Seventh place, just a few points behind Liverpool and Chelsea with nine games to play – not bad for a side that was condemned to relegation in many pre-season predictions. Brentford have not just defied the naysayers; they are on the brink of creating club history too. European qualification beckons for the first time in their 137-year history and, with 44 points after 29 games, Keith Andrews’ side are on course to beat their previous record of 55 in a top-flight season. Brentford are challenging clubs with wage bills four times larger than their own.
It is easy to forget just how remarkable an achievement this is for a side once mocked as “a bus stop in Hounslow” by their local rivals. They lost four of their best and most experienced players last summer, with Christian Nørgaard joining Arsenal, Yoane Wissa signing for Newcastle, Bryan Mbeumo leaving for Manchester United and Mark Flekken moving to Bayer Leverkusen for a combined £146m. They were all essential to Brentford last season: Nørgaard was the club captain; Wissa and Mbeumo scored 39 league goals between them (59% of the team’s total), and Flekken made 133 saves – 25 more than any other keeper in the league.
Players come and go, however, and Brentford have often proved capable of adapting. They seem to lose their top scorer every summer, with Neal Maupay, Ollie Watkins, Ivan Toney, Wissa and Mbeumo all leaving in recent years. The real gut punch came when Thomas Frank, the manager who guided them to the top flight for the first time since the 1946-47 season, departed for Tottenham.
Brentford became a solid Premier League club under Frank, finishing 13th, ninth, 16th and 10th despite selling a number of important players. He was replaced by Keith Andrews, a young set-piece coach with no previous managerial experience probably best known for his punditry work.
And yet here we are. Brentford are not looking over their shoulders at the relegation places but gazing up the table as they chase down Liverpool and Chelsea – the reigning Premier League champions and the Club World Cup winners respectively. A lot of their success has been attributed to the continuity achieved under their owner Matthew Benham. While this is largely fair, it shouldn’t take away from the work Andrews has done.
He has maintained the culture and playing philosophy established during his predecessor’s reign. We still see the same intense, hardworking team that is designed to unsettle opponents; they work relentlessly off the ball, defend as a compact unit, and attack quickly and directly. Brentford rank top in the league for long passes, 13th for possession, and first for xG per shot – all statistics in which they ranked similarly last season.
But they have taken a leap forward in their counterattacking under Andrews. They rank joint-first with Manchester City for goals scored from fast breaks (nine). Under Frank, they ranked 11th for goals from fast breaks. Regis Le Bris summed up their style after he watched his Sunderland team lose 3-0 at Brentford in January, saying: “They are strong, direct and relentless.”
Most of their attacks flow through Igor Thiago, whose strength, work-rate and presence up front make him a nightmare for defenders. His 18 goals this season – second to Erling Haaland in the league – only hint at the havoc he wreaks. More than a poacher, Thiago is the heartbeat of Brentford’s direct approach.
“He’s been sensational,” said Andrews earlier this year. “It’s not just the goals; it’s his overall performance and the selfless way he plays the game. He’s not a centre-forward who just stays between two centre-backs and looks to poach goals. He’s all-action. He leads the line, runs the channels, presses back, and is amazing from set pieces. He’s a complete centre-forward.”
Andrews has praised the club’s scouts for finding Thiago, who signed from Club Brugge after spells with Ludogorets in Bulgaria and Cruzeiro in his native Brazil. They found a gem. At 6ft 3in he bullies defenders, drops deep to link play and finishes with clinically, boasting one of the best shot conversion rates (26.9%) in the league this season. To put that in context he has scored 18 goals from 67 shots whereas his countryman, Matheus Cunha, has six goals from 68 shots.
As well as working hard and having a lethal finisher up front, Brentford have shown grit, especially in recent weeks as they have hit a rough patch of form. They threw away a three-goal lead against Burnley at Turf Moor a fortnight ago but won the game 4-3 thanks to a 93rd-minute goal from Mikkel Damsgaard. They had been slack in the second and were fortunate to win but, typically, Andrews saw the positives: “It was an invaluable learning experience for us all and the best thing about it was we won the game,” he said.
The more concerning performance came against Bournemouth, where Andrews’ post-Burnley optimism suddenly seemed less warranted. Brentford had just two shots on target, the first coming in the 72nd minute, in an uncharacteristically blunt display. They were lifeless in the first half, with an xG of 0.05 – their lowest first-half total of the season. Bournemouth squandered a few good chances – Eli Junior Kroupi’s goal-bound effort was deflected wide in stoppage time and Ryan Christie lost control of the ball after rounding the Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher – and the Bees held on for a goalless draw.
Importantly, Brentford emerged from these two games undefeated. They could easily have lost both but made it to the final whistle with determination and togetherness. Andrews’ comments after Brentford’s 1-0 win against Aston Villa in January feel just as relevant now: “The spirit of the group and the grit of the group didn’t surprise me in the slightest – their togetherness and the desire to ultimately fight for each other.”
If you needed further proof of this group’s desire, Brentford have scored 15 goals in the last 15 minutes of matches in the league this season – second only to Liverpool (17). If they continue to show their togetherness and rediscover some of their spark, this could be a very special season for the club. Andrews and Brentford have nine games to create history and complete one of the Premier League’s most impressive underdog stories.
This is an article by WhoScored
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