- Joined
- 23 May 2000
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A letter to Uwe
Dear Uwe
I would like to thank you , the players and your coaching and medical team for bringing us a season of almost unbearable excitement and tension.
We have come a long way in a fairly short time and we met your preseason objective of reaching the end of season Playoffs.
What is more we possess a heady blend of youth and experience and our squad is probably the most technically gifted that I have ever seen at the club.
Players such as Donaldson, Logan, Dean, Moore, Forrester, Forshaw, Reeves and Dallas are wonderfully talented and can only improve and I know that there are many more coming through the Academy.
Some of the loan signings were also inspired and we saw some very gifted players grace Griffin Park.
We try and play the right way and the team is well drilled and tactically flexible.
It made me proud to see how many times we came back from the dead and won points with late goals - we certainly never know when we are beaten!
The were so many memorable games and performances and the matches against Chelsea, Swindon, Sheffield United, Portsmouth and Southend will live long in the memory.
Yet for all this positivity this note has to be tinged with frustration given that promotion slipped through our fingers.
Lets not rehash the Doncaster and Yeovil scenarios yet again, what is more important is what we can learn from them and the season as a whole and what we need to do to ensure that we get over the line next season.
Given your attention to detail and thoroughness I am sure that you already have your own mental checklist of potential improvements but in no particular order I would be grateful if you would take note of the following points which are made in all good faith and in a spirit of positivity and gratitude for everything that we have so far achieved.
The most telling statistics were the number of matches we won by two goals or more - 3 as well as the number of games that we drew away from home - 10.
This implies that for all our possession and superiority we found it extremely hard to put teams away and I am hard pressed to remember any or many comfortable victories. To a degree this is testament to the overall strength of the division, our powers of recovery, determination to keep going until the final whistle and never say die attitude but it also makes me wonder about our approach.
Tactically we were very flexible and comfortable with a variety of formations, 442, 433, 451, 4231, 4141 to mention quite a few. Sometimes we used several of them in the same game.
To me this shows our strengths and weaknesses. Many times you changed things around and made key substitutions that made the difference between losing and winning- remember Walsall,away, MK Dons and Swindon at home and away in the League to name but a few.
It is crucial to know who and what we are playing against and their strengths but can you consider letting them worry about us and set us up in a more positive attacking formation earlier in the games rather than always seeming to seek to draw their teeth first before we sought to do them damage.
I totally agree with the concept of ensuring you don't lose if you can't win but I feel that we were many times guilty of setting ourselves up not to lose rather than going out to dominate and win.
I do not expect us to go Gung Ho every game but I just feel that several of those away draws could have been turned into wins with a more positive approach.
Playing only one upfront with Donaldson pulled back into a deep right sided midfield role was also frustrating for us and left our sole striker isolated and made it hard to retain possession. This was highlighted in the first half on Sunday where Trotta was left,alone to combat two huge Yeovil behemoths a move doomed to failure.
Sometimes we have to vary things and go long rather than try to play our way through teams and maybe we were a bit predictable at times which seems strange given the number of formations we employed.
I have no problem with squad rotation in a season of around 60 games and note that you tried where possible to retain continuity within the back four. Our injury and fitness record bears testimony that you got it exactly right.
I also have no problem in keeping all 11 players back for opposition corners and the zonal defence worked well until when it really mattered with 3 goals conceded from corners in our last 2 games. This needs to be revisited .
As does the number of goals conceded from 20-35 yards. Some were screamers and unstoppable, others weren't. I only blame Moore for the MK Dons opener but we seemed slow and inefficient at closing players down and content to back off. Why?
Conversely how many goals or even attempts did we have from similar distances. Logan and Dean were happy to have a crack from outside the box as were Forrester and Saunders but our goal scoring record from midfield was poor with barely ten goals coming from Forshaw, Diagouraga, Douglas and Adeyemi with only one from outside the box.
This has to be addressed as we are sorely limiting our goalscoring options. Getting more players in the box would also result in our scoring more goals !
Can we sort out our penalty strategy please? With a conversion rate of around 50% allied to the repeated confusion as to who is actually taking the kick, we are simply shooting ourself in the foot.
You are such an organised person that our poor performance with penalties throughout the season as a whole simply beggars belief.
Maybe it would help if we had an obvious leader on the pitch, someone who leads by example and by sheer force of personality ensures that your instructions are carried out?
As the team grows up I expect us to manage games better and know when to slow things down and even stop the game where necessary, something Yeovil did so well to break up our momentum. This doesn't mean a license to cheat. We picked up several bookings for diving, some unjustified but others were not. Cut it out please.
As well as Dean and Craig performed it has to be said that 2 of the 3 promoted sides each had a pair of beasts playing at centre half and we struggled against them. Legge wasn't good enough on the ground to give us this option but I really think we need that option to help us dominate in both penalty areas. Burn was exceptional as he won everything and was never outpaced too.
Dean scored 4 goals all season and Craig none. Enough said!
I know that we are running the risk of losing some players but that is part of the way of life at this level but I am certain that we can bring in replacements who can do as well and change is inevitable but I really don't think that it will take much to get us out of this league and finish in the top 2.
It will take a slight change of approach from you and a greater confidence that as this squad matures they can be trusted to win games and start them on the front foot rather than concentrating on not conceding and giving the initiative to the opposition.
Our finishing is not clinical enough which I am sure is a common complaint at this and indeed probably every level and Clayton had a wonderful season and showed us just how good he is and he worked nonstop for the team but he needs better support and not just from the strikers.
Uwe this is not meant to be a long mantra of moans, more a recognition of just how good a job you have done and an acknowledgment that it really won't take too much to bring us the success we deserve.
I honestly feel that you are well on the way to becoming a true Brentford legend and I thank you for how proud you have made me feel of this wonderful club of ours but please take note of some of the points I have made and trust in our players more to take control of games and start on the front foot, they are more than good enough to take this division by storm.
I would like to thank you , the players and your coaching and medical team for bringing us a season of almost unbearable excitement and tension.
We have come a long way in a fairly short time and we met your preseason objective of reaching the end of season Playoffs.
What is more we possess a heady blend of youth and experience and our squad is probably the most technically gifted that I have ever seen at the club.
Players such as Donaldson, Logan, Dean, Moore, Forrester, Forshaw, Reeves and Dallas are wonderfully talented and can only improve and I know that there are many more coming through the Academy.
Some of the loan signings were also inspired and we saw some very gifted players grace Griffin Park.
We try and play the right way and the team is well drilled and tactically flexible.
It made me proud to see how many times we came back from the dead and won points with late goals - we certainly never know when we are beaten!
The were so many memorable games and performances and the matches against Chelsea, Swindon, Sheffield United, Portsmouth and Southend will live long in the memory.
Yet for all this positivity this note has to be tinged with frustration given that promotion slipped through our fingers.
Lets not rehash the Doncaster and Yeovil scenarios yet again, what is more important is what we can learn from them and the season as a whole and what we need to do to ensure that we get over the line next season.
Given your attention to detail and thoroughness I am sure that you already have your own mental checklist of potential improvements but in no particular order I would be grateful if you would take note of the following points which are made in all good faith and in a spirit of positivity and gratitude for everything that we have so far achieved.
The most telling statistics were the number of matches we won by two goals or more - 3 as well as the number of games that we drew away from home - 10.
This implies that for all our possession and superiority we found it extremely hard to put teams away and I am hard pressed to remember any or many comfortable victories. To a degree this is testament to the overall strength of the division, our powers of recovery, determination to keep going until the final whistle and never say die attitude but it also makes me wonder about our approach.
Tactically we were very flexible and comfortable with a variety of formations, 442, 433, 451, 4231, 4141 to mention quite a few. Sometimes we used several of them in the same game.
To me this shows our strengths and weaknesses. Many times you changed things around and made key substitutions that made the difference between losing and winning- remember Walsall,away, MK Dons and Swindon at home and away in the League to name but a few.
It is crucial to know who and what we are playing against and their strengths but can you consider letting them worry about us and set us up in a more positive attacking formation earlier in the games rather than always seeming to seek to draw their teeth first before we sought to do them damage.
I totally agree with the concept of ensuring you don't lose if you can't win but I feel that we were many times guilty of setting ourselves up not to lose rather than going out to dominate and win.
I do not expect us to go Gung Ho every game but I just feel that several of those away draws could have been turned into wins with a more positive approach.
Playing only one upfront with Donaldson pulled back into a deep right sided midfield role was also frustrating for us and left our sole striker isolated and made it hard to retain possession. This was highlighted in the first half on Sunday where Trotta was left,alone to combat two huge Yeovil behemoths a move doomed to failure.
Sometimes we have to vary things and go long rather than try to play our way through teams and maybe we were a bit predictable at times which seems strange given the number of formations we employed.
I have no problem with squad rotation in a season of around 60 games and note that you tried where possible to retain continuity within the back four. Our injury and fitness record bears testimony that you got it exactly right.
I also have no problem in keeping all 11 players back for opposition corners and the zonal defence worked well until when it really mattered with 3 goals conceded from corners in our last 2 games. This needs to be revisited .
As does the number of goals conceded from 20-35 yards. Some were screamers and unstoppable, others weren't. I only blame Moore for the MK Dons opener but we seemed slow and inefficient at closing players down and content to back off. Why?
Conversely how many goals or even attempts did we have from similar distances. Logan and Dean were happy to have a crack from outside the box as were Forrester and Saunders but our goal scoring record from midfield was poor with barely ten goals coming from Forshaw, Diagouraga, Douglas and Adeyemi with only one from outside the box.
This has to be addressed as we are sorely limiting our goalscoring options. Getting more players in the box would also result in our scoring more goals !
Can we sort out our penalty strategy please? With a conversion rate of around 50% allied to the repeated confusion as to who is actually taking the kick, we are simply shooting ourself in the foot.
You are such an organised person that our poor performance with penalties throughout the season as a whole simply beggars belief.
Maybe it would help if we had an obvious leader on the pitch, someone who leads by example and by sheer force of personality ensures that your instructions are carried out?
As the team grows up I expect us to manage games better and know when to slow things down and even stop the game where necessary, something Yeovil did so well to break up our momentum. This doesn't mean a license to cheat. We picked up several bookings for diving, some unjustified but others were not. Cut it out please.
As well as Dean and Craig performed it has to be said that 2 of the 3 promoted sides each had a pair of beasts playing at centre half and we struggled against them. Legge wasn't good enough on the ground to give us this option but I really think we need that option to help us dominate in both penalty areas. Burn was exceptional as he won everything and was never outpaced too.
Dean scored 4 goals all season and Craig none. Enough said!
I know that we are running the risk of losing some players but that is part of the way of life at this level but I am certain that we can bring in replacements who can do as well and change is inevitable but I really don't think that it will take much to get us out of this league and finish in the top 2.
It will take a slight change of approach from you and a greater confidence that as this squad matures they can be trusted to win games and start them on the front foot rather than concentrating on not conceding and giving the initiative to the opposition.
Our finishing is not clinical enough which I am sure is a common complaint at this and indeed probably every level and Clayton had a wonderful season and showed us just how good he is and he worked nonstop for the team but he needs better support and not just from the strikers.
Uwe this is not meant to be a long mantra of moans, more a recognition of just how good a job you have done and an acknowledgment that it really won't take too much to bring us the success we deserve.
I honestly feel that you are well on the way to becoming a true Brentford legend and I thank you for how proud you have made me feel of this wonderful club of ours but please take note of some of the points I have made and trust in our players more to take control of games and start on the front foot, they are more than good enough to take this division by storm.
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One thing Uwe has brought is consecutive years of improvement. We aren't the finished article and I expect that we will make progress with some of the areas you identified. I doubt we will sort them all but I think the key to next year is eliminating defensive errors. Not sure what you can do about failing to take chances other than finding a better finisher somewhere[ maybe Farid will provide]. Re defensive approach, I suspect that any manager will try and shut the shop away from home if the team is ahead or drawing. We just weren't that good at seeing out games but we are learning.Nice post 
.
This is a bit silly mate.
