#15 Brentford: The Second Season Syndrome
Second-season syndrome will be the phrase on everyone’s lips when it comes to discussions about Brentford this term. The phenomenon refers to those promoted teams who enjoy excellent first campaigns in the Premier League, only to plummet the following year. Leeds United experienced it last season, but they still managed to stay up. Sheffield United were not so lucky in 2020/21.
Brentford exceeded expectations last time out. Among the favourites for relegation before a ball had been kicked, Thomas Frank’s side finished 11 points clear of the drop zone. They may have come up from the Championship through the play-offs rather than automatically, but they outperformed the two teams – Norwich City and Watford – who moved up a division with them. Brentford at times played thrilling football and quickly became the neutral’s favourites.
The Bees had a dream start to their first ever Premier League season, beating Arsenal 2-0 on opening night. After a 2-1 victory over West Ham United in the first half of October, Brentford climbed as high as seventh in the standings. But a mid-season wobble saw them slide down the table, and relegation suddenly became a concern again. Everything changed, though, when Frank persuaded Christian Eriksen to sign a six-month deal at the Brentford Community Stadium at the end of January.
The Denmark international was a transformative figure. Just a few months on from the cardiac arrest that put his career (and his life) in jeopardy, Eriksen picked up where he left off from his last spell in English football.
See our predictions for all the teams in the 22/23 Premier League season here.
Brentford’s upturn was not solely down to the midfielder, but without him they would surely have finished much closer to the bottom three, if not in it. A run of five wins in six games, including a stunning 4-1 thrashing of Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, secured Brentford’s top-flight status. The worry is that Brentford might struggle without him this time around.
Frank has done a marvellous job during his time in west London, but keeping the club up for a second successive season could be his biggest challenge yet.
Predicted XI (4-3-3)
David Raya; Aaron Hickey, Ben Mee, Pontus Jansson, Rico Henry; Mathias Jensen, Christian Norgaard, Vitaly Janelt; Bryan Mbeumo, Ivan Toney, Yoanne Wissa.
The coach
Thomas Frank was a contender for the Premier League’s Manager of the Year prize last term, along with the likes of Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Patrick Vieira. Appointed as Brentford boss in 2018, it has been a case of near-constant progress for the club since the Dane was handed the reins. The Bees finished 11th in Frank’s first season, lost in the play-off final in his second, won the play-offs in his third, and survived in the Premier League in his fourth. Brentford fans would settle for a small backwards step this time around as long as they still stayed in the division.
Brentford are one of the best run clubs in English football. They do not have a budget to match most of their Premier League rivals but they spend their money well, making use of analytics and advanced data to find recruits that escape the attention of other teams. Yet the players they sign are rarely ready-made: it requires the smart coaching of Frank and his staff to take the raw ingredients and turn them into the finished product. Frank is also a terrific man-manager who is largely responsible for Brentford’s togetherness and team spirit. Individual quality is one thing, but it is not enough for the collective to be successful at Premier League level. Frank understands that and has made Brentford’s camaraderie one of their major strengths.
Player to watch
He was understandably overshadowed by Christian Eriksen in the final few months of the campaign, but Christian Norgaard was voted Brentford’s Player of the Year by both his team-mates and the club’s supporters. The holding midfielder was instrumental to the Bees’ survival, with his screening of the back three helping Frank’s side to concede fewer goals than Manchester United.
Only Wilfred Ndidi of Leicester City averaged more tackles per game than Norgaard, who was fifth in the list of average interceptions per match by midfielders. The Dane is a natural ball-winner who sniffs out danger and knows how to be in the right place at the right time.
He missed only three Premier League matches in 2021/22 and will be one of the first names on Frank’s team sheet this season too. Not a particularly flashy player, Norgaard is hugely effective at what he does.
Transfers
In
Aaron Hickey (Bologna), Keane Lewis-Potter (Hull City), Thomas Strakosha (Lazio), Yehor Yarmolyuk (Dnipro-1), Ben Mee (Burnley)
Out
Christian Eriksen (Released), Mathias Jorgensen (Released), Julian Jeanvier (Released), Mads Bistrup (Nordsjaelland, loan)
Our Premier League score card
Goalkeeper: 7/10
David Raya earned his first cap for the Spain national team last season, which says it all about the rise of a goalkeeper who was plying his trade in the third tier of the English pyramid just four years ago.
When Raya got injured in October, it confirmed how valuable he was to this team. Alvaro Fernandez deputised during his compatriot’s spell on the treatment table, but he was sadly inferior to Raya in virtually every aspect of the goalkeeping game. He would never admit it publicly, but it must have been a huge relief for Frank when his No.1 returned to full fitness.
Raya is not only a fine shot-stopper but he is adept with his feet too. That allows Brentford to build up play from the back, and it gives the team’s defenders the confidence to pass the ball back to the Spaniard. Frank will be desperate for him to stay fit for the entirety of this campaign.
Defence: 6/10
Brentford’s defensive record was pretty good last season: they ranked 12th for goals conceded (where the fewest conceded is first) and performed even better on the expected goals against front. The statistic measures the quality of chances a team concedes, and Brentford were in the top half.
Defending is a collective art and the Bees demonstrate that as well as anyone. Frank looks set to switch to a three-man backline this term, with Ben Mee likely to partner Pontus Jansson at the heart of it. Regardless of the switch, Brentford will be well organised, disciplined and diligent, and the three defenders work well together.
Just like in other areas, though, Brentford will find things more testing defensively this time around, so do not be surprised to see a drop-off in this area.
Midfield: 6/10
It would be a gross exaggeration to say that Christian Eriksen single-handedly won Premier League games for Brentford last season, but it is certainly true that the team’s form was on the slide before he came in. One of the reasons for that was a lack of creativity within the ranks, particularly in midfielder. That is something Frank needs to address following Eriksen’s decision to join Manchester United rather than return to the Brentford Community Stadium.
Norgaard is a defence-minded player who does a fantastic job of breaking up play and disrupting the rhythm of the opposition. Mathias Jensen and Vitaly Janelt will probably get the nod to start alongside him, although it was notable that Frank seemed to go off the later last season. It would not be at all surprising if Brentford tried to bring in one or two more options in the engine room before the transfer window closes in early September.
Attack: 7/10
Ivan Toney was not quite able to break into the top 10 Premier League top scorers last season – he finished one short of Raheem Sterling in 10th – but the Brentford striker will be pleased with how his first full season of top-flight football went. A well-rounded centre-forward who can score virtually every type of goal, Toney is Brentford’s talisman and the player they will again look to for inspiration up front. Bryan Mbeumo’s contributions in 2021/22 did not go unnoticed by Frank or the Brentford faithful. A hard-working player who tends to drop deeper than Toney, Mbeumo links the play and knits the midfield and the attack together. Yoanne Wissa forced his way into the starting line-up late in the season and will hope to pick up where he left off.
Bench: 5/10
In terms of quantity, Brentford do not fare too badly when we analyse their squad. But if we focus on quality, there is clearly room for improvement. It is doubtful whether the likes of Mads Roerslev, Dominic Thompson and Charlie Goode are good enough back-ups in defence, for example. Further forward, the jury is still out on Shandon Baptiste, Saman Ghoddos and Josh Dasilva. Any injury to Ivan Toney, meanwhile, could prove fatal for Brentford’s chances of staying in the Premier League.
Final score: 32/50
Survival must be the aim again for Brentford this season. The loss of Christian Eriksen is a huge blow and they will struggle to replace his guile and creativity in the centre of the park, but with the team’s togetherness and Frank’s astute management, Brentford can finish above the dreaded dotted line.
