🔗 Share this article

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

Following victories 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 convincing 3-0 win over the Black Cats moved their manager's side into the fifth spot in the top flight – a place that was good enough to secure Champions League football last season.

Solely table-toppers Arsenal have accumulated more points over the past half-dozen matches.

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

No one was forecasting this last off-season.

Thomas Frank had departed for Tottenham after seven years in charge, a period in which he had not only guided the club to the Premier League but also established them in the top flight.

Skipper Christian Norgaard left for the North London club and attacking duo two key forwards – who scored a combined of thirty-nine goals in the previous campaign – were also sold, joining Manchester United and Newcastle United 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 the drop, was widely predicted. But here we are in the new year with Brentford in the upper echelons.

So, how have they managed it?

Igor Thiago's Record-breaking Campaign

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

But they also knew they had a £30 million striker already ready and waiting.

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

Thiago has gone about compensating for lost time this season, though, with his brace against the Wearside club taking him to sixteen league goals – the highest tally by a player from Brazil 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 revelation," pundit Danny Murphy said. "He is a physical specimen, quick, strong, but more skilled than people think. Excellent with his feet, either foot, he can score off both. You can see he's full of confidence. His statistics are incredible. He must be so proud. 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 underscores the standard he is playing at.

And it is not just the quantity but the timing of the goals that have been so pivotal for Brentford.

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

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 percent.

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

Considering the struggles he had in his youth, where he worked as a bricklayer to provide for his family following the passing of his father, perhaps it should be unsurprising that high-stakes situations on the pitch is something he takes in his stride.

"The recruitment team deserve a lot of credit for the type of players they bring in and characters," the manager said. "This is really notable. He is a really unique 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 serious grit about his personality. He is developing his skill set constantly and we are discovering more and more about him. He is a pretty all-round centre-forward."

The Manager Proving Doubters Incorrect

Igor Thiago is the headline act but the team are not and have never been a one-man band.

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

The concern 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 avoid relegation.

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

A maiden role is a challenge for anyone, especially when it comes in the world's toughest league and having made the leap from set-piece coach to the manager's office.

But given that Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna was the only other option that Brentford looked at, they were clearly confident they had the correct candidate.

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

Andrews won just a single of his first 5 league games in charge but significant home victories against Manchester United, Liverpool and Newcastle have followed.

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

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

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