Final Score Sunderland 3 - 2 (Wilson, Thiago) Brentford - EFL Cup R4 (56 Viewers)

[damsgard.szn]

And 3 EPL away defeats this calendar year, we are Brentford, what did you think was going to happen? We cruise to a top 4 spot without losing any games.

i thought we’d win more than 3 out of 18…?

 

[Hippobee]

What if we won tonight and lost to whoever in the next round, would they remember that?

No idea of the point you are trying to make. Of course not.

My post is about getting to a final. And we screwed up a very good chance to progress further tonight.

 

[Gee Bee]

Don’t think I need to.

You really should, they didn’t have an inexperienced starting 11, they also bring on Meunière who’s played 83 times for Belgium. Their risk was leaving a couple of big hitters out completely. Their squad is strong.

 

[mhead bee]

Well they should.

Although it doesn't have the reputation of 30+ years ago, it's our best chance of actually winning something.

I would happily exchange a few 8th to 17th place PL finishes for a cup win. Nobody will remember a home win against Forest in 5 years, but they'll never forget a cup win. Or even a cup final.

I don't really care if we never win a league cup game ever again, I am far more interested in beating Manu at OT, something that has eluded us so far and we have beaten much better teams than them away from home.

 

[Gee Bee]

‘the second we are less than perfect’ we have 3 wins in 18 ffs

Could spin that as a couple of losses in 18.

 

[cliffbee]

I thought we didn’t make a lot of changes?

So 8 changes isn't many?

 

[mhead bee]

i thought we’d win more than 3 out of 18…?

We drew away to Liverpool in one of those and stuffed Chelsea and spurs, don't get too big for your boots here, we don't spent 500m every summer like they do.

 

[damsgard.szn]

Could spin that as a couple of losses in 18.

good thing those draws got us europe tbf!

 

[RitchBee]

Our build up at times was ponderous and predictable look at Sunderland who just passed through us. Too much ball being passed back all the time

 

[aawharris]

good thing those draws got us europe tbf!

Teams win games they shouldnt.
Teams lose games they shouldnt.
Teams draw games they shouldnt.
Thats football, get used to it.

 

[cliffbee]

Not totally surprised by the result. Got to focus on Saturday now and get back to winning ways.

Good to see Thiago get on the scoresheet, hopefully that reignites him.

Sounds like we had the West Ham version of Diouf tonight, hope he doesn’t end up being what all the Hammers fans said he would be when we signed him.

Onwards and upwards

Some people get v excited about signing new players. I only get excited about signing players that I can see will improve us. As I believed we already had two better LBs in the building, I wasn't excited about signing Diouf. I hoped I'd be proved wrong. It's early days but so far he looks exactly what I expected.

 

[JCMcBee]

I don't really care if we never win a league cup game ever again, I am far more interested in beating Manu at OT, something that has eluded us so far and we have beaten much better teams than them away from home.

.... agree...the BFC supporters still in Sunderland tonight... or Newcastle...are totally deluded tw*ts who should be sectioned.

 

[Lionel Bart-At]

You really should, they didn’t have an inexperienced starting 11, they also bring on Meunière who’s played 83 times for Belgium. Their risk was leaving a couple of big hitters out completely. Their squad is strong.

Their squad is definitely strong. They invested heavily the previous summer, but most of their starters today have not featured significantly this season, hence their hunger to impress, as previously stated. This, added to the strict ethos and tactical blueprint that seems to pervade the whole club at Sunderland, meant that anything sub-optimal from us would not be sufficient.

 

[Lionel Bart-At]

So 8 changes isn't many?

See above

 

[cliffbee]

There’s a difference between wholesale changes and opportunities for youngsters such as Fredrick, Bentt etc and players who we expect to see coming on in alot of games.

Out of interest what’s your opinion about tonight’s performance, rather than slagging everyone off?

I'm not slagging everyone off. Only those who got the weakened team they wanted but then want to complain when it all goes wrong and start catastrophising.
I thought we started well but then were overcome by complacency and sloppiness. We should have played Ajer and KLP and if we had picked our best defenders and players who are used to playing together we wouldn't have given away stupid goals.
This isn't being smart after the event. I posted my pick for our defence beforehand: Kayode, Collins, Ajer, KLP.

 

[cliffbee]

See above

I've seen above.

 

[Jay Bee]

‘the second we are less than perfect’ we have 3 wins in 18 ffs

We've won two in the league (handsomely) and two in the cup this season. Do cup games only count when we lose??

 

[longtimeagobee]

Or even a cup final.

Oh , no! You’ve just reactivated my PTSD after Wigan at Wembley. I might never recover

 

[Balders Bee]

We currently have the best squad we’ve ever had, and yes we are badly underperforming. And we’ve had a relatively nice run of games from the start should have picked up more points.

Saturday is massive if a Forest side comes to the GTech on Saturday and beats us, the pressure on Keith is on.

Pressure on - from where exactly? Your expectation? Matthew Benham? The GPG think tank? The wider fan base?

So a top six position in the PL and a disappointing exit in the League Cup merits that does it & Saturday's game suddenly becomes Keith Andrews "Waterloo"...come on Lingfield you're surely better than that .

 

[JCMcBee]

Their squad is definitely strong. They invested heavily the previous summer, but most of their starters today have not featured significantly this season, hence their hunger to impress, as previously stated. This, added to the strict ethos and tactical blueprint that seems to pervade the whole club at Sunderland, meant that anything sub-optimal from us would not be sufficient.

....hunger.... it's much undervalued...and when I see players like Callum Wilson in our starting XI....I don't think of hunger.... regardless of his goal....he wasn't brought in to BFC for the EFL cup....he was brought in for the EPL and his experience in that competition....the very fact he started tonight tells me at least what BFC think of the EFL Cup.....they don't think anything of it.

 

[maddogging]

Some people get v excited about signing new players. I only get excited about signing players that I can see will improve us. As I believed we already had two better LBs in the building, I wasn't excited about signing Diouf. I hoped I'd be proved wrong. It's early days but so far he looks exactly what I expected.

One of those left backs can’t stay fit

 

[JANORAK]

....hunger.... it's much undervalued...and when I see players like Callum Wilson in our starting XI....I don't think of hunger.... regardless of his goal....he wasn't brought in to BFC for the EFL cup....he was brought in for the EPL and his experience in that competition....the very fact he started tonight tells me at least what BFC think of the EFL Cup.....they don't think anything of it.

Strange how we seem to do reasonably well in it then, if we don’t care about it at all….

 

[JCMcBee]

Strange how we seem to do reasonably well in it then, if we don’t care about it at all….

... define reasonably well.....the first couple of rounds we're involved in....ok fine... perhaps....keep us all happy bunnies and make a couple of quid...why not eh.... but do I think those at BFC don't want it interfering with our status in the EPL....yes I absolutely do....imo we're all being conned....and we're not the only club with this MO for the EFL Cup

 

[Les Beeavinu]

... define reasonably well.....the first couple of rounds we're involved in....ok fine... perhaps....keep us all happy bunnies and make a couple of quid...why not eh.... but do I think those at BFC don't want it interfering with our status in the EPL....yes I absolutely do....imo we're all being conned....and we're not the only club with this MO for the EFL Cup

We've reached the Semi finals (once) and Quarter finals 3 times in the last 7 years. Teams that have beaten us when we've got that far are Spurs (away), Chelsea (home], Newcastle (away) and Man City (away). Other teams that have beaten us in those seven years are Arsenal, Gillingham and Sunderland.

 

[JCMcBee]

We've reached the Semi finals (once) and Quarter finals 3 times in the last 7 years. Teams that have beaten us when we've got that far are Spurs (away), Chelsea (home], Newcastle (away) and Man City (away). Other teams that have beaten us in those seven years are Arsenal, Gillingham and Sunderland.

...think I was at all those games....let me check...hold on....yes I was... what's your point mate....a definition of reasonably well....well that's up for debate eh.

 

[JCMcBee]

...think I was at all those games....let me check...hold on....yes I was... what's your point mate....a definition of reasonably well....well that's up for debate eh.

....apart from Tottenham of course

 

[Oceanbee]

Would like to win a cup ... just for the day out at wembley and the trophy lifting bit really... but not angry just disappointed with that. The team KA put out really should have won it but those 3 goals were wtf defending. Really poor.

We had a great day out at Wembley on 29 May 2021, winning 2-0, including getting a very large Championship play-off cup, and lifting it on the pitch.

That may have to do us for a while!

 

[JCMcBee]

We had a great day out at Wembley on 29 May 2021, winning 2-0, including getting a very large Championship play-off cup, and lifting it on the pitch.

That may have to do us for a while!

.... that has absolutely nothing to do with what happened tonight.... but you actually might be right... I'll put 50 p on the championship trophy or the championship play off cup being the next thing we lift at Wembley.

 

[upnorthbee]

Having taken a breath now, on reflection it was a poor performance for large parts but this is the reality:

- 2-3 defensive cock ups from the defence/goal keeper gifts them 3 goals
- The formation probably wasn't quite right, but should still have been enough
- We had multiple opportunities, we missed a fair few
- Sunderland put 11 men behind the ball 2nd half, it's always difficult especially when you're 3-1 down to break that down
- Their 2nd 11 isn't a bad team, probably a decent Championship team but we still had no divine right to win
- Thiago will take more confidence from scoring that goal at the end, than if we'd won the game without him scoring (im certain of this), and that may count for more in our league campaign
- More minutes for Jensen and Collins returning from injury, Schuster looks the dogs bollox
- No new injuries from the game
- Vlad will be very, very dissapointed

It was a really disappointing evening but 3 points v Forest is far far more important and Keith will want a response after that. We have a good end to end in store for Saturday I reckon. We beat Forest, this game's forgotten.

Like what @mhead bee said, forget and move on.

 

[Beecareful]

Shame.

Onwards and upwards.

 

[grepo]

It’s nights like these I wish I was back on New Road next to old Frank shouting “ Cmon you Bees” on a wet night against Doncaster When we all had a low bar on expectations ….

I wish I was back at Donny at the open end in the snow in Jan enjoying a terrific nil all draw. The exciting highlight of the game was when Higgy almost scored. Those were the days. It’s all rather dull at the top of the best lge in the world, except when we lose and the GPG goes predictably bonkers.

 

[CattedownBee]

On reflection we had a shocking 15 mins with poor decisions from a couple of defenders and the keeper as well. Apart from that we were in control of the match and should have won comfortably

 

[stomalomalus]

Honestly...

We need to take a good long look at why we cannot play against teams who give us the ball and press with intensity. We just lose all impetus. And why we struggle to win fouls. I don't know how often someone was climbing all over IT yesterday and nothing. And yet the slightest non-touch and down they go. It's not a thing with one team. Every team does it against us. Every team.

So we need to smart up. Because this isn't working if we have aspirations of more than midtable.

 

[HMDBFC]

We were schooled last night. We should have been ahead but couldn't make the chances count then once behind, Sunderland were more than happy to let us have the ball. We are packed full of talented players but we seem to have lost our quick forward passing patterns of play. Side to side and backwards against effective pressing by a young side willing and able to run and run all night.
You can't afford to make the horrific defensive mistakes at anytime but to concede three in such a short period of time is inexcusable and left us far too much to do. I was disappointed by the lack of urgency in the second half, we didn't lay a glove on them until too late in the game. An early second goal following half time would have created the "chaos" that KA desires but we were passive and careless with the ball.
Not our night, feel sorry for the travelling fans who deserved a better performance and our confidence would have taken a knock before an important home game on Saturday. KA and his team have urgent work to do. We are a team in need of a rock solid performance to get our mo jo back.

 

[BaildonBee]

Every now and again you get a game when you concede then concede again. Normally we don't. Normally we stay in games and fight our way back. Yesterday was one of those where we couldn't. The goals were very poor. Taps in on the goal line are never a good sign but our goalkeeper had a poor night. Ta Bi and Talbi for them were outstanding. First half the winger gave our left hand side real problems. Despite how poor we were, Wilson missed a sitter to make it 2-3 before the break and these are the margins. Disappointing, frustrating and annoying but not terminal.

 

[Banana]

We were schooled last night.

No we were not.

We make some defensive errors and their keeper had a great outing.

Another day it would have been 4-0 (to us).

 

[TorbayBee]

I wish I was back at Donny at the open end in the snow in Jan enjoying a terrific nil all draw. The exciting highlight of the game was when Higgy almost scored. Those were the days. It’s all rather dull at the top of the best lge in the world, except when we lose and the GPG goes predictably bonkers.

An annoying loss is an annoying loss regardless of where and when it occurs. Yes I was there in those days but I can still react to a stinker when I see it.

 

[A Real Mysteron]

I wish I was back at Donny at the open end in the snow in Jan enjoying a terrific nil all draw. The exciting highlight of the game was when Higgy almost scored. Those were the days. It’s all rather dull at the top of the best lge in the world, except when we lose and the GPG goes predictably bonkers.

This is the mentality that means we might as well not be in this league.
I used to compare us to Crystal Palace. Seemingly happy to keep our nose in this festering trough, but they’ve won stuff now.
These cups are our only chance of winning something, other than the right to participate in a League we can’t win.
Last night was totally unacceptable.
The “formation” was bonkers. Nobody in an attacking role seemed to have any idea what we were trying to do with two up top.
Igor and Callum looked like they just been introduced to each other in a pub car park half an hour before kick off.
Compare us to Sunderland who made 11 changes yet were organised and disciplined.
I can only dream of what Le Bris could do with our talented squad.

 

[North London Bee]

Again, the game turned on our big chances hitting the woodwork, going just over or being brilliantly saved and defending far too casually.

On another day we’d have been two up. The real disappointment was how little pressure we exerted in the second half.

 

[Jam Jar]

I thinks it more a mental thing with Brentford and Cup competition. Our record in the FA Cup and League Cup since we became a PL side is dreadful when facing PL opposition and face it you have to beat these teams to have any sort of run. Just not in our DNA.

 

[Jay Bee]

We've reached the Semi finals (once) and Quarter finals 3 times in the last 7 years. Teams that have beaten us when we've got that far are Spurs (away), Chelsea (home], Newcastle (away) and Man City (away). Other teams that have beaten us in those seven years are Arsenal, Gillingham and Sunderland.

...think I was at all those games....let me check...hold on....yes I was... what's your point mate....a definition of reasonably well....well that's up for debate eh.

I agree with Les I think our carabao Cup record in recent years is good, I'm surprised that is up for debate.

Only one team can beat our record of four quarter final appearances in seven years which is Newcastle (5). We are equal with Man city, Arsenal and Liverpool on 4.

Maybe we could have got to more than one semi final in the last six? But the only teams that have managed that are the Sky 6 and Newcastle. Some "under achievement".

I was disappointed with the teams TF put out a couple of times and in that respect the exit was disappointing, but I think KA has largely addressed that frustration and we do go pretty strong now - we also now have a better squad to do this.

 

[Jay Bee]

I thinks it more a mental thing with Brentford and Cup competition. Our record in the FA Cup and League Cup since we became a PL side is dreadful when facing PL opposition and face it you have to beat these teams to have any sort of run. Just not in our DNA.

But we've beaten all these teams in the league, multiple times in most cases - is it just one of those things over a small sample? When these ties come out of the hat we've often played decent teams and often away. Not sure I believe the clanking of the balls in the velvet bag is what scrambles our minds.

We did also beat Bournemouth and Aston villa last season.

 

[Jam Jar]

But we've beaten all these teams in the league, multiple times in most cases - is it just one of those things over a small sample? When these ties come out of the hat we've often played decent teams and often away. Not sure I believe the clanking of the balls in the velvet bag is what scrambles our minds.

We did also beat Bournemouth and Aston villa last season.

true. But we are 3-9 against PL teams during our tenure. Dont think we have beaten any PL team in the FA Cup during this time.

 

[stevil]

Again, the game turned on our big chances hitting the woodwork, going just over or being brilliantly saved and defending far too casually.

On another day we’d have been two up. The real disappointment was how little pressure we exerted in the second half.

Exactly this. I felt oddly optimistic at HT, but there was a worrying lack of urgency and cohesion in the second half when the game was still there for the taking.

 

[Jam Jar]

And in general knockout football in general if you count playoffs just not something we have ever seen as fans the team get over it

 

[N5022N122]

I've been to all the last three games and the overall performances has been the lowest I've seen for quite some time.

 

[lanzabee]

I'm not slagging everyone off. Only those who got the weakened team they wanted but then want to complain when it all goes wrong and start catastrophising.
I thought we started well but then were overcome by complacency and sloppiness. We should have played Ajer and KLP and if we had picked our best defenders and players who are used to playing together we wouldn't have given away stupid goals.
This isn't being smart after the event. I posted my pick for our defence beforehand: Kayode, Collins, Ajer, KLP.

I think this would still only have worked with Kelleher in goal

 

[TorbayBee]

Exactly this. I felt oddly optimistic at HT, but there was a worrying lack of urgency and cohesion in the second half when the game was still there for the taking.

HT took the game away from us, after Calums goal they were really rocking. Once they had got into the dressing room they were told to settle down, 11 behind the ball, just concentrate on seeing the game out.

 

[TorbayBee]

I've been to all the last three games and the overall performances has been the lowest I've seen for quite some time.

Yes I agree, we seem so disjointed and uncertain

 

[VML87]

Christ I can be negative at times but massive overreaction to the past few games…. 8 changes yesterday, we beat liverpool if YY doesn’t get sent off and there was only going to be one winner v Hull. I’m confident we will be celebrating come Saturday evening!