Brentford head to Chelsea on Saturday in buoyant mood following a wonderful week for the Premier League’s fifth placed team.
The Premier League’s. Fifth. Placed. Team. A fact that really does benefit from being repeated, slowly. Moreso when you consider that the line forming behind the Bees includes some of the biggest names in world football as well as neighbours Fulham and Chelsea.
Not bad for a team that so many tipped for the double of relegation and head-coach Keith Andrews winning the top-flight sack race when it all kicked off back in August. Instead, just two points separate West London’s best-performing club from the Champions League places.
Spirits were further boosted by an FA Cup draw which sees a fourth-round trip to Macclesfield. The tier 6 club making all the headlines in the previous round, and rightly so, after causing what is widely touted as the greatest upset of all time when knocking out Crystal Palace. The holders were 117 places ahead of their hosts going into the game at Moss Rose, yet came away having stacked it on the biggest potato skin possible.
Now it is Brentford’s turn, but, being honest, they’ll be relishing this opportunity to reach the last sixteen. Don’t forget what happened in the League Cup. Then a trip to Grimsby Town, conquerors of Manchester United in the previous round, was seen as a trip hazard but instead turned out to be one that Keith negotiated in some style. His squad and approach have only become even more coherent since then.
To round it all off, the squad has seen plenty of change since our last outing together. New striker Kaye Furo, £10million from Club Brugge, being the principal addition, whilst Dango Ouattara is back on the grass at Jersey Road following AFCON. Frank Onyeka is also on the plane back (he’s probably landed by now), whilst Yunus Konak and Matt Cox have joined those out on loan.
Keith is now in the luxurious position of even more genuine competition for places. Something only heightened by a more than impressive performance from Romelle Donovan in the FA Cup win at Sheffield Wednesday. That said, I can’t see any significant tinkering to the team which obliterated Sunderland the last time we played Premier League football.
Instead, it will be the usual setup of four at the back with that most wonderful of coin tosses on the left. Rico, the man currently holding all the aces, but imagine not being able to start Aaron Hickey?
As for midfield, it remains a case where five into three just won’t go. Mathias Jensen and Vitaly Janelt have been in magnificent form in recent weeks, whilst Yehor Yarmoliuk has been demonstrating all season that Matthew Benham signed the correct Ukrainian (and for a fraction of the price). None of them deserve to be dropped, but to then have no room for Jordan Henderson or Mikkel Damsgaard seems madness.
At least the latter has found room for out wide, but it remains that most wonderful of guessing games in trying to pick Keith’s starting XI. Say what you want about his initial setup and tactics when the season began, and many did – myself included – but he’s now well into his groove and has confidence flowing through his veins.
The squad spirit engendered is something you just can’t put a price on. Just look at the celebrations for Igor Thiago’s second when he came charging down the touchline, Mourinho style, to join the pile-on with the record-breaking Brazilian. How about the third, when the response and love for Yarmo’s first-ever Brentford goal was as clear for all to see as Kelleher’s penalty save at 1-0 was hilarious.
All in all, the Bees could not be in a better place. Something Chelsea will be struggling to replicate. They’ve got a new man in charge in Liam Rosenior. He’s seen them go through in the FA Cup but then beaten at home by Arsenal in the League Cup semi-final first leg. Their previous league game was another West London derby, one which ended in a 2-1 defeat at Chicken Cottage.
Rosenior was in the stands for that one and will, obviously, be expecting much better for his Premier League fixture at The Bridge. He’ll have to do so without Romeo Lavia, Levi Colwill, Jamie Gittens, and Liam Delap ( a player who he knows so well from his time at Hull City). Of the higher-profile names, Cole Palmer and Reece James were due to resume training on Thursday, although whether this is a game too soon remains to be seen. Obviously, Mykhailo Mudryk remains absent on suspension after failing his drugs test.
Certainly, Rosenior still has more than enough choice to beat anybody in the division. Should they get it right. Something which has proven to be more than a challenge this season, at least by their own expectations. If anything, just as at Old Trafford, where memories of former glories and the omnipresent Sir Alex Ferguson remain in full view all around the stadium, an obsession with what they did in the past weighs heavily.
Still, if they want to make an atmosphere through banners to John Terry, then that’s on them. If wearing that badge for winning a pre-season tournament is meant to be intimidating, then think again. Nobody else cares.
It all comes down to what happens on pitch. Since paths have crossed in the Premier League, Chelsea have only beaten Brentford once. Time and again, reputations have been proven to be nothing more than smokescreens. Team spirit something infinitely better than a galaxy of stars.
Whilst those previous results count for nothing in the context of current form going into this one, they have at least served as a constant reminder to both sets of supporters that victory has to be earned on the pitch. You can’t just turn up wearing a blue shirt and expect to win. Even if it looks like somebody has sneezed golden snot onto the middle of it.
For Brentford, the Premier League remains an ongoing trip into the unknown. A thrill ride that shows no signs of slowing down. Every game a chance to better anything we have achieved previously in our entire history. As recently as 2009, the Bees were playing Macclesfield Town in League Two. That same season, Chelsea won the FA Cup, reached the Champions League semis, and came third in the league. Look at how we’re all placed now.
Saturday’s game sees another in the seemingly non-stop moments of opportunity that the Bees keep creating. Somehow, they continue to fly below the radar, even if Igor Thiago’s heroics are making more than a few people cast an eye in this direction. He may be the talisman, but Brentford are so much more than one player. All being well, this weekend will see that demonstrated again.
