“Very consistent in our performances:” Thomas Frank’s Brentford in 2023/24
Brentford manager Thomas Frank said he is pleased with his side’s start to the season ahead of today’s home clash against Arsenal, which takes The Bees past the one-third marker in the Premier League season.
“I think we’ve been very consistent in our performances, there’s only one I’ve been disappointed in and that’s the Everton game, the rest have been good or very good,” he told the Sports Gazette.
We look back on their season so-far to find out what is behind this assured start.
Frank was in good spirits in Friday’s press conference
Brentford are currently 11th, tallying sixteen points from an even four wins, draws, and losses across twelve matchdays. They have three wins in their last five, including a statement 2-0 victory at Stamford Bridge, and have allayed any fears that the suspension of striker Ivan Toney might land them in a relegation battle.
This steady start is especially impressive given the obstacles they have faced along the way.
In May last year, Toney was handed an eight-month ban for 232 breaches of the Football Association’s betting rules. The star striker scored 20 premier league goals last campaign, only bettered by Harry Kane and Erling Haaland.
Toney becomes eligible ahead of Brentford vs Nottingham Forest in mid-January
Goalkeeper David Raya, also instrumental in Brentford’s 9th placed finish in 2022/23, joined today’s opponents on loan in August, with the Gunners expected to make the deal permanent this summer.
Raya has replaced Ramsdale as Arsenal’s first-choice keeper
Frank faced another blow when he lost Rico Henry to a potentially season-ending ACL injury during a 1-0 loss at Newcastle in September.
Despite these challenges, the West London club are not simply surviving. Their mid-table standing is respectable, but underlying numbers place Brentford amongst the Premier League’s elite.
Through 12 games, they have produced the sixth most expected goals (xG) of any Premier League side, fractionally more than the Gunners.
Expected goal difference, which subtracts xG against from xG for, places The Bees in seventh, beating out early season high-fliers Tottenham.
How, then, are Brentford faring so well? What conundrums remain?
Brilliant Bryan
Bryan Mbeumo has stepped up in Toney’s absence, bringing pace and dynamism to the centre of Brentford’s attack.
Set to represent Cameroon at AFCON in January, Mbeumo has netted six goals and provided two assists while starting all 12 of Brentford’s fixtures so far.
The forward is among the leading creators in the league, according to FBref data. Only Kieran Trippier and Bruno Fernandes (3.8) have generated more expected assists (xA) than Mbeumo’s 3.6.
The Cameroonian is also excelling as a goal threat, meeting the high standards set by Toney during last season. He is doing this whilst offering more as a ball-carrier than the England international.
If Mbeumo can continue this form as Toney returns, then Brentford will surely have one of the deadliest attacking units in the league.
Magic Mathias
While Mbeumo has brought electricity to Brentford’s attack, Mathias Jensen has starred from midfield.
The 27-year-old has dazzled with silky footwork and poise in the centre of the park, contributing three goals and two assists in twelve Premier League starts.
Despite the strength of his previous campaign, the Dane is shaping up for an even more impressive season.
Only Mbeumo (3.6) has more xA than Jensen (2.2) at the club, with the midfielder stepping-up his creative output this season.
Flekken vs Raya
Since arriving from SC Freiburg, new goalkeeper Mark Flekken has split opinion amongst Brentford fans.
Certainly, the transition to West London has not been seamless.
In August, Joachim Andersen’s 76th minute equaliser in a 1-1 home draw with Crystal Palace hardly flattered the Dutch international. Then, in mid-September, Flekken brought down Anthony Gordon for Newcastle’s penalty in a 1-0 loss away from home.
Callum Wilson converted from the spot
Despite these mistakes, Flekken has also left room for optimism. In both these fixtures, remarkable saves may well have compensated for his errors. At Palace, he denied Jefferson Lerma and Jordan Ayew in quick succession, while Bruno Guimarães was denied superbly at St James’s Park.
A weekend of great saves by:
🔴Alisson (denying a great volley by Almiron)
🍬Pickford 😬 (his only save)
🐝Flekken (double save 👍)
🐺Sa (hero 🔥)pic.twitter.com/waIkGdCMQ8— FPL Zh0u (Joe) 🇲🇾 (@ZhouFPL) August 31, 2023
Doubts may reflect the lofty standards set by Raya, whose move to Arsenal reflects his standing as one of the Premier League’s finest keepers.
Raya is also a different profile of keeper, operating in more of a sweeping role.
The Spaniard is also more ambitious with the ball at his feet, having famously been labelled a “No.10” by Jurgen Klopp.
The new Bee is also yet to match his predecessor in terms of shot-stopping. According to post-shot expected goals (PSxG), which measure how likely it should be for a goalkeeper to save a shot, Flekken is underperforming. He concedes 0.33 goals more than his PSxG per 90 minutes, whereas Raya conceded 0.13 less.
However, this is an outlier in the Dutch keeper’s career, having outperformed PSxG in his four previous seasons with Freiburg.
As he becomes more settled, Bees fans can hope for a return to the shot-stopping form he showed in Germany. The best is yet to come for Brentford’s new number one.
Rico Henry
Adapting to the loss of Henry is perhaps the toughest challenge that Frank will face in the remainder of the season.
With fellow first choice full-back Aaron Hickey side-lined until the new year, Frank may have to get creative. Mads Roerslev and Kristoffer Ajer, recently awarded a new contract until 2028, are perhaps the obvious choices given their experience at full back.
However, Vitaly Janelt has been recruited from midfield in recent games, bringing a more rounded offensive skillset to the role.
With other options in central midfield, including Frank Onyeka, Shandon Baptiste, Josh Dasilva and the exciting young talent Yehor Yarmoliuk, moving Janelt to full-back is an option that Frank will certainly consider.
