Alex Pritchard - Brentford

[DaSpurs]

I'm glad this was posted rather than just his goal, as this includes several excellent plays from Pritch beyond just the goal. Think he'd be such an excellent No 10 for our system.

 

[punkisback]

I was gutted that we didn't replace Lennon with him in the window. His speed of thought alongside the others will be a joy to watch next season.

 

[Sweech]

I was gutted that we didn't replace Lennon with him in the window. His speed of thought alongside the others will be a joy to watch next season.

Disagree. Pritchard's doing what he's doing now with Brentford because he's now bedded in with Warburton's system. He just simply wouldn't be as useful for us with Poch without a bedding in period. His development is better served playing good solid football there and then having an offseason and pre-season to understand what's needed from him with Poch.

 

[Luka Van der Bale]

So excited to see this kid next season.

 

[Sputic]

How is he with the other side of the game, when the opposition have possession? Does he seem like he'll be willing and able to press the opposition the way we did Saturday?

 

[Blake Griffin]

How is he with the other side of the game, when the opposition have possession? Does he seem like he'll be willing and able to press the opposition the way we did Saturday?

i think it's probably a weakness of his game but he's mobile and tenacious enough to have it instilled into him by poch and co.

some strange goings on at brentford this morning. a newspaper article said their manager will be facing the sack whether they get promotion or not, brentford have since issued a weird rambling statement which ultimately does nothing to deny the rumour. hopefully it doesn't unsettle them and pritchard for the rest of the season.

 

[allpaths]

i remember him being a little bit nasty while he was at swindon he defiantly isnt afraid to put a tackle in think he will take to poch's tactics of pressing and quick forward passing quite well

 

[Lilbaz]

i think it's probably a weakness of his game but he's mobile and tenacious enough to have it instilled into him by poch and co.

some strange goings on at brentford this morning. a newspaper article said their manager will be facing the sack whether they get promotion or not, brentford have since issued a weird rambling statement which ultimately does nothing to deny the rumour. hopefully it doesn't unsettle them and pritchard for the rest of the season.

Shouldn't really effect him. He'll be back with us next season anyway. Sure he'll just get on with playing the best he can.

 

[DaSpurs]

i think it's probably a weakness of his game but he's mobile and tenacious enough to have it instilled into him by poch and co.

I haven't watched much of Brentford but the numbers would actually suggest it's not a problem with him, as he's averaging more successful tackles per game at the position than either Eriksen or Dembele are for us, and nearly an interception a game. Whether he could maintain that or not in the Prem remains to be seen, but suggests he's at least willing (also attempts more total per game than Eriksen and Dembele). Someone posted a highlight clip of Teddy Bishop not long ago in the scouting thread, and there was a bit in there in which Bishop made a run with the ball from deep in his own midfield to the top of Brentford's box, and our own lil Pritch stayed with him for the entirety of that run until eventually the ref called him for a foul, but at least he slowed Bishop down and presented more of a challenge than either of Brentford's deeper midfielders did.

So IMO, I think he'd do very well with as the trigger man in the press from the No 10 role. Tenacious, aggressive, quick feet, quick mind... I think he'd be perfect.

 

[IGSpur]

I haven't watched much of Brentford but the numbers would actually suggest it's not a problem with him, as he's averaging more successful tackles per game at the position than either Eriksen or Dembele are for us, and nearly an interception a game. Whether he could maintain that or not in the Prem remains to be seen, but suggests he's at least willing (also attempts more total per game than Eriksen and Dembele). Someone posted a highlight clip of Teddy Bishop not long ago in the scouting thread, and there was a bit in there in which Bishop made a run with the ball from deep in his own midfield to the top of Brentford's box, and our own lil Pritch stayed with him for the entirety of that run until eventually the ref called him for a foul, but at least he slowed Bishop down and presented more of a challenge than either of Brentford's deeper midfielders did.

So IMO, I think he'd do very well with as the trigger man in the press from the No 10 role. Tenacious, aggressive, quick feet, quick mind... I think he'd be perfect.

Ye actually intended to reply ot BG but forgot, but I never have seen him have a problem with pressing. I think it is one of his positives that he is so willing to press and get stuck in. Impressed with those stats too.

 

[DaSpurs]

Ye actually intended to reply ot BG but forgot, but I never have seen him have a problem with pressing. I think it is one of his positives that he is so willing to press and get stuck in. Impressed with those stats too.

Yeah he seems to very much have that "tenacious lil terrier" attribute to him, which of course would be very beneficial to us in Poch's system, especially if he has some good discipline to him (somewhat unlike Holtby). Really liking what I'm seeing from him this season, as in my opinion he's giving off more and more indication of a complete No 10. Eriksen has the outstanding quality, but not the energy and zip to really create his own space from the division to feed for others, while Dembele has the physicality and smoothness on the dribble to find space but not the creativity or incisiveness to make things happen. Pritch may not have Eriksen's quality, but I love how stunningly quickly he finds space for himself and others. That is the perfect No 10 IMO, and then couple that with his defensive contribution I think he'd be all the more perfect for our current system.

I see Poch having a real headache this summer trying to sort out how he's going to handle our midfield and attacking midfield options. Going to earn every bit of sterling he'll receive during the break.

 

[Romulus]

i think it's probably a weakness of his game but he's mobile and tenacious enough to have it instilled into him by poch and co.

some strange goings on at brentford this morning. a newspaper article said their manager will be facing the sack whether they get promotion or not, brentford have since issued a weird rambling statement which ultimately does nothing to deny the rumour. hopefully it doesn't unsettle them and pritchard for the rest of the season.

whats the story there? arent they happy with their position?

 

[Snarfalicious]

The more I think about, the more I am baffled we didn't recall him in January. He'd realistically be able to provide us with depth across each position behind the striker, something we've so desperately needed. We have no real replacement for Eriksen when he needs a rest and when Eriksen is out, a lot of times there simply is no creative hub for the team. Pritchard realistically could have provided that. And now with Eriksen functioning primarily out of the LWF position (like it or lump it), Pritchard makes even more sense in that regard given his ability to fluidly change positions on the pitch.

I'm hopeful Pritchard ends out this season continuing his rich vein of form. It'll do him a lot of good and that's going to have to be enough for me. But it really feels like we wasted an opportunity to bolster a unit that I think desperately needs some options.

 

[Mouse!]

The more I think about, the more I am baffled we didn't recall him in January. He'd realistically be able to provide us with depth across each position behind the striker, something we've so desperately needed. We have no real replacement for Eriksen when he needs a rest and when Eriksen is out, a lot of times there simply is no creative hub for the team. Pritchard realistically could have provided that. And now with Eriksen functioning primarily out of the LWF position (like it or lump it), Pritchard makes even more sense in that regard given his ability to fluidly change positions on the pitch.

I'm hopeful Pritchard ends out this season continuing his rich vein of form. It'll do him a lot of good and that's going to have to be enough for me. But it really feels like we wasted an opportunity to bolster a unit that I think desperately needs some options.

I think he could've come in and offered some enthusiasm to further boost the squad for the run-in, much like Ibe appears to have done for Liverpool. Missed opportunity.

 

[nightgoat]

whats the story there? arent they happy with their position?

It's all a bit confusing, really. Obviously considering how well they're doing Warburton is going to get attention from more established Championship teams and lower level PL teams, but given what he himself has previously said about players leaving for perceived 'better' clubs it would surprise me if he chose to leave to someone like QPR, for example.

It could be that Brentford are preparing themselves for such an outcome and preemptively looking for potential replacements, or they could be doing a Southampton like how they replaced Nigel Adkins with Pochettino when Adkins was doing pretty well himself.

 

[THFCSPURS19]

He's a doubt for today's game.

 

[prawnsandwich]

Pritchard starts today's game.

"Brentford manager Mark Warburton will leave the club at the end of the season after refusing to sign overseas players he had not watched" according to The Sun.
Can anyone post a link to the story?

 

[nidge]

If it's from the Sun the article will be behind their pay wall so unless someone wants to admit to subscribing to the Sun I guess we won't get a link to the article.

 

[Lilbaz]

http://www.wsc.co.uk/wsc-daily/1192...tim-of-brentford-chairman-s-ruthless-ambition

 

[nightgoat]

Brentford lost 3-0 to Charlton who started today in 20th, 13 games without a win. The managerial situation is without doubt having an impact on the team, which in turn won't help Pritchard. Not that we could have foreseen this happening, but even more reason why we should have recalled him in January.