Sheffield Wednesday: "Zero" up front and at the back, blasts boss Luhukay as Owls outclassed at Brentford

Frustrated boss Jos Luhukay accused his players of offering "zero" in defence and attack as Sheffield Wednesday's poor start to the Championship grew worse against Brentford.
Jos LuhukayJos Luhukay
Jos Luhukay

The Owls, with only one point to show from their opening three matches, were well beaten by the unbeaten Bees who could have turned a 2-0 victory into a rout if they had shown better finishing at Griffin Park.

Goalkeeper Cameron Dawson kept the visitors, backed by a sell-out away following, in the game following the interval after Dean Smith's men had converted a penalty carelessly conceded by Sam Hutchinson and added a second goal though Ollie Watkins.

Jos LuhukayJos Luhukay
Jos Luhukay
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"In the second half, it says enough that Cammy Dawson was, for me, the best player in our team," Luhukay said. "He had to react to four, five, six moments. The result was very disappointing.

"We have luck today that the 2-0 wasn't higher. We did not find a way to have good defending and also our offensive positions and quality weren't there today.

"It is in both directions. It isn't the defending alone. When you see what we bring offensively, it was also zero."

Hutchinson didn't appear for the second half and Luhukay said his defensive midfielder wasn't injured but had been sacrificed in a tactical change.

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Set up in a new 4-2-3-1 formation, Wednesday made a decent start but folded after Neal Maupay's 20th-minute spot-kick. Watkins struck during a second period which was almost one-way traffic.

The Owls had one golden opportunity to equalise before the interval when Marco Matias, in for Adam Reach who was injured during the warm-up, beat the offside trap only to shoot straight at Brentford keeper Daniel Bentley.

"I think we started well in the game and before 1-0 we had no problems," Luhukay added. "Then we gave a penalty away when we were under no pressure.

"Then the confidence and trust was not there to play football. We had one good chance in the first half through Marco. That was maybe the important moment to stay in the game."