Frank delights in ‘fully deserved’ West Ham win
Having not won an away game this season until January, Brentford now have three consecutive victories on the road following their 1-0 triumph at London rivals West Ham on Saturday – with head coach Thomas Frank understandably delighted with his players’ efforts at the London Stadium.
“It’s a very nice feeling,” said boss Thomas Frank.
“Was I worried after the first half? A little bit. I think we should have been at least 3-0 up. We were completely in control and dominated West Ham away from home.
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“We had two goals disallowed, had two or three other big chances. Then I hear Graham [Potter] is changing three players and of course they will have more energy.
“But the second half I think we were fairly fine, they never put us under massive pressure. A fully well-deserved win.”
Opta Stats: Brentford cure away-day woes
Brentford have won three consecutive away top-flight matches for the first time, having failed to win any of their first nine matches on the road this term.
Kevin Schade’s goal (3:23) was the earliest scored by a side in a 1-0 away win in the Premier League since Raheem Sterling’s strike against Arsenal at the Emirates in February 2021 (netting after 77 seconds in their 1-0 win).
Brentford have scored a league-high seven goals in the opening 10 minutes of Premier League games this season.
Brentford have won back-to-back away London derbies in the Premier League having lost seven on the bounce prior to this run.
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18 minute ago18m ago01:46
Player ratings: West Ham 0-1 Brentford
West Ham: Areola (6), Emerson (6), Kilman (6), Mavropanos (6), Wan-Bissaka (7), Soler (5), Alvarez (6), Soucek (5), Paqueta (5), Kudus (6), Bowen (7).
Subs used: Ward-Prowse (6), Guilherme (6), Ferguson (7), Scarles (7).
Brentford: Flekken (7), Van den Berg (7), Collins (7), Ajer (7), Lewis-Potter (7), Damsgaard (7), Norgaard (6), Schade (9), Janelt (8), Wissa (8) Mbeumo (8).
Subs used: Pinnock (6), Jensen (6), Carvalho (6), Yarmoliuk (6), Kayode (6).
Player of the match: Kevin Schade
Report: Schade strike earns Bees club-record third straight top-flight away win
Kevin Schade’s early strike saw Brentford beat West Ham 1-0 at the London Stadium as Thomas Frank’s side recorded a club-record third straight top-flight win on their travels.
West Ham 0-1 Brentford: Kevin Schade strike sees Bees record club-record third straight top-flight away win
WATCH FREE HIGHLIGHTS: WEST HAM 0-1 BRENTFORD
Cole: Frank’s caution over duo’s return is understandable
Latest from TodayPriceNG News:
Thomas Frank’s refusal to put return dates on Aaron Hickey and Igor Thiago came as a bit of a surprise today – but was equally understandable.
Frank has seen too many of his players suffer rehab setbacks in recent months.
Hickey is back training with the first team – but after 16 months out, Frank poured cold water on any notion that he’s close to a return.
The Brentford boss was instead keen to remind us that the Scottish fullback now needs a mid-season pre-season in his legs before he can play again.
Frank is right to be cautious; Hickey’s comeback has been thwarted before and he’s had two operations on his hamstring.
Reports this week also suggest Igor Thiago could return in March.
While that still could be the case, Frank again refused to put a date on his record signing’s return – and quickly dismissed my suggestion that the Tottenham defeat highlighted Brentford’s need for a target man up front.
Brentford fans disagree and are longing to see Thiago back on the field, having made just four appearances since joining from Brugge for £30m last summer.
Flekken should be available as Frank express excitement over Hickey return
Brentford should have goalkeeper Mark Flekken available again after he missed the home defeat by Tottenham with a side strain.
Long-term absentee Aaron Hickey is stepping up his recovery from a hamstring issue and should return to full training next week.
“He has been out for 16 months. I will be happy the day he is involved in the squad, more happy when he comes on the pitch, and even more happy when he is starting a game,” Frank said.
“But when he has been out for so long, I don’t want to be too excited before he is really ready. From next week, he needs a pre-season.”
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Frank praise for Potter at West Ham
Brentford head coach Thomas Frank feels Graham Potter has wasted little time in laying down a clear structure for his new-look West Ham side.
“I like Graham a lot. He is a great guy and a fantastic coach,” Frank told a press conference.
“He has shown what he is capable of in the past with Ostersunds, Swansea and Brighton.
“Of course Chelsea was difficult in many ways, but he has proven more than enough that he is a good coach.
“You can already see that in his West Ham team. His first step was to change the shape.
“I have a feeling he won’t stick to that shape throughout his spell at West Ham, but there is some clear structure in what they are doing now.
“West Ham, in my opinion, offensively and defensively, have clear principles in all phases.
“They want to control more and more of the ball, and they have some top players: Mohammed Kudus, Lucas Paqueta and Jarrod Bowen are really, really good.”
‘Hickey returns to full Brentford training after injury hell’
Aaron Hickey has returned to full training with Brentford, according to The Standard.
The Scottish full-back has not played for the club since October 2023 since sustaining a hamstring injury that he has had operated on twice.
Hickey will reportedly feature in a ‘B Team’ fixture before he is considered for a return to the first team.
The 22-year-old signed a new three-and-a-half-year contract in January.
Can Frank and Brentford make PL history this weekend?
Brentford can do something this weekend they’ve never done before in the Premier League – win a third away game in a row.
It’s quite the transformation, as they failed to win any of their first NINE Premier League away games this season.
But their home form has gone the opposite way – they won seven of their first eight fixtures, but haven’t managed another victory since early December!
Boss Thomas Frank attempts to explain why that is and was full of praise for Mikkel Damsgaard.
Brentford’s transfer window assessed
TodayPriceNG News Zinny Boswell:
It was a quiet window for Brentford, but crucially they kept hold of their stars Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa. There was concrete interest in Wissa, with Nottingham Forest seeing a bid rejected, but it would have taken a huge offer for Brentford to sell.
There was also some interest in Kevin Schade from Borussia Dortmund, but it was never part of the plan to let any of these players go in this window and Brentford stuck with their guns.
January transfer window: Your Premier League club’s business assessed including Man Utd, Arsenal and Liverpool,
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Brentford have five key areas they want to strengthen in over the long term, one of those being right-back, and they managed to address one of those areas by bringing in Michael Kayode from Fiorentina on loan with an option to buy.
That allowed Mads Roerslev to join Wolfsburg for the rest of the season. That deal also includes an option to buy.
Brentford complete Deadline Day deal
Brentford have confirmed Romelle Donovan has joined their academy on loan for the remainder of the season.
TodayPriceNG News reported earlier on Deadline Day that the deal would include an option to buy.
Donovan spent the first half of the season on loan at Burton Albion, where he featured seven times across all competitions.
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Bees set to sign Birmingham talent
Latest from Sky Sports News’ Dharmesh Sheth:
Brentford set to sign 18-year-old attacking right-winger Romelle Donovan on loan with an option to buy from Birmingham.
How serious is Mark Flekken’s injury?
Brentford manager Thomas Frank in his post-match press conference:
“Not serious. Don’t know how long exactly.
“He’s got two weeks until the next game.
“It’s a side strain.”
Frank firm on Brentford’s Deadline Day plans
TodayPriceNG News’ James Green: It’s Deadline Day tomorrow. Do you think your team needs a little bit more?
Thomas Frank: No.
JG: So you’re expecting nothing now?
TF: Nothing. No ins, no outs.
Frank on Kayode’s debut
Brentford manager Thomas Frank in his post-match press conference:
“I thought he looked good when he came on.
“He bombarded forward, getting around Bryan Mbeumo on the inside, produced some decent crosses, defended well.
“Positive, I thought.”
Does that feel like a missed opportunity?
Brentford manager Thomas Frank in his post-match press conference:
“Bang on! Do I need to say more? It definitely felt like a missed opportunity.
“I think we did a lot of things right in the game, but this is football, and in football, even if you do a lot of things right, it’s not the same that you’re going to win the game.
“We also need to always look at ourselves and what could we have done to do even more. Other times, it’s the small bits, the margins, that don’t drop perfectly for you.
“If we look at what we did well, we created a lot of good situations and created some opportunities, we produced more than 30 crosses, 20 shots, but we didn’t create enough big chances. It’s not like we had five or six big chances, we had maybe one or two, then we had a lot of half-chances that, on another day, could have gone in.
“And it’s down to very good defending from Tottenham. I think they defend the box some of the best I’ve seen maybe the whole season.
“They were very, very good on closing down our transitions, either well-positioned, not committing as many players forward, being wary of our threat going behind, or fouling us, so very clever, very good.
“Then, in a tight-ish game, we need to win the set-piece battle – and we didn’t.”
REPORT: Tottenham battle to victory over wasteful Brentford
Tottenham battled their way to a morale-boosting 2-0 victory at Brentford to end their four-game losing streak in the Premier League and edge up to 14th.
Brentford 0-2 Tottenham: Vitaly Janelt own goal and Pape Sarr counter earn Spurs hard-fought win
Frank on Flekken’s absence
Brentford head coach Thomas Frank has confirmed the reason why goalkeeper Mark Flekken misses out today.
“Mark picked up a side strain two days ago so unfortunately he can’t play,” he said.
“I have full confidence in Hakon Valdimarsson; he did well against Brighton when he came on.”
Follow live match commentary here:
Live Commentary – Brentford vs Tottenham | 02.02.2025
