I like to think of Brentford as the dark version of Brighton. Plenty of ink has already been spilled about the similarities of the two clubs: the gambling owners, the extremely impressive recruitment, and so on. The degree to which the clubs' trajectories have tracked each other is truly remarkable. But it makes for such a nice story because of the differences between the two clubs. Brentford fishes in the North Sea for its haul, while Brighton prefers to import from South America. When Brentford has a throw-in, they'll push all of their 6-foot monsters into the box for a choreographed scrum. When Brighton has a throw-in, they seem more eager to send it back to their own goalkeeper.
Anyway, it seems fitting that in this bizarro-world Premier League showcase friendly in the third gaudiest stadium in the United States, Brentford fans would have to watch their team waste chance after chance in a 2-0 loss. Yoane Wissa made a face late in the match that should be hauntingly familiar to Brighton supporters, the face you make when you've missed your fifth high-quality chance and realize it's likely your last.
Neal Maupay, anyone?
I don't mean to suggest that Brentford dominated this match. They got the better of the first half, I'd say, but not by much. Brighton owned the second half until Evan Ferguson subbed on and looked like an 18-year old for the first time in a while. The match was not as entertaining or smooth as the first friendly, and I have a few ideas about why that might have been. I'm going to leave that for a more in-depth post sometime later, so for now I will just share some bullets for most of the 21 players we saw on Wednesday.
Good
Adingra - Played fast and threatening and had 2 great finishes; he is going to play this year for sure, and looked like he could take advantage of space and attack defenders. Though I'm still not sold on his maturity for the big time, he made the correct decision just about every time he was on the ball. Very promising.
Joao Pedro - If Joao Pedro can turn in space against center backs with as much ease as he showed on Wednesday, teams just won't be able to press Brighton. A terrific follow up performance from a strong first showing. I already believe. Also he played out wide for a minute, but I really think he will do us more good in the center.
Dahoud - Tidier this time, though maybe a bit slow still. He looks like he can pick an incisive forward pass. I still need to see a bit more but I liked that a lot better than against Chelsea.
Caicedo - Still Caicedo. The ceiling for this team is very high if we keep hold of Moises.
Steele - Many saves, none too special but you can't ask for more. Beautiful long pass covers for some early mistakes that maybe weren't really on him.
Gilmour - Always wants the ball, rarely gives it away, seems to have figured out his role in the CM, defended alright too. He looked the most composed of the back seven in the first half.
Fine
Enciso - Better than Chelsea game, active looking for ball but didn't keep it that well.
Veltman - A few misplaced passes and general discomfort as the CB, I prefer him on the outside.
Webster - Not great at the intricate passing, but defended quite well for the most part.
Hinshelwood - Looks like he could be a tidy center midfielder, but defensively probably not up for it at this level yet, at least at outside back.
Pervis - The whole team looked more comfortable with him at left back.
Mitoma - Better than Chelsea game, looked a bit rusty still.
Turns/Weir/Samuels/Peupion - Didn't notice anything astounding, which is likely what's required to seriously compete with the first team for any of these guys
Not Great
Alzate - Took a very passive role in the build up, looks like he wants to be further forward, but contributed less than Gilmour did in the attack. Wondering about his chances in a packed midfield.
Gross - Uncharacteristically many misplaced passes, looks vulnerable out wide defensively.
Buonanotte - Wasteful with the ball, not nearly as involved as Adingra, still looks a bit under-athletic.
Ferguson - Looked rusty, lost the ball constantly, chemistry not there yet with his attacking partners.
Undav - Also a lack of chemistry with other attackers, looks slow, missed some opportunities.
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