Thomas Frank’s Bees increasingly threatening in the Premier League

The surprise is confirmed every weekend a little more, to the point of not really being one anymore. We are talking here about the Brentford of Thomas Frank, current 8th in the Premier League, ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea, just 4 units from the 5th place synonymous with the Europa League held by Tottenham. The Bees, who made their comeback to the top flight of English football last season after a 74-year wait, comfortably confirmed their place in the PL in 2021-2022 by finishing the Championship in 13th position, with 46 points.

Brentford scares the big guys

From the outset, the west London club had also offered the scalp of Arsenal (2-0), as if to affirm that they did not intend to make up the numbers in Premier League. Since the start of the 2022-23 season, Brentford, who have lost only 4 times in 19 games, confirms that they are taking on a new dimension in the footballing landscape of Her Majesty’s Kingdom. If Christian Eriksen, who came to relaunch for a 6-month freelance before returning to Manchester United last summer, is no longer there, Thomas Frank can count on a quality workforce, which he guides and develops over the years. month.

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The Bees, with their style of play aimed at stifling the opponent by imposing heavy pressure, while maintaining a well-placed and difficult to move block, ready to hurt in transition by exploding on the counter, posed many worries to the cadors of the English championship this year. Brentford first smashed Man United (4-0), before standing up to Chelsea (0-0), beating Manchester City at the Etihad (2-1), then holding Tottenham in check (2-2 ) and triumph against Liverpool (3-1). Only leaders Arsenal, Newcastle and Fulham, among the top 6 in PL, beat them by a fair margin on the other side of the Channel.

Thomas Frank, the ideal man

Thomas Frank, in office since October 2018, will certainly remain the man who allowed the Bees to go back to the Premier League. But the 49-year-old Danish coach is much more than that on the side of the Gtech Community Stadium, where the boiling public also fully assumes his role as 12th man. A good leader of men, the former technician of Bröndby and Denmark’s youth teams imposed his paw and made his players understand his philosophy of play. It is moreover anything but a coincidence that Brentford extended the contract Frank, who is averaging 1.60 points per game through 2027.

The Red and Whites now exude a lot of serenity on the pitch and continue to progress, with players in place evolving in the right direction and a collective improved by intelligent recruitment. In the cages, David Raya (27), the Spanish international (2 caps) present in Qatar, stands out as a safe bet in England. The one who logically arouses envy in England (United and Chelsea in particular) is also the goalkeeper who has made the most saves (81) since the start of the season in the league, just ahead of Leno (80) and Pickford (71) . Behind, Ben Mee (33) brought all his experience to strengthen the defense, alongside Ethan Pinnock (29) and Mathias Jørgensen (32).

A talented, experienced and efficient collective ready to aim higher?

The Danish midfield community solidifies the Bees collective, with Mathias Jensen (27) and Christian Nørgaard (28), Josh Dasilva (24) or Vitaly Janelt (24) perfectly completing the midfield in depending on the device chosen by Thomas Frank (3-5-2 or 4-3-3). Not to mention the presence, off the bench, of the promising Mikkel Damsgaard (22). Offensively, Ivan Toney (26) never ceases to amaze and stacks the goals (13 in the league, or 31% of his team’s achievements). The penalty specialist (26/27 throughout his career) is also very well surrounded with soldiers Bryan Mbeumo (23) and Yoane Wissa (26).

The seventh co-best attack in the Premier League (32 goals, with Fulham) certainly has great potential. But its ability to attract pretty names, like Christian Eriksen last year and more recently Romeo Beckham (for the reserves), also demonstrates that Brentford are done with their “small club” image. At least in the eyes of our English neighbors and regular Premier League followers. While the Bees remain on the best unbeaten streak in their history (7 games) since 1937, fans are starting to dream more and more, evidenced by a chant heard in the bays of the London enclosure “We are all leaving on a European tour. There is still a very long way to go to get there, but Brentford have certainly moved into another dimension and are increasingly threatening for the big chunks in England.