🔗 Share this article

Over the midpoint of the campaign, Brentford find themselves in a dream scenario.

With victories in five games, and a Samba striker netting the goals, suddenly Bees fans are dreaming of thoughts of trips to European capitals next season.

A convincing three-nil win over Sunderland moved their manager's side into the fifth spot in the Premier League – a position that was good enough to secure European football last season.

Only leaders Arsenal have gathered more points over the past half-dozen matches.

There is a significant distance to go yet but Brentford are squarely in the battle for continental football.

Few was envisioning this last off-season.

Thomas Frank had departed for Spurs after a seven-year stint in charge, a period in which he had not only got the club promoted but also cemented them in the top flight.

Skipper their Danish midfielder left for Arsenal and attacking duo two key forwards – who scored a total of thirty-nine goals in the previous campaign – were out the door, joining United and Newcastle United respectively.

Set-piece coach Keith Andrews was elevated to succeed the Dane, while there was no striker among the off-season arrivals.

A season of difficulty, possibly even the drop, was widely predicted. Yet here we are in January with Brentford in the top five.

So, what is behind their success?

Igor Thiago's Record-breaking Campaign

Brentford's decision not to bring in another striker was partly down to timing, with Wissa's move not being finalized until deadline day.

But they also were aware they had a £30 million striker already chomping at the bit.

The 24-year-old joined from Belgium in the summer for a then club record fee, but was hindered by injury in his debut campaign, going without a goal in his initial outings.

The 24-year-old has gone about making up for lost time this season, though, with his double against the Wearside club taking him to sixteen league goals – the most by a Brazilian in a single English top-flight campaign.

Considering the fellow Brazilians who have preceded him, that is a remarkable feat, especially with seventeen matches remaining.

"He's been a breath of fresh air," former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy said. "He is physically intimidating, fast, powerful, but technically better than people think. Good with his feet, either foot, he can score off both. You can see he's brimming with confidence. These numbers are incredible. He must be so pleased. That's a big compliment to him."

That only Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe have scored more in any of the continent's major leagues to this point shows the standard he is playing at.

And it is not just the volume but the timing of the goals that have been so important for his team.

His opener against the Black Cats was his 7th first goal of a game of the season. Considering how often we are told the significance of the first goal in a game, having someone you can rely on to take that first big chance cannot be underestimated.

Prior to the game against Sunderland, no player to have attempted at least 30 shots this season has a better shooting accuracy than the striker's 59.1%.

He finds the target. Do that consistently and the goals will – and have – come.

Given the struggles he had in his youth, where he worked as a bricklayer to provide for his family following the death of his father, perhaps it should be no surprise that pressure on the pitch is something he handles with ease.

"Our scouts deserve a lot of praise for the kind of players they bring in and characters," the manager said. "It is really notable. He is a really special person who has adapted to life very nicely. He has had to forge this path. He has worked for his journey and grafted. He has got real determination about his personality. He is developing his skill set constantly and we are learning more and more about him. He is a pretty complete centre-forward."

The Manager Showing Sceptics Wrong

Their star striker is the man of the moment but Brentford are not and have never been a single-player team.

While they had star players – Ivan Toney, Christian Eriksen, Mbeumo and Wissa – under their previous boss, they were always seen as a team stronger than the sum of their parts.

The fear was that once the manager left, that may not be the case, and that the collective quality of Brentford's parts alone might not be enough to stay up.

As a result, appointing their set-piece coach, with no previous managerial experience, and just a twelve months at the club was seen by those external observers as a gamble.

A maiden role is a test for anyone, let alone when it comes in the Premier League and having made the leap from specialist coach to the manager's office.

But given that Ipswich Town manager one candidate was the only other alternative that Brentford looked at, they were clearly convinced they had the right man.

To date, as often seems to be the case with the key decision makers at the club, it looks as if they were spot on.

Andrews won just one of his first 5 league games in charge but big home victories against Manchester United, the Reds and the Magpies have since occurred.

Results that, following their brilliant recent run, could prove all the more important in the race for European qualification.

"We're in fine fettle and playing really good. We are playing with courage and belief in everything we do with or without the ball," Andrews added. "We are happy with how we are going but we want to keep striving."

In a league where fourth and 15th are currently separated by just eight points, they have no other option, because things could rapidly look very otherwise.

But, for now, The Bees are beating the predictions. And the longer that lasts, the closer to fruition those dreams of Europe will become.