The Bees Honey Ball delighting the Premier League

With respect to that Doozy on Sunday between Liverpool and Manchester City… today, I’m going to choose West Ham vs Brentford as my focus…. Or more specifically Brentford, who have been THE team of the season so far… you see the West London club has a fascinating story… especially if you appreciate the work of Brad Pitt… bare with me…. Here’s the quick backgrounder… after nine failed playoff attempts, the Bee’s returned to the top flight this season for the first time in over 70 years… but that’s not the story…

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Back in 2012, lifelong fan Matthew Benham bought the club…. Now Benham made his money in the gambling world, creating Matchbook and Smartodds…  he is a data junkie… and asked fans to join him on a journey that would build their club through the use of hard data and analytics… so, kinda like Moneyball, hence the Brad Pitt reference earlier… Benham is a private guy, and doesn’t like being compared to Billy Beane, but everyone does it anyway, because it is working… his club has no academy, simply a B-team where he gives all sorts of outcasts a chance…

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Premier League regulars Neal Maupay, Ollie Watkins and Saïd Benrahma have all been sold by Brentford for a massive profit, and given how well his team is playing now, some of the current team will be set for big clubs very soon… mathematicians run the club, rather than jaded old football men… and yeah, Brentford have lost only once this season, they’ve won twice, including against Arsenal in the opener,  they drew Liverpool last week in the match of the season so far… Thomas Frank the manager has bought in 100%, and his team plays a fun attacking brand of soccer… so, West Ham, who are also one of THE stories so far had better be ready for a battle… it may be early, but Brentford are here to stay for while… and I think they’ll grab some points this weekend too!