Sheffield Wednesday 4 Brentford 0: Owls take lead from Barcelona over their work rate

Owls’ head coach Carlos Carvalhal is not afraid to think big and he urges his players to study how the world’s elite play.

What is good enough for Barca superstars Lionel Messi and Neymar, it seems – where they combine hard toil with talent – is good enough for the Owls, a message their ever-improving team have taken to heart.

The Owls have yet to be beaten in 2016 and sit fifth in the Championship – just four points off automatic promotion.

They thumped four goals past 10-man Brentford on Saturday – their biggest win of the season – Kieran Lee’s goal the culmination of patient build-up and possession.

But it is the work Wednesday do off the ball, leading from the front with Argentinian Forestieri, Gary Hooper and Atdhe Nuhiu, in hustling the opposition, and closing down spaces, which is the cornerstone of their success.

Throw in a midfield that includes the scampering talents of Barry Bannan and Kieran Lee, and Wednesday’s graft without possession is impressive.

“For the third goal it was pass, pass, pass, like Barcelona,” said Forestieri. “No, Carlos says go to the pitch and play, but we train every single day.

“If someone lost the ball, me, Hooper, Nuhiu or someone is quick to get the ball back. We do this in training.

“I have never seen a coach in the Championship who has such big ideas, a big mentality, because he thinks about Barcelona, Manchester City, big clubs.

“Look at Barcelona, they lose the ball, it doesn’t matter if it’s Messi, Neymar, everyone presses.

“We follow this idea, and now I think we are doing well, we need to carry on.”

Wednesday are far from being the finished article, and clearly not in Barcelona’s league, as slack defending in the first two minutes against Brentford nearly saw them concede twice.

Nico Yennaris rushed his shot when he had time for an extra touch to allow Keiren Westwood an easy save and the Owls’ goalkeeper then denied Alan Judge with a fine block.

But the pivotal moment in the game came in the fifth minute, Bees defender Yoann Barbet shown a straight red card for bringing down Hooper, after the striker had got goal-side of him.

Seven minutes later and Wednesday were in front, Daniel Pudil’s deflected cross headed in by Forestieri for his 12th goal of the season.

Hooper added a second when he sneaked in again to half-volley home Westwood’s booming kick downfield.

It was 3-0 just before half-time, some slick passing finally resulting in Bannan picking out Hooper in the area, and he headed down for Lee. The midfielder kept calm to swivel and stroke the ball into the net.

The second half was an anti-climax as 10-man Brentford carried out a damage limitation job, but substitute Lucas Joao capped off the afternoon, drilling home in the 89th minute.

From being the lowest scorers at home in the Championship last season – 16 goals in 23 games at Hillsborough – Carvalhal has revolutionised this team.

Today they are the highest scorers in the division, with 49 goals, and have a strike force that has already plundered over 30 goals between them. Forestieri (12), Hooper (10), Joao (7) and Nuhiu (4) mean Carvalhal has an array of strike talent at his disposal.

Against Brentford, Forestieri was deployed wide to allow Nuhiu and Hooper to play central, a ploy the Owls like using at Hillsborough.

The 26-year-old former Watford striker – enjoying the best goals return of his career, after netting just five times last term – is thriving in S6.

“When Nuhiu and Hooper play, for me it’s brilliant because we attack right, left and the defender doesn’t understand what’s happening,” said Forestieri.

“It’s perfect for us. We need to carry on like this.

“I have played with a lot of strikers, but Hooper is brilliant.Not only scoring, but working hard for the team.

“Also Nuhiu and Lucas (Joao), who came on and scored, helped the team.

“Now Carlos for the next game he has trouble, because he doesn’t know who to put in the starting XI. That’s good.”

The Owls are five points clear of seventh-placed Birmingham, but Carvalhal played down their promotion chances. He dismissed rival managers’ claims this season that Wednesday’s sudden rise up the table is due to spending big money in the transfer market.

Their biggest outlay, £3m each for Hooper and Forestieri, is still some way short of the Owls’ record £4.5m buy for Italian Paolo Di Canio in 1997.

Carvalhal said: “We are outsiders in this competition.

“There are teams more ready than us. Some coaches are talking that we are spending a lot of money; that is not correct.

“We have a budget in the middle of the Championship, in my opinion.”

Sheffield Wednesday: Westwood, Hunt, Lees, Sasso, Pudil, Wallace (McGugan 74), Bannan, Lee, Forestieri, Nuhiu (McGeady 62), Hooper (Joao 80). Unused substitutes: Price, Semedo, Turner, Bennett.

Brentford: Button, Colin, Dean, Barbet, Bidwell, Kerschbaumer (O’Connell 8), Woods, Canos (Saunders 45), Judge, Yennaris (McEachran 82), Hofmann. Unused substitutes: Bonham, Macleod, Swift, Vibe.

Referee: G Scott (Oxfordshire).