Thomas Frank says Brentford have “a mountain to climb” if they are to get a result away to Liverpool - and claims that Jurgen Klopp’s team remain the most difficult team to face in the Premier League when they are at full throttle.
Brentford are sitting comfortably in ninth position with four games of the season left and won the reverse fixture 3-1 in January. But Frank believes their 3-0 humbling on Merseyside last season will be closer aligned to what he expects this weekend.
“This game is completely new. It'll be more like what we faced last year at Anfield when we clearly lost,” Frank said. “They’re on a decent run. Anfield is the most difficult away ground to go to. It's a mountain to climb but the flip side is we believe we can do something in any game. They are huge favourites.
“Sometimes I try to get my head around them having a perfect season last year and just missing out in the league, by nothing, and a Champions League final they should have won. Now in their terminology they are struggling a little bit. Football is so strange.
“We've seen them have some remarkable wins during the season. I don't know why they haven't been consistent. They are the most difficult team to play when on maximum capacity because they are so good at playing direct. It’s so difficult to close them down.”
Frank describes Klopp as a “remarkable” coach who almost single-handedly transformed Liverpool - but he would not be drawn on the German’s touchline behaviour in last Sunday’s dramatic win against Tottenham, when he was seen confronting fourth official John Brooks before receiving a yellow card.
The Bees boss, who hopes to have Kristoffer Ajer back from injury, admits that he has occasionally crossed the line and there is a responsibility on everyone to behave on the touchline. Yet it is merely a case of the pressure becoming too much.
“All managers need to think about how we present ourselves on the touchline,” Frank added. “We need to be aware of that. I try my best, I'm not perfect. I've done things and thought afterwards I should have done better there. We're only humans. There are a lot of pressure in these situations. I don't know what exactly happened with Jurgen, it's up to him to explain that.
“It's important we as head coaches and managers are really aware of how we behave and come across. I think in general Jurgen comes across very well but sometimes we are emotional and make mistakes. I try my best but sometimes the emotions and pressure just gets you.”
