There is an old adage well known throughout life and football; Never Go Back. Every rule has it’s exceptions though and Neal Maupay going back to Brentford may well be the exception to this one.
His first spell at the club, 2017-2019, saw him become an integral part of the Bees irrepressible BMW front line that fired them to the brink of promotion to the Premier League. It was only their play-off hoo-doo that kept them from the top table during that spell.
That BMW front line disintegrated after his departure to Brighton after their 2019 promotion to the premier League, his strike team companions following him to Premier League teams the next summer. It is undeniable that his move away from west London has been the least successful of the trio.
Whilst Said Benrahma’s West Ham have made it to European competition and Ollie Watkin’s form in firing Villa to Europe has earned him a call-up into the England squad. On the other side of things, Maupay was considered surplus to requirements at a Brighton team also Europe-bound and spent last season struggling to get into an Everton team that seemed destined for relegation.
No wonder he wanted out of that situation and when a Brentford team in dire need of strikers, with Ivan Toney banned and Kevin Shade injured, he jumped at the chance to return to West London.
His debut came in their first home win of the season last weekend, a 3-0 victory over Burnley, and the fact that both of these events happened in the same game was no mere coincidence.
Back at the centre of a front 3 Maupay seemed at one with the beautiful game once more. From the first set play, where he had the ball in the net with a point-blank header only for it to be ruled out for an offside in the build-up, to his being substituted to rapturous applause in the 88th minute he ran Brentford’s attacking play.
Both his slick interplay with midfielders Mathias Jensen and Frank Onyeka and his telepathic chemistry with new strike partners Bryan Mbuemo and Yoane Wissa were integral to his masterclass in destroying the opposition.
He was at the heart of every move as Brentford overpowered their visitors from Lancashire, even providing the assist for Mbuemo’s screamer of a second for the hosts.
Finding the right pass to cleave open the Burnley defence when there seemed to be nothing on was his signature move on this second Bee’s debut. The only thing missing from his performance was a debut goal.
Chances for him to score this goal were multiple and varied, even carving out a 1-on-1 with James Trafford in the first half after a gut-busting run from midfield that saw him glide past 4 opponents as though they were mere apparitions.
The genius football wizardry that he showed at times was breath-taking to the point that I will never be able to express how impressed I was with just how well he has taken to his new task in West London; Firing Brentford up the table without the talismanic Toney.
He showed no sign of having been withered away by being left out of a team that struggled to score last season on their way to a final-day great escape as he set up every attacking play the Bees had and carved out many personal chances to score.
The only way he can improve on his opening performance, when Brentford visit Stamford Bridge on the 28th, is by scoring a goal or two to help the West Londoners to back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
The Football tourist 