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Brentford slammed as 'predictable' by BBC Sport pundit for 3-1 defeat by 'poor Everton side'
Brentford were “really disappointing” and starting to look “predictable” after they lost 3-1 at home to Everton, according to Paul Robinson.
The former England goalkeeper said live on BBC Radio 5 Live, as per Football Daily from BBC Sounds (24 September) that the Toffees are a “poor side” and criticised their performance in defeat against Arsenal last week, as he tore into the Bees for bad form.
Sean Dyche’s side picked up their first win of the campaign with goals from Abdoulaye Doucouré, James Tarkowski and Dominic Calvert-Lewin securing the points in West London on Saturday.
Robinson said (23m 25s): “Dare we say they’ve become a bit predictable, the way that they play? We often wax lyrical about Brentford, the model and the way they’re difficult to beat at home.
“Their home record has been sensational over the past couple of seasons. They’re not afraid to put the ball in the box, they play direct at times.
“We saw Thomas Frank on Monday Night Football. I was very, very impressed with him, they way he talked about Ivan Toney quite openly…
“But they’ve had a stuttering start to the season. I was disappointed with the way that they played at Newcastle. I thought that was a really scrappy game against a Newcastle side that weren’t at their best.
“And a really disappointing result today against a poor Everton side, let’s say. I saw Everton last week against Arsenal and they could still be playing now and I wouldn’t believe that they’d score a goal.”
Credit where it is due
Unfortunately for Everton, until they can make this sort of performance more of a regular occurrence there will always be a temptation from some to chalk the result up to their opponents playing badly rather than the Toffees playing well.
But, in a similar vein to the way Dyche took his side to Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton last season and came away with a sparkling 5-1 victory, he did the same to Frank at home this weekend.
It is perhaps no surprise that both games featured telling contributions from Calvert-Lewin, who continues to make the team a completely different animal when he is fit and able to get into the match.
Doucouré scored three times in those two victories, and his goals in a side which so often struggles to get on the scoresheet keep making Frank Lampard’s decision to bomb him out of the team altogether look more and more ridiculous.
Everton can’t get ahead of themselves after one win, but it is a timely reminder that when they want to they can still play so perhaps the confidence boost can lead to more of the same.
The fans have been long overdue a weekend to savour and finally one has arrived, for which the players and the manager deserve credit.
But it won’t mean much if they don’t translate it into a few more over the coming weeks to prove to Robinson and others that they can win on their steam and not just because their opposition have failed.
In other Everton news, one of the “favourites” to replace Dyche is now expected to be on the move shortly.