Others may have been fretting but, back in August, Thomas Frank had no fears of second-season syndrome. It was an obvious affliction to predict for a club that punched so spectacularly above its weight on entering the Premier League: history provides several examples of subsequent letdown and the loss of Christian Eriksen, who pulled Brentford upwards last season when their form dropped, did not bode well to those assessing from afar. But Frank watched each of their matches back from start to finish in pre-season and felt convinced they had set themselves a platform for improvement. The feeling in London’s far west was of quiet confidence.
“I was never worried about it,” Frank said on Friday, holding court with familiar garrulousness. “I was hugely respectful of the league and I know that if you’re not on it, or get three key injuries, or are a little bit unlucky, then you can be in big trouble. There’s nothing granted that we can stay here for ever. But how we performed last year was not lucky at all if you look at all the underlying performance indicators. Knowing the squad, knowing we didn’t want to sell anyone and knowing we had added more talent and quality, I was quite sure we could do well again.”
Even so, Brentford have exceeded every expectation so far. Avoiding defeat at home to Crystal Palace would bring up 11 unbeaten top-flight games; beating the visitors, as they must be highly fancied to, could propel Brentford to sixth and see them breathing down the neck of fifth-placed Spurs. Everything is purring and Frank knows it. “They’re a group that are unbelievably in sync right now,” he said of his players. “We have a group that are constantly adding layers to our gameplan, to our tactics.”
Last Saturday’s draw at Arsenal was a perfect example of Brentford’s strengths, even if the detail of their performance became lost in the furore over the VAR errors around their equaliser. By any measure they merited at least a point and, until Leandro Trossard put Arsenal ahead, created the better chances. They might not be all over your defence for 90 minutes but they are expert at picking their moments and know how to punch hard. The “big six” have all felt it: in seven meetings with the league’s established superpowers only Arsenal, when they met at Brentford Community Stadium in September, have outdone them. Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool have all been picked off with varying degrees of humiliation.
But losing to Brentford should no longer feel like an affront. They have been damned with faint praise in recent weeks: Mikel Arteta talked respectfully of set pieces and low defensive blocks at the Emirates but little of the inventive attacking play that could easily have seen Arsenal go two down; after Liverpool’s capitulation last month Jürgen Klopp drew the attention to long balls, “chaos” and a propensity to “stretch the rules” at corners. There seems a reluctance to admit that Brentford have objectively been better, rather than simply set up to thwart.
Frank would not go that far in regard to his peers but agreed any obsession with the less glamorous side of their game is reductive. “I’m happy to see people think we’re good at set pieces because we are,” he said. “I’m pleased to see and hear that we are good in the low block and defending well. I think that narrative has become bigger because we’ve done it very well against the top six, way above the normal level of other teams playing them, so of course we get a well-deserved credit.
“I do hope people see we are a bit more than defending low and set pieces. Even against the top six we are pressing high: the stats on goalkicks show we are one of the best teams at closing down or pressing man to man. Hopefully we also get some credit for that.”
Only five teams have scored more goals and, in Ivan Toney, they have a centre-forward who has hit virtually unplayable levels when fit: William Saliba, for one, can attest to that. Although Brentford’s shot count is the third-lowest in the division, the quality of chance they create is among the highest. Frank believes Brentford can still improve on their domination of games and in making the most of quick transitions but he is happy to be in a position to consider tweaks rather than overhauls or sticking plasters. Significant injuries have recently been few beyond the thigh complaint sustained by his captain, Pontus Jansson; their consistency means Frank is in the luxurious position of knowing what he can expect from each of his players on a given match day.
Man Utd (H) won 4-0 13 August
Arsenal (H) lost 3-0 18 Sep
Chelsea (H) drew 0-0 19 Oct
Man City (A) won 2-1 12 Nov
Tottenham (H) drew 2-2 26 Dec
Liverpool (H) won 3-1 2 Jan
Arsenal (A) drew 1-1 11 Feb
“Even though we’re in such a good place, you’re so eager to want it to continue that you see all the threats out there and try to be on top of everything,” he said. “I don’t know if I’m more calm, but I’m definitely aware the players are on top of their game. They’re confident, they’re fit, they are in a good place. Things seem to click and that’s a good place to be.”
A sustained battle among the European contenders becomes more possible by the week: on paper, Brentford’s run of games until late April looks positively inviting. Frank sees the Europa League “not as a target” but Brentford have shown no obvious sign of hitting a ceiling during his four years in charge. “We allow ourselves to dream, we’re pleased with where we are now,” he said. “But we’re very aware that if we don’t perform we’ll get nothing out of the game against Palace. The margins are so small.” Few are negotiating them as smartly and reliably as his remarkable team.
