Gossip: 'Next Haaland' attracts English clubspublished at 07:05
07:05
Newcastle are monitoring 18-year-old Norwegian forward Sindre Walle Egeli, dubbed the next Erling Haaland, with West Ham, Crystal Palace, Brighton and Brentford also interested in the £25m-rated teenager. (Daily Mail), external
'Adaptable' Frank will help Bees after Wissa injurypublished at 12:06 19 September
12:06 19 September
When a player gets ruled out for a lengthy period of time, the impact can be different depending on what club you are.
When you look at Manchester City last season when Kevin de Bruyne was ruled out for a lengthy period, their squad depth is so great they could have the likes of Phil Foden step up and still play at the high level. When you are at a smaller club it can be so different.
It is not that you are reliant on those players, but Yoane Wissa has become key to Brentford with his goals and what he does in that position. He is definitely going to be someone that they will miss and it is something that will just shock the team around him a little bit.
When Ivan Toney was out for a period of time they had a little bit of a blip. They missed that key figure within the team and I think it could be the same after seeing what impact Wissa has had since Toney left. It will be difficult for them but, what we can say about Brentford under Thomas Frank, is they are a well coached team and a well drilled team.
From my experience as a player when I was at Reading, if myself or one of our key players was injured, it definitely disrupts the team but because you are well drilled and so well organised, you do have other players that can slip into the system and have an understanding of that.
For the player who does come in, maybe Bryan Mbeumo in this case, you don’t compare them to the player who is out and it takes the pressure off them a little bit. He is a different kind of forward, but one you know that if given opportunities he can score goals.
Because Frank as a coach is adaptable - he's a very knowledgeable manager, very good manager in terms of how he coaches - that will help and now it's about finding somebody that fits what they have already adapted to this season.
Fara Williams was speaking to BBC Sport's Nicola Pearson
'To go as far as possible and in best case win it' - Frankpublished at 08:23 18 September
08:23 18 September
Brentford boss Thomas Frank after watching his side beat Leyton Orient in the Carabao Cup:
"It depends on the strength of other clubs. It's been 11 years in a row of one of the top six winning it, so it's difficult. But I think we've got enough depth in the squad.
"We just need to be less unlucky with injuries. Right now we have eight of our first-team players [out] - normally you'd have two, three or maybe four.
"If it was only four, then no problem. If we have them available, I think we have a strong squad.
"The aim is to go as far as possible and, in the best case, to win it."
On summer signing Fabio Carvalho, who played a key role in the victory: "He's taking steps in the right direction in the past five or six weeks.
"I was very pleased with what I saw from him; a great goal, a great assist. He's growing into what I thought he would bring to us."
Brentford 3-1 Leyton Orient: Carvalho stars in Bees victorypublished at 23:44 17 September
23:44 17 September
Marissa Thomas BBC Sport journalist
Thomas Frank made eight changes to the side who lost 2-1 against Manchester City at the weekend.
It was Fabio Carvalho who made the most impact as the Bees came from behind to beat Leyton Orient in the third round of the Carabao Cup.
The 21-year-old winger joined from Liverpool last month in a deal worth £27.5m including add-ons.
His first Brentford goal came via a superb overhead kick from close range after Kevin Schade's effort had bounced up in the box.
Carvalho then provided a brilliant assist with a lofted ball into the box which Mikel Damsgaard converted for his first Brentford goal.
With Yoane Wissa out for a few months due to an ankle injury sustained against Man City, it could be a chance for Carvalho to force his way into Frank's thinking.
His brilliant performance against Leyton Orient will have certainly helped his case for more minutes in the Premier League.
Brentford 3-1 Leyton Orient- send us your thoughtspublished at 21:46 17 September
I actually left the Etihad feeling more disappointed than I expected on Saturday.
Games such as Manchester City away for Brentford are often described as a "free hit", with any points picked up seen as a bonus for the season.
As usual, I went to the game expecting to lose but definitely not to get stuffed as some teams are there.
The sensational start surprised all of us and was brilliant to see – as were all the first 25 minutes when we totally dominated.
In the end, Erling Haaland was the difference between the sides, but the fact we were always in the game at 2-1 and had two late chances to equalise was what made me feel that we could so easily have grabbed a point.
While the long-term impact of the defeat is negligible, one incident which will have a more far-reaching effect on our season is the injury to Yoane Wissa.
The in-form striker was the victim of a cruel challenge by Mateo Kovacic, for which the City player was rightly booked, and then subbed at half-time and replaced by Rodri - not much of a punishment!
Thomas Frank says Wissa will be out for "a couple of months", which is a massive blow to us, especially given that he has scored three of our six Premier League goals so far this season and that his partnership with Bryan Mbeumo is getting stronger by the game.
With Igor Thiago still sidelined, Kevin Schade or maybe Fabio Carvalho will be the men charged with the responsibility of filling the gap.
Frank on Wissa injury, a fairytale and Pep's commentspublished at 16:11 16 September
16:11 16 September
Brentford boss Thomas Frank has been speaking to the media before Tuesday's Carabao Cup game against Leyton Orient (kick-off 19:45 BST).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
On Yoane Wissa: "It's not good news, it looks like an injury that will be a couple of months. It's very frustrating. It will leave a hole but I will find a solution and other players will step up."
Frank said the League Cup "is a competition we take very seriously". He added: "The last four seasons we lost to Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham". We want to go on a cup run and do our best to see how far we go - that is the same tomorrow."
On Pep Guardiola's comments that it is a "question of time" before the Brentford boss manages a perceived bigger club, Frank said: "He's a very clever man. He is probably the best manager in the world now, and maybe ever. He's very good at showing his class no matter what."
Captain Christian Norgaard will start for the Bees tomorrow, highlighting "how strong" his side will be.
He would like to be someone "responsible for the tournament" and is "happy to facilitate a meeting" on the future of it. He thinks everyone would benefit from the semi-final being only being one-leg.
He thinks this would benefit lesser sides and hopes Brentford could be "that smaller club to go on a fairytale run".
On closing in on his sixth year at Brentford, he joked it is down to "a lot of luck," before saying he's had "fantastic backing" from the owner, the sport's director, CEO and technical director. He added: "The alignment between the five of us is key in many aspects."
He was quick to praise everyone else, saying "it's always tricky" to give yourself the credit. "I have got good players and staff - hopefully I contribute a bit as well," Frank added.
Man City 2-1 Brentford - the fans' verdictpublished at 08:32 16 September
08:32 16 September
We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between Manchester City and Brentford.
Here are some of your comments:
Man City fans
Mark: City looked half asleep in the first half. Subs at half-time - and no doubt a strong talking to by Pep - made an enormous difference and City were on top then. Haaland is a phenomenon.
Neil: Fair play to Brentford - got tactics spot on and could have been 4-0 up before we scored! They had us on the back foot, found MASSIVE gaps in our midfield and played through us very well. City just weren't at the races. Lucky to get two goals from Haaland and the game completely changed when Rodri came on second half. Business as usual - but lucky.
Mike: Brentford were terrific first half and caught us cold at the start. I felt Walker gave their winger too much space to attack the ball for the cross. They then had another couple of great chances which were missed. Once City started to control the ball, we became dominant - although I was still fearful they would catch us on the break.
Brentford fans
Danny: Great first half, sat a bit to deep in the second half.
Derek: Great team with a great manager. Always a handful in the Premier League. Not got the resources of other clubs - a great compliment to the management team.
Russell: Well done to all the players for keeping score as low as they did!
Catch up on the Premier League actionpublished at 13:54 15 September
13:54 15 September
Gary Linker brings you highlights and analysis from Saturday's eight Premier League fixtures.
So near, yet so far to another win at Man Citypublished at 18:53 14 September
18:53 14 September
Simon Stone at the Etihad Stadium Chief football news reporter
Bees boss Thomas Frank summed it up perfectly. Frustration at the outcome, pride at the performance.
For 25 minutes at the Etihad Stadium, Brentford had Manchester City on the ropes.
It was the kind of experience City tend to inflict on their opponents, not the other way round. If you come out of it just a goal down, you think yourself lucky.
City were lucky not to be further behind during that one-sided onslaught.
Brentford created chance after chance. None of them went in.
And at the very highest level, that is the difference.
In the aftermath, it is a day to draw plenty of positives, but in three months time, the scoreline just shows no points won. You get nothing for playing well.
It does show Brentford are on the right path. But they need to follow it up in three London derbies, against Leyton Orient in the EFL Cup on Tuesday and at Tottenham and against West Ham in the Premier League games that follow.
Frustration is not an experience Frank and his team want to deal with too often.
Yoane Wissa’s opener after 22 seconds was the fastest ever goal that Brentford have scored in the Premier League, while Wissa has now been directly involved in 10 goals across his last nine appearances in the top-flight (seven goals, three assists).
'The first 25 minutes was world class'published at 17:42 14 September
17:42 14 September
Thomas Frank spoke to BBC Match of the Day after Brentford's defeat against Manchester City: "Standing here I am a combination of extremely disappointed we didn't get something out of this game but on the other hand very proud.
"The first 25 minutes was world class, we were better than Manchester City. Second half they were more on top and made it difficult. A point would have been fair and not often teams can come here and say that.
"You could say if we need to win here we needed to take more of the chances we had in the first half.
"I respect Pep Guardiola very much and a lot of the reasons I do is because he made tactical changes at half time and then he is not too proud to put the ball down in the corner because they need to win. We must have done something right today.
"This is a fantastic group to work with and we need to keep doing this."