Brentford boss Thomas Frank on creating chances and coming from behind for a 2 - 2 result
14/01/2025
Brentford Stadium, London, UK
14/01/2025
Brentford Stadium, London, UK
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00:00Did your heart rate come down to normal yet?
00:02No.
00:06How do you sort of reflect on the last ten minutes?
00:11I think it's more...
00:13I think the overall performance,
00:15I'm extremely happy with that.
00:18I think this is the first time we, over 90 minutes,
00:22managed to go more or less toe-to-toe
00:26with one of the best teams,
00:29I still think, in the world.
00:30I know they're maybe not up to fully pace,
00:32but they could still produce unbelievable moments of brilliance
00:35like their first goal.
00:38I saw City's team, I think, gave everything,
00:41worked extremely hard.
00:44And the way we played,
00:48how brave we were in phase one,
00:49how we played out of that pressure quite a few times,
00:53the aggressivity and bravery in the high pressure
00:56to go man-to-man,
00:59our low block, our counters,
01:02loved everything about my team's performance.
01:06So that makes me extremely happy.
01:07So it's not like we only just defended for 80
01:10and then came back the last 10.
01:12And I think it's more than a well-deserved point.
01:13I actually think we scored first.
01:15I think...
01:16You never know, of course.
01:18And we lacked that final cutting edge
01:20before the one-nil goal,
01:21but we definitely showed that for the last two goals.
01:25And, of course, the last 10.
01:27Fantastic mentality.
01:30There was a moment, I don't know if you saw it,
01:32just as you scored the equaliser,
01:33where Johan held up four fingers and said,
01:36for the guys that make four more minutes of injury time per day.
01:40I mean, it must be the mentality on the side
01:43that pleased you most today.
01:45Fantastic, I think.
01:47We created a culture together, all of us.
01:50It's, of course, I can be the driver
01:53and the coaches and the staff and the directors,
01:56but a big part is the players.
01:59You know, we need to do it together.
02:00So the culture we created is that there's a big belief.
02:03We are positive.
02:05We can believe we can beat any team in the world.
02:08We know there's games where we're not the favourites,
02:10but when we hit our highest levels, like today,
02:12we can win any game.
02:16And that means when we equalise against the champions,
02:23then we go for the win.
02:26You sort of mentioned it with the aggression,
02:28but how pleased were you with that in particular?
02:30Because obviously, sort of against Arsenal,
02:32you sat back, sat back,
02:34but didn't perhaps show the aggressiveness.
02:38So how pleased were you to see that against here today?
02:41Depending on the aggressiveness, to come back in the game or...?
02:44To react to moments in the game and come back.
02:48I think it's two different games.
02:50I think if you look at the first half against Arsenal,
02:56we were extremely good in so many ways.
03:02I think today, I'll just say that we played 90 consistent,
03:09good minutes, which is extremely difficult
03:12against a top team like City.
03:14And I think, yeah, extremely proud of that.
03:16And a word on Jan Wojcir,
03:18obviously he's now the leading goalscorer for Brentford.
03:20Just how pleased are you with that?
03:21Very pleased.
03:22The thing is, it's extremely impressive
03:24that we got a leading goalscorer for Brentford in the Premier League.
03:29And then the journey he's been on and his improvement
03:32and what he's done is extremely impressive.
03:37I read something earlier today
03:41that we are the only team maybe in the Premier League
03:43with two players on double figures, which...
03:47How can that happen?
03:49That's, of course, a big compliment to the recruitment
03:52and the strategy from the top
03:55and to the coaching and the players.
03:58I think that's very impressive.
04:00And as a captain's performance from Norberg, right?
04:06When he plays, we're always better.
04:09What a performance.
04:11His, how can you say, anticipation
04:16and the way he intercepts the ball and always lands on the second ball.
04:20His composure with a lot of players around him,
04:22his ability to play forward.
04:25He just looked like a player that I'd enjoy to play football today.
04:28And then finally from me, Mads Roslind.
04:30I was really impressed with how he sort of picked himself up,
04:32obviously, after the mistake and then got the assist.
04:36Very impressive.
04:38I think Mads, in general, played a very good game.
04:41And, you know, you get just on a 50-50 duel
04:45where, yeah, they get a chance,
04:48Fleck can save it and Flynn can't win, it's a hard shot.
04:52If that drops anywhere else where it drops, probably not a goal.
04:55Then we would not have talked about it.
04:56So I think that's important to think about that.
04:59But, of course, he feels that he was involved, so I understand it.
05:02And the ability to come back and a great assist.
05:05And I think the way he controls the venue first half was very impressive.
05:08Yeah, brilliant. Thank you.
05:09Thomas, how important was it to sort of right the wrongs on Saturday
05:13with the points you performed today?
05:15Very important. Very important.
05:16I was very, very disappointed after Saturday in many ways.
05:21And try to analyse.
05:22I'm not blaming the players of the team or myself.
05:25Of course, all of us could have done something different,
05:27but sometimes it's just the way it is.
05:29But the performance today
05:33and the compact mentality
05:36just says everything about this squad.
05:38I think you guys that follow us for hopefully four years,
05:42it's quite a unique group of players that's consistent,
05:46perform at a good level.
05:47And it's not the first time we've performed at a high level
05:53against good teams.
05:56Thomas, the game was quite end-to-end, particularly in the second half.
05:59Pep just said he can't remember his team having more chances against you.
06:03Yeah.
06:04But is that just a sign that you're more willing to trust the attacking players
06:08and make games more open?
06:10Yeah.
06:11I think he's right.
06:16There were three or four relatively good chances to them.
06:25It was definitely Haaland.
06:26Haaland had a comment, but I don't know.
06:30Anyway, and the post, of course, when he hit the post.
06:32Those were the two big moments for me.
06:33The rest, I think we were okay on top of.
06:35And then, of course, the two goals.
06:37But I think we've never created as many chances against them
06:43as opportunities today.
06:44I think we had 18 shots.
06:45I don't think we've ever done that against them before.
06:47So I think it's like it was a game that was open.
06:50And I think, what a football match.
06:53I understand why Premier League is the best league in the world.
06:58If anyone has watched this, they must have loved it in so many ways.
07:03What kind of reception from the fans at the end plays into that,
07:05because it was such a good game?
07:07Yeah, I think you're right.
07:08I think it's that feeling that, because we didn't win,
07:12I think it's important.
07:13It's a good point.
07:14And, of course, a very good point when you play against City,
07:17when you equalise in the 92nd minute after being 2-0 down.
07:25And plus the very good performance.
07:28I think those bits add together.
07:30And, of course, the good match, I think, made the fans proud and happy.
07:38Did you get the sense after 15, 20 minutes that you were vulnerable?
07:43You were there to take it.
07:45You were so aggressive, as you said.
07:47Um...
07:49Hmm.
07:51I saw from the beginning that we had a good chance against them.
07:57So it was not...
07:59Yeah, I saw that from the beginning.
08:01Or before the game, yeah.
08:04You said you were...
08:06He likes you because you're generous and honest,
08:08but you have no idea what he means by that.
08:11Personally, Brentford.
08:14So Brentford is forsaken, what?
08:17You're generous.
08:18A generous team and an honest team.
08:21I guess it's praise, I guess.
08:24Honest teams, I like that a lot,
08:27because I think the way we define honest,
08:30not only us, but also you guys,
08:32is that the players, my players, are always running hard.
08:38They always try to do everything they can.
08:41They always try to help their teammates.
08:45I make mistakes, by the way, every day.
08:48The players make mistakes during a game,
08:50but they try to repair it as best as possible.
08:53And I think the great teams, they repair each other's mistakes.
08:57That's the greatest teams.
08:59And I think, actually, we have quite a great team.
09:04And I'm very proud of that.
09:07Okay.
09:08Thanks, everyone.
09:10See you next time.