In charge: Thomas Frank
(Picture: FEDERICO GUERRA MARANESI/PPAUK/Shutterstock)Thomas Frank hopes his Brentford side get the credit they deserve for their hammering of Manchester United on Saturday, and says his players “keep showing me how good they are”.
The Bees tore United apart with a sensational first-half showing as they scored four times before the break to secure an historic 4-0 win.
The result means United have started the season with back-to-back defeats under new manager Erik ten Hag, following last weekend’s loss to Brighton, and Frank is keen to ensure his side’s display is not lost amidst the crisis at Old Trafford.
“I don’t think its that often any team wins 4-0 in the Premier League and especially not against Man United,” Frank said.
“I would not say surprised, but they keep showing me how good this group of players are together. We can make it difficult for every team in the Premier League.
“The best feeling is that when you play these top six clubs and win it’s crazy, but when you win and it’s fully deserved that’s even more impressive. I don’t think it was a 4-0 win but it was clearly deserved.
“I like to only speak about my team and I hope you guys give us a lot of credit because the easiest thing it is just Manchester United, it’s this, it’s that. I think we deserve a huge amount of credit. It’s not the first time we put a good performance out in the Premier League so there must be something we’re doing right.”
Brentford’s press caused United problems all afternoon and created two of their goals, while Frank’s decision to revert to a back-three and play a more direct style proved a masterstroke, with Ivan Toney and Bryan Mbuemo left up top as a pair to terrorise the visiting backline with their pace and physicality.
“We like to dominate more on the ball and have it more but we know where we are in the food chain,” Frank added. “In some games we need to be more pragmatic as we showed last year.
“Part of the game plan was that we went long, every goal-kick, every time it went back to David [Raya] because we knew we’d be, most likely, stronger and better there.
“We watched Brighton, they were very successful. Brighton are a very good possession team and they went long every single time.”
