Martin Keown sends ‘tough’ West Ham United warning ahead of Brentford Premier League clash after what he’s seen this season
Martin Keown believes West Ham United are in for a “tough test” against Brentford due to the way Thomas Frank exploits top sides through the use of Bryan Mbuemo and Yoane Wissa.
The two capital clubs go toe-to-toe at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday afternoon with the Hammers looking to grab their first Premier League win since 30 September – a 2-0 win over Sheffield United.
However, BBC Sport pundit and former Arsenal defender Keown, speaking in his tactics column for the Daily Mail (3 November) believes West Ham must beware of Brentford’s tactical fluidity and the way in which Frank utilises both Mbuemo and Wissa in Ivan Toney’s absence.
He says that both players deserve “immense” credit for the way they’ve helped the Bees compensate for the loss of their key striker, and West Ham United must not underestimate their quality.
He said: “Unless Frank was sufficiently impressed by West Ham’s Carabao Cup elimination of Arsenal on Wednesday, I expect Brentford will see this as a chance to get at the latest visitors to the Gtech Community Stadium today. For that, they will choose 4-3-3.
“If you’re a Premier League defender, you underestimate the quality of Mbeumo and Wissa at your peril. I said last year that Mbeumo may be the most underrated striker in England’s top tier and now Wissa is joining him in that category.
“These two are workaholics, capable of charging out with the ball at high speed but with a high level of control and enough intelligence to link with Maupay.
“It is to Mbeumo and Wissa’s immense credit that their club have not missed Ivan Toney anywhere near as much as they thought they would.
“Brentford will be a tough test for West Ham, especially without the playmaking magic of Lucas Paqueta and defensive steel of Edson Alvarez, both vital in their win over Arsenal but suspended for this Premier League trip after picking up five yellow cards.”
West Ham beware
Indeed, the Hammers will be severely weakened by the loss of Edson Alvarez and Lucas Paqueta, but most especially, the latter who is arguably their only specialist defensive midfielder.
Mbeumo and Wissa possess the qualities and knack of cutting through their opponents with exceptional speed and clinical edge and are vital to Brentford’s football in Toney’s absence and there is no one capable of stopping them for the Hammers like Alvarez could.
Tomas Soucek and James Ward-Prowse are both very good and decent options but none of them can break up play like Alvarez can or even Paqueta and West Ham have certainly lost two of the most destructive players in those two.
More crucially, Brentford love playing against London rivals, having already beaten Fulham and Chelsea this season and taken points off Premier League high-flyers Tottenham.
Also, the Bees have won all four of their games against David Moyes’s men since their promotion two seasons ago and if the Hammers aren’t careful, they could yet suffer yet another Premier League defeat and their fifth in a row against the West Londoners.
How Moyes approaches this contest without Paqueta and Alvarez will be very intriguing.
In other West Ham news, an update has been provided on the behind-the-scenes news regarding Vanessa Gold’s plans to sell a significant portion of her family’s shares.