Championship 2018/19: Brentford vs Swansea City

Bad defending was once again on the agenda as Brentford lost 3-2 to Swansea at Griffin Park. The loss once again increased the gap between Brentford and the play-off positions to a mountainous 16 points ahead of a crucial run of games which see the club face Championship stragglers Hull City and Bolton Wanderers.

In this piece, we will look at how Brentford lost the game, as they started the game off in horrendous fashion, conceding after just 30 seconds.

Poor defending

Once the catchphrase for former Liverpool legend and TV pundit Alan Hansen, poor defending are the exact choice of words that can be used to describe how inept Brentford were against Swansea City on Saturday afternoon.

As mentioned above, the Bees got off to the worst of starts, conceding after just 30 seconds which proved to be a comedy of errors. It didnt take long for Brentford to make yet another defensive error, as Thomas Franks plan to play out of the back went horribly wrong. A back pass from Daniel Bentley out to centre-back Ezri Konsa, was proceeded by the youngster being caught on the ball by on-loan Rangers youngster Barrie McKay, who in turn passed across the box to Wayne Routledge, who slotted home for the opening goal for Swansea.

Despite the ball been given away in their own defensive third, that was not the only mistake that Brentford made in the build-up to Saturdays opening goal. Left-back Rico Henry was found ball watching at the back post as he let winger Routledge slide in for Swanseas third goal. Another example of Brentfords lack of concentration whilst defending, which has been an all too familiar feeling for Thomas Frank.

Despite Brentfords poor defensive work in recent weeks, they still havent seemed to have learnt from their mistakes. Brentfords midfield trio of Romaine Sawyers, Josh McEachran and Nico Yennaris werent anywhere to be seen as Swanseas McKay found himself in acres of space in the middle of the pitch with no Brentford player within five yards of himself. A good interchange of passes between Nathan Dyer, McKay and Ollie McBurnie cut through Brentfords midfield and defence with ease in the build-up to Swanseas second goal.