🔗 Share this article

More than halfway through the season, Brentford find themselves in dreamland.

Following four wins in five games, and a Samba striker banging in the goals, suddenly supporters are dreaming of thoughts of trips to Milan, Munich and Barcelona next season.

A comprehensive three-nil win over Sunderland moved Keith Andrews' side into fifth in the top flight – a position that was good enough to secure European football last season.

Only leaders Arsenal have accumulated more points over the past six games.

There's a long way to go yet but Brentford are squarely in the battle for European football.

No one was predicting this last summer.

The former head coach had departed for Spurs after seven years in charge, a period in which he had not only got the club promoted but also cemented them in the elite division.

Skipper their Danish midfielder left for the North London club and attacking duo Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa – who scored a total of thirty-nine goals in 2024-25 – were out the door, joining Manchester United and Newcastle respectively.

Set-piece coach Keith Andrews was elevated to succeed Frank, while there was a notable absence of a centre-forward among the summer signings.

A year of struggle, possibly even relegation, was forecast. Yet here we are in January with Brentford in the top five.

So, how have they managed it?

Igor Thiago's Record-breaking Season

The club's decision not to bring in another striker was partly down to circumstance, with Wissa's move not going through until the final day of the window.

But they also were aware they had a £30 million striker already waiting to go.

The 24-year-old joined from Club Brugge in July 2024 for a then club record fee, but was plagued by fitness issues in his first campaign, going goalless in eight appearances.

Thiago has gone about compensating for lost time this season, though, with his brace against Sunderland taking him to sixteen league goals – the most by a player from Brazil in a single Premier League campaign.

Given the fellow Brazilians who have come before him, that is some accomplishment, especially with seventeen matches left to play.

"He has been a breath of fresh air," former Liverpool midfielder an analyst said. "He's a physical specimen, fast, powerful, but technically better than people think. Good with his feet, either foot, he can score with both. You can see he's brimming with confidence. His statistics are incredible. He must be so proud. That's a huge compliment to him."

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

And it is not just the quantity but the crucial nature of the goals that have been so important for Brentford.

His first goal against the Black Cats was his seventh 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 early opportunity cannot be overstated.

Prior to the game against Sunderland, no player to have attempted at least thirty efforts this season has a better shooting accuracy than Igor Thiago's 59.1%.

He hits the target. Achieve that consistently and the goals will – and have – come.

Given the hardships he had in his youth, where he labored in construction to provide for his family following the passing of his father, perhaps it should be no surprise that high-stakes situations on the pitch is something he takes in his stride.

"Our scouts deserve a lot of credit for the kind of players they bring in and characters," the manager said. "It is really notable. He is a really unique person who has fitted into life very well. He has had to forge this path. He has worked for his journey and toiled. He has got serious grit about his personality. He is improving his skill set constantly and we are learning more and more about him. He is a largely complete centre-forward."

Andrews Showing Doubters 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 key individuals – a host of talent – under Frank, they were always seen as a team more effective than the individual components.

The fear was that once the manager left, that may not be the case, and that the sum of their parts alone might not be enough to stay up.

Consequently, appointing Andrews, with no previous managerial experience, and just a year at the club was seen by those external observers as a huge risk.

A first managerial job is a challenge for anyone, let alone when it comes in the Premier League and having made the leap from set-piece coach to the manager's office.

But given that Ipswich boss one candidate was the only other option that Brentford looked at, they were clearly convinced they had the correct candidate.

So far, as often seems to be the case with the brains trust at Brentford, it looks as if they were spot on.

Andrews won just a single of his first five league games in charge but significant home victories against United, Liverpool and Newcastle have since occurred.

Wins that, following their excellent recent form, could prove increasingly important in the race for European qualification.

"We are in good form and playing really good. We are playing with bravery and conviction in everything we do with and without the ball," Andrews added. "We are pleased with how we are going but we want to keep pushing."

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 defying the odds. And the longer that lasts, the closer to reality those aspirations of Europe will become.