham 1
Barron was given a Ju Jitsu kick and had to receive treatment – cries of “off” from the crowd were ignored by the ref as he felt a yellow was punishment enough.
Fillo goes off for treatment and returns with a Terry Butcher style bandage on his head.
Then on 81 minutes, Dagenham score on the break against the run of play. The ball is played across the area, Bonham hesitates in going for it, Scott takes advantage and bangs the ball into the back of the net.
Brentford 2 Dagenham 2
Bees start piling the pressure on now with and have a tremendous opportunity to win the game when a Saunders’ free kick is acrobatically palmed by the keeper over the crossbar after Fillo was brought down just outside the area.
Four minutes of extra time added on and just as we were contemplating having to sit through 30 minutes of extra time, up pops Farid to put his head onto a Barron free kick and win the game for the Bees with practically the final kick of the match.
FT Brentford 3 Dagenham 2
This match was an interesting work-out for the Bees. Many fans we spoke to after the match were disappointed that Uwe changed the team around so much from the Port Vale side.
The reality of the situation is we had a rare opportunity to give a number of players a full run-out under intense competitive conditions. Personally I would much rather Nugent get a run-out now against Dagenham than be thrown in at the deep end against Wolves in a couple of months time. It also gave Farid invaluable confidence prior to his probable inclusion on the bench against Sheffield Utd.
We have to look at the positives from this match. Uwe now knows who he will stick in the first squad out of today’s performances and who needs more work on the training pitch and in the development team.
The stand out players were Fillo and Farid with Kev looking solid in the half that he played and Saunders looking extremely lively too. These four are definitely in with a shout of the first team with Farid possibly moving ahead of a very fit, lean and lively Hayes in the striker position.
Craig came back from injury. His name is etched on that centre back position and should start on Saturday.
Dallas showed some extremely good flashes of attacking brilliance. Reeves was solid. Oleyeke showed that he is one for the future but the ball retention and passing in the middle of the park could have been better at times. Both Dallas and Reeves are first team fringe players and further stamped their marks on that position today. Dallas in particular is very much pushing first team action.
Venta came into the game more after a rusty start. His distribution is excellent. He will push Logan for a place. Barron put in a good shift. Not 100% match fit but good Bidwell stand in. Hayes showed his versatility today and could prove a useful squad player.
Nugent and Bonham both looked nervous and seem prone to simple mistakes at the moment. More time is needed for these guys to gel into the side.
All in all, Brentford achieved what they wanted at the end of the day. We’re in the hat. And we had a good look at the remainder of our squad under tough conditions.
Hopefully, the final pieces of the jigsaw have been put together just in time for the visit of Sheffield United on Saturday – the big one.
BillytheBee
@billythebee99
Brentford: Bonham; Javi Venta, O’Connor (sub Craig h/t), Nugent, Barron, Dallas, Reeves, Oyeleke (sub El Alagui 54 mins), Fillo, Hayes, Saunders
Subs (not used): Button, Pierre, Adams, Norris, Clarke
Bookings: El Alagui (58 mins)
Dagenham and Redbridge: Lewington; Hoyte, Doe, Saah, Ilesanmi; Scott, Ogogo, Elito (sub Woodall 72 mins), Howell, Reed (sub Obafemi 68 mins), Murphy
Subs (not used): Seabright, Connors, Bingham, Dennis, Shields
Bookings: Ogogo (67 mins), Doe (88 mins)
Attendance: 3,586 (188 away fans)