Thomas Frank

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Thomas Frank

Nada Bee said:
Thomas has taken us to the promise land.

And every season except last (which he has a billion injuries to contend with) kept us safely mid table with some fantastic results and memories.

Got us to a semi final of the league cup, got us to the QF this season.

We ain’t going down this season either.

Thomas does make mistakes. He is stubborn. The substitutions of 60/70/80 are folk law. He refuses to change that in the most part.

We do lose points in way too many games from winning positions. I don’t know if this is now the mentality of the team or Thomas’ instructions to “keep it tight” when we take a lead.

But the real question is. Has Thomas taken us as far as he can go?

Are we happy with constant mid table?

Who’s to say a new manager would destroy everything he’s worked on to make us solid or maybe they would take us up a level?

Simply. We just don’t have the financial firepower in our little stadium to do much better than we are doing. We are over achieving everytine we finish top 15 IMO.

I know the Bananas of this world would like to think we have an outside chance of Europe but realistically, our squad isn’t deep enough.

Just a ramble really
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Mid table, as dull as it maybe, is a massive achievement. On our day I do think we’re better than the Evertons of the league. But top four aside, are we superior to Spurs, Brighton, Newcastle, Man Utd, Aston Villa etc.. we would have to play our best every single time.

Has Thomas taken us as far as he can, ever say he’s in the job is a blessing in my opinion. I don’t see how any manager could get more out of them. Keeping us in the league, in my eyes, is another reason why he should do everything to keep him.

Having said that….

Yesterday, on reflection, was very uncharacteristic. Not alarming, but throwing Ben on, having Kev and Fab sort of drifting without any defined positions, we were still winning at the point of course. If you’re Fulham, surely that invigorates you even more

However, to anyone pondering whether we should move on, the simple question is:

Is the risk of replacing such a devoted, long-serving and ultimately successful manager and therefore risking our foundation worth it for the potential prize of gaining a few places? Think most would have sense to say no.
 
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Thomas Frank

teesbee said:
Do I find it dull that the team I've supported for 30-odd years and are suffering a seemingly recurrent injury crisis are safely mid-table in the Premier League, and on their day can give pretty much anyone a game? No, not really.

:sueme:
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Thomas Frank

We had a terrible result last night but Thomas has a lot of credit in the bank.
I think our main issue with the low block is that when we put in a challenge, and win the ball, we often don't find a team mate with the pass/clearance. This I think is due to a lack of movement by players to make an easy pass, and a bit of panic due to the pressure we bring on ourselves by giving the ball away. Obviously can't be too easy a fix as it's not happened yet, but making players aware of where to be for the clearances etc may make it easier for us to hold on to the ball longer.
Simples...Well in my simple mind.
 

Thomas Frank

If we'd held on at the end we would probably have been praising the tactics to defend deep and throw extra defensive bodies on. Shortly before the equaliser Ben Mee got in a crucial block at the near post...maybe if he wasn't on the pitch they would have scored sooner, we will never know. Easy to say in hindsight we shouldn't have changed it, but personally I don't think it was a bad decision to bring on Mee, especially with so many balls coming into the box.

What I can't quite figure out is why we were so poor in possession yesterday and if it was anything to do with tactics, set-up, personnel etc or simply too many players having an off day. But this is the area I'd be questioning Frank rather than the substitutions. It felt like we didn't have an answer to Fulham's press, to the point where we made them look like Man City. Yet ironically when we actually played City we kept hold of the ball so much better!

I hope he can set us up better against Bournemouth as I feel they may present a similar challenge to Fulham. And if we play like that again we might well get thumped!
 

Thomas Frank

AB said:
TF’s normal approach is absolutely not to “keep it tight” to defend a lead. People on here after our other defeats said maybe it should have been. Whereas in fact what he almost always does is to freshen up and go for another goal (eg v Ipswich).

Last night was unusual because he for once didn’t throw the dice at 1-0 to push for a second and defend against Fulham’s onslaught by attacking. Instead he brought on Mee and went to a back 5.
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I do get why he decided to try and shore things up, even though with the little time left, it didn't seem necessary. I think he partly did it to run the clock down another minute.

This 'push for a 2nd' thing is for the birds, though in last night's game. He made the subs we all thought he'd make (except for Mee) and nothing changed. He could have changed his entire front line (if we had 3 other strikers), but if you can't get the ball to them or even keep the ball, you're not going to push for anything. Our stats possession was woeful - you can't do anything without the ball. I'd have done the same as him last night, but the gamble failed.

The problem remains with a midfield that is too easy to play through, too slow and doesn't 'look after the football' as a manager used to say. I don't honestly know if that is down to the changed formation, the players (CN & VJ) not being as good as they were, a lack of confidence, or them just not having the pace. Probably a bit of all those things.

What I do know is his insistence on picking CN & VJ is not working and is straightforward for even the worst PL sides to play through. Thomas rarely seems keen to give new players a run straight away. And this isn't a hindsight thing - it was clear at the end of last season. You can see why we went after Cajuste. The problem is we just don't seem to have a player that can some straight in, not be bullied off the ball and organise a midfield.

Our defence have certainly not been blameless this season; they generally did well last night, but they were just put under constant pressure throughout - they were always going to crack.
 

Thomas Frank

Just a question: in seasons gone by wasn’t the plan (based upon statistics) to keep going forward and not to sit back and try to defend a 1 goal lead? Does anyone else remember this or I got it confused with something else?
 

Thomas Frank

Thomas Frank

Fulham's high press and counter press were as good if not better than teams such as City and Liverpool, luckily their pass/cross into the box and finishing were not. TF would normally try to beat the press by either playing through it or going long over the top, neither tactic worked last night. Hopefully that was down to too many players having an off night. Although as other posters have noted we do miss the physical presence of Toney when going long and his ability to retain possession or buy a foul to get us up the pitch.
Our opponents this coming Saturday, Bournemouth, are also very good at a high press so it will be very interesting to see how TF sets up the team and how they cope. If we don't cope much better than last night I struggle to see us getting a positive result.
 

Thomas Frank

Dearden28 said:
Just a question: in seasons gone by wasn’t the plan (based upon statistics) to keep going forward and not to sit back and try to defend a 1 goal lead? Does anyone else remember this or I got it confused with something else?
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I guess in a difficult football match things sometimes can't go as planned.
 

Thomas Frank

Think something has to be done about the defense. I don't mean the players playing defensive positions, but the team defense as a whole. Haven't had a clean sheet in quick some time. Teams bring pressure and it constantly feels like it's only a matter of time before they break through. We cannot hold onto a lead, the 85' crumble seems like it's only a matter of time every match.

I'm not naive, I'm sure some of that comes from the fact that we have been without first choice fullbacks for so long. But it is happening over and over again, a solution NEEDS to be found because we have left so many points on the table that it is inexcusable at this point.
 

Thomas Frank

Think we're in a bit of a difficult place in a way. We want more possession and want to be more progressive but at times have to drop into a low block. We don't seem to be able to execute that with the same resilience as we once did. Whilst you could look at last night and say we didn't conceed until the 91st minute, they had multiple opportunities, particularly in the first half. Collins and Pinnock are being asked to get far too many last minute block and tackles in them we used to. Without decent full backs we are struggling to execute the game plan.
 

Thomas Frank

I'd like to ask TF what exactly is the plan when we are trying to pass it out from the back. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for it, keep possession, break the press etc but we are not very good at it and it appears the players are not sure what to do and/or aren't good enough. How many times do we get ourselves in a corner, only to chip it down the wing and inevitably lose it.
In addition to this, how can we play through the midfield, like many other sides do. Our play is basically out to the wings, chip it through the channel, with very little play through the middle, there is often a void in the centre circle when attacking or defending. I'm not against any of the personnel in the middle but it seems like we don't know what we're doing at times. On the odd occasion that we get some slick passing and create a triangle, it's great but it feels like it's as much luck than judgement. This isn't a recent thing either, 18 months possibly.
We are missing full backs, can't wait for Rico to come back but its also alarming how integral he is to our defending and as an out ball for attacking.

I love TF and everything we try to do, most of the players are good enough but something's not right with how we are trying to progress the ball, from the back, through the midfield. Not sure what the answer is, players back will help, a focal point to hold up will be good (hopefully Igor can help with this) but I think having a clear idea and tactic of how to play out from the back would be useful and watching games week in week out, it's not clear to me what it is ?‍♂️
 

Thomas Frank

Dearden28 said:
Just a question: in seasons gone by wasn’t the plan (based upon statistics) to keep going forward and not to sit back and try to defend a 1 goal lead? Does anyone else remember this or I got it confused with something else?
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I think this strategy has been less evident in the Prem TBH
 

Thomas Frank

Is he gone yet
 

Thomas Frank

Brentford manager Thomas Frank has said there are no new injuries to his squad before their Premier League match against Bournemouth on Saturday.

The boss said on Rico Henry: “Instead of putting a date on when he’ll play the next game. If everything goes to plan, there’ll be a week until he can be involved in a game. We’re extra cautious [after previous setback].”

And on Kristoffer Ajer: “No [setback]. We thought that the prognosis looked like he could be available for Fulham. But when we started loading the foot, it didn’t respond as well as we hoped. Two/three weeks [out].”
 

Thomas Frank

Interesting stat on our ability to drop points when ahead, or inability to hold on and even maintain the lead for long.

1731080687329.png


Interesting a bit concerning that we wouldn't be aware of that already?
 

Thomas Frank

Within 20 minutes isn't a tiny window though. We probably concede 15 goals in the first 20 mins after half time for instance.

If it was within 5 mins it definitely would be worth looking at.
 

Thomas Frank

Invipai said:
Within 20 minutes isn't a tiny window though. We probably concede 15 goals in the first 20 mins after half time for instance.

If it was within 5 mins it definitely would be worth looking at.
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9 times within 10 which is also in statement is concerning too.
 

Thomas Frank

SlumanBee said:
9 times within 10 which is also in statement is concerning too.
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I think we’ve scored quite a few within 10 minutes of conceding… although I can’t be ****ed to check it out, it’s all a bit meaningless. I can’t recall any times we’ve conceded within 10 minutes of me drinking a tea.
 

Thomas Frank

Bournemouth press conference

www.brentfordfc.com

Frank names Bournemouth's biggest threat ahead of Saturday's clash

Brentford head coach Thomas Frank has highlighted Bournemouth's biggest threat ahead of the Cherries' visit to west London on Saturday; the Bees boss also praised the work head coach Andoni Iraola has done at Vitality Stadium since being appointed in June 2023
www.brentfordfc.com www.brentfordfc.com
 

Thomas Frank

Thomas Frank

Thomas Frank

Great punch in the air from TF at final whistle! Chewing gum game on point today.

Quick post: given how games at home seem to go, his view might simply be that we’re conceding a lot but so far scoring more. So why isn’t that sustainable? So far it has been. At least until the full back situation eases off. I’ve tried different solutions, not much has changed. But as long as we adore, which we are, it’s all good
 

Thomas Frank

BuzzingBee95 said:
But top four aside, are we superior to Brighton,
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Potentially yes, we do the same thing as they do, we buy and sell for the same amount so we still fish in the same pond. Without our last 18 months of injuries/Toney I think we would be doing what they are.
 

Thomas Frank

Everton pre-game press conference due at 14:30........
 

Thomas Frank

Twice in the Premier League he's tactically outwitted the home manager at Goodison Park. In the first season, when Everton had a player sent off before HT, he switched the formation to 5-3-2 and whilst Frank Lampard stood looking g stunned, we came from behind to win 3-2. Yesterday, he flummoxed Sean Dyche and made sure we got the point.

Mind you, Dyche and Lampard between them probably wouldn't have had the tactical nous to respond!!
 
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