Jaidon Anthony produced a hat-trick of assists as Brentford thrashed Birmingham City 6-1 in the Carabao Cup second round, signalling the club's new-found squad depth after last season's struggles from the bench.
Keith Andrews praised his side's strength in depth after the victory at St Andrews, insisting there is little distinction between the players who started the 3-0 win over Tottenham and those who featured in midweek.
“There is a huge narrative around cup games with coaches making changes, but with the squad we have, there are fine margins between who plays and doesn't play,” Andrews said post-match against Birmingham.
Addressing Last Season's Weakness
Brentford have consistently defied expectations since promotion to the Premier League, coming agonisingly close to qualifying for Europe last season despite being tipped for relegation ahead of Andrews' first season in charge.
Their European ambitions partly failed to materialise due to a lack of depth in the squad. Only Manchester City (2) scored fewer goals off the bench than Brentford (3).
That issue was addressed this summer with the arrivals of Jaidon Anthony from Burnley and Callum Wilson from West Ham. The pair started for the first time in a Brentford shirt against Birmingham and quickly set about displaying their quality.
Anthony's Impact
Wilson, who remains one of England's sharpest finishers at 34 years old, opened the scoring inside six minutes before Anthony stole the show with a hat-trick of assists as Brentford romped to another resounding victory.
Wilson provides experience and natural goalscoring instincts, and is still chomping at the bit as he closes in on 100 Premier League goals. It is Anthony, though, whose impact will be most keenly felt this season.
Where last season Brentford struggled to rely on the form and fitness of loanee Reiss Nelson, they now have a player in Anthony who will feel he can realistically challenge for regular first-team minutes.
Anthony, who produced eight league goals and four assists last season, showed his efficiency in the final third. Three crosses from the right wing produced three second-half goals, and he could easily have added another assist had fellow summer signing Jannik Schuster not headed wide from his clipped delivery.
Competition for Places
No player created more chances (4), competed more dribbles (3), or took more touches in the opposition box (7) than the 26-year-old.
If Brentford are to sustain their push for European qualification this season, they will look to Anthony to keep Dango Ouattara on his toes. Ouattara enjoyed a productive debut season in west London, producing seven goals and eight assists in 32 Premier League appearances last year.
But a three-month goalless drought between February and May will have caused some concern, with Brentford winning just twice in the 11 games during that period. Anthony will push Ouattara where Nelson failed to do so last season, and as Andrews alluded to in his post-match comments against Birmingham, almost every spot is up for grabs with competition high.
