As Brentford raced into a 4-0 win against Manchester United on Saturday, most of the attention was focused on the demise of United. Following their opening day defeat to Brighton, their capitulation in west London was met with anger from their fans, and ridicule from pretty much everyone else.
What was slightly overlooked, however, was the quality of Brentford’s performance. Since their promotion to the Premier League in 2021, they have built a reputation as a giant killer. Their victory over United this weekend was a year to the day since the Bees triumphed over Arsenal in their first top-flight game for 74 years. Topped off with a remarkable 4-1 win at Stamford Bridge in April, Brentford have established themselves as the Premier League’s underdogs.
Their performance at the weekend was a typical Brentford performance. They pressed a United side devoid of confidence, forced them to make errors, and were ultimately incredibly hard to play against. Whilst the result may have shocked many, the foundations of the performance have been laid for many years before last weekend.
Their rise from the depths of League Two has been remarkable, and it has been a mixture of a ‘Moneyball’ recruitment strategy and dynamic coaching which has taken Brentford to the level which they’re at now.
Current owner Matthew Benham has overseen three promotions since he first got involved with the club, guiding them from League Two to the Premier League in just over a decade. One of the most important changes he brought to Griffin Park was the emphasis on scientific and mathematical data to drive their recruitment.
With the help of co-sporting directors Phil Giles and Rasmus Ankersen, who has since moved on to Southampton, Brentford developed a reputation for picking up hidden gems based on statistical modelling and developing them into profitable assets. The emphasis on working with untapped talent is therefore inextricably linked with the ‘underdog’ mentality which they have become known for since their promotion to the Premier League.
Players such as Ezri Konsa, Saïd Benrahma, Ollie Watkins and Neal Maupay were all picked up for low transfer fees and sold on for sizeable profits. Due to their revolving door of talent coming through, however, a ready-made replacement was always ready to take their places.
The club have lured players from further down the English pyramid as well as shopping in the French leagues and all around Europe, particularly in Scandinavia. New signing Mikkel Damsgaard has become the sixth Danish first-team player alongside Dane manager Thomas Frank. There are very few other teams in the Premier League who have as distinct a DNA as the Bees.
The 4-0 thrashing of the thirteen-time Premier League champions was the best advertisement possible for their blueprint of success. The combined cost of the victor's squad on Saturday was just £55 million, compared to United’s whopping £424 million. It’s a stark message about how the culture of a football club and the decisions which are made are more important than the price tags of the players.
An impressive recruitment system is paired with dynamic coaching, including tactical statistician Bernardo Cueva, who is in charge of devising set piece routines. It was one of these routines which led to the third goal against United, scored by Ben Mee at the back post of a corner.
Brentford outfought, outthought and outran Man United. Whether it was the high-intensity pressure, the physical targeting of new signing Lisandro Martínez, or the carefully honed set piece routines, the result and performance was a product of years' worth of building a football club.
Every year under Matthew Benham, the club has taken forward another step. With more smart acquisitions this summer, it’s not too much to expect Brentford to be the real underdogs of this Premier League season.