{"id":867171,"date":"2025-08-22T23:12:03","date_gmt":"2025-08-23T04:12:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/22\/andrews-to-balance-ideology-with-pragmatism-after-poor-start-for-brentford\/"},"modified":"2025-08-22T23:12:03","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T04:12:03","slug":"andrews-to-balance-ideology-with-pragmatism-after-poor-start-for-brentford","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/22\/andrews-to-balance-ideology-with-pragmatism-after-poor-start-for-brentford\/","title":{"rendered":"Andrews to \u00b4balance ideology with pragmatism\u00b4 after poor start for Brentford"},"content":{"rendered":"

Soccer <\/p>\n

\n

<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Keith Andrews knows he must temper his ideology with a dose of pragmatism ahead of his first home competitive game in charge of Brentford, as Aston Villa visit the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The Bees kicked off their 2025-26 Premier League campaign with a 3-1 loss to Nottingham Forest at the City Ground last week, in a disappointing start to Andrews\u2019 tenure.<\/p>\n

It was the club\u2019s first-ever loss on the opening matchday of a Premier League season and came after the sales of key players Bryan Mbeumo, Christian Norgaard and Mark Flekken.<\/p>\n

Brentford remain unbeaten in their opening home games in the top-flight throughout their nine seasons at this level, with seven wins and two draws, and they have scored a minimum of two goals in each of those matches.<\/p>\n

Having only conceded three goals from set-pieces last term, Chris Wood\u2019s opener last weekend came from a Forest corner. The last time Brentford conceded from corners in consecutive games was in December 2023.<\/p>\n

Thomas Frank\u2019s Brentford side were renowned for their solid defensive work, and Andrews knows he needs to retain part of that identity.<\/p>\n

Andrews said: \u201cThe key is about balancing my ideologies with pragmatism.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re fixated on playing a certain way as a coach and you haven\u2019t got the tools to do that, it\u2019s dangerous and there\u2019s only one outcome.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve also got to factor in something I\u2019m huge on: confidence levels.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re asking players to do things they don\u2019t really believe in, they sense that it\u2019s perhaps not the right thing to do, then they might lose the game and not play particularly well either. I\u2019ve always felt that you should try and get the best out of the players you have at your disposal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Our first away day of the season pic.twitter.com\/isbdZ9viSn <\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) August 20, 2025 <\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Meanwhile, Villa will be eager to get their season up and running with three points, after being held to a goalless draw by Newcastle United at Villa Park in their curtain-raiser.<\/p>\n

The Villans mustered up just three shots against Newcastle, marking their lowest shot count in a Premier League game since May 2024, when they registered just two shots against Brighton.<\/p>\n

Overall, across matchday one, Villa ranked last among all Premier League teams for both shots taken and expected goals (0.20 xG).<\/p>\n

However, the Europa League-bound side will fancy their chances in West London on Saturday, having won their last two away games against the Bees.<\/p>\n

PLAYERS TO WATCH <\/strong><\/p>\n

Brentford \u2013 Dango Ouattara <\/strong><\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Brentford smashed their transfer record when they signed Ouattara from Bournemouth in a deal reportedly worth \u00a342m.<\/p>\n

The former Lorient winger tallied 11 goal involvements last season (seven goals, four assists), helping the Cherries to their highest Premier League finish of ninth as they spent much of the campaign flirting with a European spot. After missing out against Forest, Ouattara could be in line to make his Bees bow this Saturday.<\/p>\n

Aston Villa \u2013 Ollie Watkins <\/strong><\/p>\n

The England international registered 24 Premier League goal involvements (16 goals, eight assists) last season, ranking seventh for goals in the division.<\/p>\n

In seven Premier League appearances for Villa against Brentford, Watkins has racked up seven goal contributions (six goals and one assist), with his latest goal against his former goal coming in Villa\u2019s 1-0 away win back in March.<\/p>\n

MATCH PREDICTION: ASTON VILLA WIN<\/strong><\/p>\n

Brentford have failed to win any of their last six matches (two draws and four losses) against Villa, and have been unable to keep a clean sheet in any of their eight head-to-head Premier League meetings.<\/p>\n

Watkins has been a key threat for Villa in London, contributing to 13 goals in his last 18 Premier League appearances there (11 goals and two assists).<\/p>\n

That includes him scoring in each of his last two away matches against his former club Brentford, during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons.<\/p>\n

Andrews will also be mindful of Villa\u2019s skill from set-pieces, with the club ranking second in the Premier League last season for goals scored from dead-ball situations.<\/p>\n

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY: <\/strong><\/p>\n

Brentford: <\/strong> 31.1%<\/p>\n

Draw: <\/strong> 25.4%<\/p>\n

Aston Villa: <\/strong> 43.4%<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>SoccerNews<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Soccer Keith Andrews knows he must temper his ideology with a dose of pragmatism ahead of his first home competitive game in charge of Brentford, as Aston Villa visit the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday. The Bees kicked off their 2025-26 Premier League campaign with a 3-1 loss to Nottingham Forest at the City Ground […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":867172,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[696,33128,2005],"tags":[10323,13806],"class_list":{"0":"post-867171","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-andrews","8":"category-balance","9":"category-soccer","10":"tag-andrews","11":"tag-balance"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=867171"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867171\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/867172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=867171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=867171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=867171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}