Brentford continue their 2023/24 Premier League campaign with a game against Bournemouth on Saturday (3pm kick-off).
Thomas Frank’s side have a strong record against the Cherries, winning four of the last six meetings, including a 2-0 victory at Gtech Community Stadium in January.
The Bees have taken five points from their opening three fixtures, while Bournemouth – having drawn with West Ham United on the opening day and then lost to Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur – have one point.
Pre-match Analysis
Alex Lawes, Playmaker Stats: Brentford’s in-form forwards may profit from Bournemouth’s high line
Bournemouth have splashed more than £100 million this season on a raft of new signings, as the impressive Andoni Iraola tries to implement a fast and aggressive style of football that worked wonders at Rayo Vallecano.
Now plying his trade on the south coast of England, Iraola led Rayo to a surprise promotion via the play-offs in Spain in 2021 and then moulded a competitive outfit in La Liga that flirted with European qualification.
In terms of his general style, Iraola can be viewed as an ideologue with a holistic philosophy that he tweaks game by game. In contrast, Brentford head coach Thomas Frank is arguably more flexible and pragmatic - varying the Bees' approach depending on the opponent or game state.
One similarity, however, is a shared focus on efficiency. Rayo’s intense style last season saw them complete just 78.8 per cent of their passes, the 14th-lowest rate in Spain’s top-flight, but still take 13.6 shots per game - only Real Madrid, Barcelona, Athletic Bilbao and Atletico Madrid shooting more frequently.
Bournemouth may have had a tough start with games against West Ham United, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur this season, but they are currently 15th for shots taken in the Premier League - 12.7 per game so far - averaging a similar amount to Iraola’s Rayo.
Another tactical element of Iraola's style worth noting is his preference for a high line.
Last season, Rayo caught the opposition offside an average of 2.6 occasions per game, with only eventual UEFA Europa League winners Sevilla marshalling a better offside trap.
Leaving space in behind is a high-risk strategy though and - even given the quality of their opposition thus far - there appear to be defensive frailties for Iraola to iron out at Bournemouth: the Cherries conceding more than three more shots per game (19.7) more this season than they did last term (16.5).
One trait that Iraola’s Bournemouth appear to share with his Rayo side is a penchant for shooting from distance. The Cherries have taken 21 shots from outside the box this season; the second most in the Premier League. His Rayo team ranked second, only behind Real Madrid, in La Liga last term.
This tendency contrasts sharply with Brentford, who average the fewest shots from outside the box in the top flight in 2023/24 and want to get as close to goal as possible to maximise their chances.
One shared characteristic between the Cherries and the Bees this Saturday could be their willingness to be direct - but even in this respect there are likely to be differences in approach.
Last season, Rayo had the third most inaccurate long balls in La Liga and so far this season, Bournemouth have had the fourth most in the Premier League. Brentford, on the other hand, rank only behind Man City for accurate long balls this season, with an average of eight more accurate long passes per game than their upcoming opponents.
Scout Report
O'Neil exit sparks summer of change at Vitality Stadium
When Bournemouth slipped to the bottom of the Premier League table at the start of March – following a game against Arsenal where they had taken a 2-0 lead, only to lose 3-2 – a return to the Championship after just one season back in the top flight looked a very real possibility.
They had only won four of their 24 league games prior to that point and were six months into Gary O’Neil’s reign, which had started when Scott Parker left the club days after the 9-0 defeat at Liverpool, which equalled the Premier League record for the biggest winning margin.
“The boys will be devastated, as am I, for the next few hours or maybe slightly longer,” O’Neil said, speaking after the aforementioned loss at the Emirates. “But Liverpool come next week and we’ll be ready.”
He was true to his word. Philip Billing put the Cherries in front after half an hour the following Saturday at the Vitality and, after a rare penalty miss from Mohamed Salah midway through the second half, they held on for a 1-0 win few saw coming, particularly as Liverpool had not conceded in almost 500 minutes at the time.
Bournemouth were by no means perfect in the last two months of the campaign, but they picked up four crucial wins in the next seven games – against Fulham, Leicester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton – which meant that, by the time of a 4-1 win over Leeds United on 30 April, the poor form of the teams below them meant they could just about afford to finish with four straight defeats.
“Not many fans outside of Bournemouth would have given us a prayer this year,” O’Neil remarked after the Leeds win. “To have as many questions asked of them as they have, to have been written off and to get to 39 points with four games to play is an incredible effort.”
After managing to keep the club in the division for another year, it seemed as though O’Neil would be the man to steer them this term as they put the lessons they had learned along the way into practice. But the new ownership at the club had other ideas and, on 19 June, he was dismissed and replaced by Andoni Iraola.
There was understandable shock, which chair Bill Foley said he understood during an interview with talkSPORT: “It really wasn’t so much about Gary not doing what he was asked to do, it was more about the opportunity to give our football club a different identity through the coach we made contact with some time ago and then initiated contact very recently.”
The former Spain international came in on a two-year deal and despite in his first interview alluding to the fact one of the reasons he had joined the club was because of the players they had on the books, he has been presented with £110 million worth of new players, including Tyler Adams from Leeds, Alex Scott from Bristol City and Patrick Kluivert’s son Justin from Roma.
His side haven’t got going just yet, with two defeats and one draw from their first three Premier League games, which has done little to dissuade bookmakers from pricing them as fourth favourites for relegation behind Everton, Sheffield United and Luton Town.
With a lot of new faces, the window remaining open and a manager with limited experience in the English game, perhaps they have been guided by the element of the unknown. But Bournemouth have been written off countless times before and they will relish the chance to set the record straight once again.
In the Dugout
Andoni Iraola
A right-back by trade during his playing days, Andoni Iraola came through the ranks at Athletic Bilbao and made his debut during the 2003/04 La Liga season, following two years in the Segunda Division with Bilbao’s B team and year with CD Basconia – effectively the club’s C team – before that.
Over the 10 seasons that followed his debut year, Iraola, astonishingly, missed just 26 league games, during which time he was part of the squad that finished as runners-up in the Copa del Rey twice, once in the Europa League and once in the Spanish Super Cup. Between 2008 and 2011, he earned seven senior caps for Spain, too.
He featured considerably less during 2014/15 - his final season at San Mames – but captained Lehoiak in his final game for the club, in a third Copa del Rey final defeat, this time against Barcelona.
Iraola then signed for New York City of the MLS, where he spent 17 months, before retiring in November 2016.
Just over 18 months later, he was handed his first managerial role with AEK Larnaca, but lasted only until January 2019 after winning 12 of his 29 matches in charge of the Cypriot First Division club.
That summer, he joined CD Mirandes where, in his only season at the club, he masterminded a run to the semi-final of the Copa del Rey for only the second time in club history.
In August 2020, he took over at Rayo Vallecano, whom he led to promotion from the Segunda Division in his first season in charge.
Los Franjirrojos finished 12th in their first season back in La Liga and 11th last term, which led to an approach from Leeds United in February, which was rebuffed by the club’s board.
However, he left at the end of the campaign, when his contract expired.
The Gameplan
With Tom Crocker, chief sports writer for Bournemouth Echo
Bournemouth Echo’s Tom Crocker explains how the Cherries are likely to set up at Gtech Community Stadium:
“It has been a tough start, both in terms of results and the fixture schedule.
“Of the eight fixtures Bournemouth were handed to start this year, they lost all of those corresponding fixtures last season, so it was always going to be difficult, coupled with the fact a number of key players have been out injured.
“There have been encouraging signs along the way though, notably the front-foot approach. But I think everyone accepted the first month or so might be tricky results wise.
“Despite still having plenty of players missing, including likely starters Tavernier, Scott and Adams, I expect Iraola to stick with the 4-4-1-1 he has been using all season.
“There are not too many options to change the line-up from recent weeks, other than in the attacking midfield areas.”
Read the full interview with Tom Crocker here.
Team News
Mee fit for Bournemouth clash
Head coach Thomas Frank has confirmed that Ben Mee will be available for Bournemouth's visit to TW8.
The club's 2022/23 Supporters' Player of the Season is yet to feature in the Premier League this campaign due to injury, but made his return to action in the Carabao Cup win over Newport County on Tuesday.
Frank also issued an update on midfielder Mikkel Damsgaard, who will miss the game at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha is available, despite missing the Newport game with a minor injury.
"Ben Mee is available for the team tomorrow, so that's very, very good news,” said the Bees boss. “He played a good game against Newport.
“Damsgaard is unfortunately out of the squad and also out of the Denmark squad.
“It’s a minor injury that we don't think is too big of an issue, it’s his adductor. It’s not gone away as quickly as we all wanted it to, but he should hopefully be available for Newcastle.”
Match Officials
Robert Madley the man in the middle on Saturday
Robert Madley officiated in the Football League as a referee from 2010 and was one of the youngest officials to progress to the top flight of English football.
In April 2013, Madley took charge of his first Premier League fixture between Southampton and West Bromwich Albion at St Mary's Stadium. He sent off three players during the game, one from each team for violent conduct, and later a second Southampton player for serious foul play.
Madley refereed 24 games last season, including Brentford’s 1-1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers in October.
During the 2022/23 campaign he showed 96 yellow cards and six reds.
Last Meeting
Brentford 2 Bournemouth 0 (Premier League, 14 January 2023)
Brentford equalled an 86-year club record as goals from Ivan Toney and Mathias Jensen wrapped up a 2-0 victory over Bournemouth.
Toney struck from the penalty spot in the first half, after he had been hauled down by Marcos Senesi, before Jensen struck the decisive blow on the counter 15 minutes from time.
The win, Brentford’s third in succession, extended the Bees’ unbeaten run to seven, matching the club’s longest spell in the top flight without defeat – a record set in February 1937.