Thomas Frank is one of the greatest managers in the Premier League right now. But not only is he making the correct decisions on the pitch for Brentford, he’s making all the right decisions for his own managerial career. The Bees are not contenders for a title, or even for European places (usually). What Frank has done to promote the team from the Championship and, even more importantly, keep them in the Premier League for four seasons, is an incredible achievement.
As the league stands now, in mid-December 2024, Brentford sit ninth in the table. If we only counted teams’ home games, they’d be top of the Premier League; they’ve managed to turn the Gtech Community Stadium into a fortress. Granted, this home form may be tested in January as they host Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City in quick succession, but to get 22 out of 24 possible points in home games this season isn’t a record any of the top teams can boast.
But let’s head back to their championship days, where Frank first worked his magic. The Dane took the helm after the departure of Dean Smith in 2018, having been assistant manager for nearly two years at the club. Smith was headed for boyhood club Aston Villa, still in the Championship at that time, and took their other assistant manager Richard O’Kelly with him.
It wasn’t the start he wanted, winning one match out of his first ten, and yet, as we have seen Brentford do time and again under Frank’s leadership, they adapted. Switching to a 3-4-3 formation saw the team’s form improve and they finished 11th in the 2018-19 season.
Jill Griffiths, a lifelong Brentford fan, remembers the difficult early days of Frank’s tenure without any frustration.
“We’ve been very confident ever since he became coach. Even when we’ve had a poor run of results, he never makes excuses in interviews.
“I believe he is absolutely honest with whoever he speaks to about club performance.”
Adaptability has become synonymous with Brentford in recent years. Frank returned to the 4-3-3 formation of his predecessor for the 2019-20 season, but in the Premier League this season alone, we have seen him switch between that and a 5-3-2, a 4-3-2-1 and even a traditional 4-4-2 from time to time.
These regular changes, sometimes made within games, allow Brentford to “add layers” to their style of play, as Frank has been desperate to do this season. Frank is able to adapt his players to a style of play that will frazzle their opponents, perhaps one that the opposition were not expecting them to play.
This has all culminated in praise from the world’s top managers and are renowned in Europe for their tactical play. Pep Guardiola described them as an “extraordinary team” this season.
“What they do always makes sense,” said the Manchester City boss, “I’m good in a few things, one of which is reading when the manager is good… Thomas is one of the best.”
These comments came after City’s 2-1 win over the Bees in September at the Etihad. It became clear after a first half with a wealth of chances for Brentford that Guardiola had his team set up wrong, with Brentford boasting the higher possession, xG (expected goals) and shots on target in the first 25 minutes.
Once Guardiola had brought on Rodri and Josko Gvardiol to correct this mistake, City managed to take control of the game. But this simply serves as further proof; it is in Frank’s nature to wrong-foot even the best managers in world football with his tactical acumen.
Naturally, he has been in almost every conversation when it comes to appointing a new manager for a top team. When Chelsea got rid of Mauricio Pochettino, he was a candidate. When Liverpool lost Jurgen Klopp, he was a candidate. Now that Tottenham are tempted to remove Ange Postecoglou, he is a candidate once again. Whilst it’s difficult to know what conversations have been had behind closed doors, it’s safe to say that Frank has turned down a number of job offers in recent years to stay with Brentford.
But will it be a blessing or a curse to his blossoming career?
Managers can wait too long to take the leap into one of the top jobs. Xabi Alonso is proof that a big move early on in a managerial career can be pulled off; his jump from Real Sociedad B manager to Bayer Leverkusen in 2022 is one of the most successful in recent times. Leverkusen, one of the top teams in the Bundesliga, had never won the league until Alonso took charge, but he led them to the 2023/24 title with the added bragging rights of being unbeaten all season.
However, there are far more examples of managers taking on a big job too soon. Frank Lampard’s move from Derby County to Chelsea, Steven Gerrard from Rangers to Aston Villa, perhaps the entirety of Wayne Rooney’s managerial career: all are cautionary tales for managers wanting to take the next step in their career.
It’s for this reason that Thomas Frank has made the best career move possible by making no career move at all. Graham Potter may be the best example of what Frank is trying to avoid. Potter was on his way to becoming a Brighton hero when he up and left for Chelsea, where it isn’t too harsh to say he crashed and burned. If he had stayed with Brighton longer, he could have cemented his legacy there and also boosted his credibility for taking on one of the ‘Big 6’ in the future.
Frank is already a Brentford legend forever, as only the second manager in the club’s history to oversee the side’s promotion to the top division after Harry Curtis won the Second Division championship in 1934-35. If he’s able to secure Brentford a place in European football at any level, he should finally earn the title of manager of the season. He arguably should have won the accolade in the 2022-23 season, when he led Brentford to a 9th place finish, but instead Guardiola won once again for winning the league with his multi-million-pound team.
Griffiths sums up Brentford’s love affair with Frank better than any non-fan could:
“It’s a real sadness that my dad didn’t get to see his beloved team go up. Thomas Frank has brought me the greatest joy as a fan.
“Not only the promotion, the way we played at Wembley that day [in the play-off final], but also ever since. He’s firmly established that we deserve to be in the Premier League.”
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