“Very high level” – Thomas Frank praises Fulham contingent ahead of West London derby
Brentford boss Thomas Frank was full of praise for Fulham ahead of their Premier League clash at Craven Cottage on Monday night.
The duo head into the West London derby side by side in the league table, with the clubs separated by one place and one point. Brentford currently sit in 11th with 13 points, while Fulham are in 12th position on 12 points.
The Bees head into the encounter on the back of a penalty shootout win over Sheffield Wednesday in the EFL Cup round of 16. Frank’s side recorded a 4-3 victory in their last league match with Ipswich Town thanks to a late Bryan Mbuemo winner.
As for Fulham, they will be seeking their first victory in four matches, with their last win coming against Nottingham Forest in late September. The Cottagers drew their last league match 1-1 with Everton at Goodison Park.
The Bees have only been beaten once in their last five meetings with Fulham, having won three of those encounters. The pair played out a 0-0 draw when they last met in the Premier League in May.
Thomas Frank commends Marco Silva’s Fulham
Marco Silva’s men have only faced defeat on three occasions this season, having lost to Manchester United, Manchester City and Aston Villa.
When asked why the Cottagers have been so hard to beat, Frank highlighted Fulham’s consistent starting eleven and was full of praise for their summer signings.
“I think they [Fulham] more or less played the same line-up in all those games. I think that that fits and means he’s played with his strongest players.
“I also think that Joachim Andersen makes them better in defence, and Smith Rowe makes them better in midfield. Those two and Jimenez, Iwobi and Traore playing at a very high level just adds quality. The result is that they are difficult to beat.”
Brentford’s boss reflects on Ipswich Town epic
Brentford left it late to clinch victory in their Premier League epic against Ipswich, clinching a 4-3 win in the 96th minute.
Frank said that his side needed more urgency, when asked about what he learned from the goal fest.
“I learned that we are very good at creating chances and scoring goals, and we need to look at some of the goals we conceded.
“Take the two goals away, and then that build up play with it, we made a mistake.
“They had three big chances in the game, and then that top cross and finish from Delap. If you take the first two goals and a big one, then we gave very little away, but you can’t do it that way. That makes sense.
“We are definitely giving too many goals away compared to how well we defend, but I think we need more urgency so we concede less goals. No doubt about that.”
Fabio Carvalho challenged to make position his own
Fabio Carvalho has started to make more of an impact for the Bees, having signed from Liverpool during the summer transfer window.
The 22-year-old has a goal and an assist in his last four appearances and started in Brentford’s EFL Cup win over Wednesday.
When asked about Carvalho’s impact, the Brentford boss was certain that the Portuguese midfielder would be a success.
“I think it’s still early days in his career here. I’m not in doubt that he will do very well for us.
“I think actually he was a bit hard done by Tuesday night. I think he actually played quite a good game, but we wanted a little bit more in front of goal and needed Wissa to come on and be the key striker, and so on.
“He’s in the right place. Sometimes you’re coming into a new club, and you’re getting minutes in every game, more or less, and then suddenly you get that run of three or four games, and it’s up to him to take the position.”
