Matchday With The Manager – Brentford's Culture & Daka's Potential

Digital Members Exclusive
24 Oct 2021
5 Minutes
Brendan Rodgers believes Leicester City will come up against a Brentford side on Sunday who have successfully fused a desire to shine in the Premier League with real quality throughout their squad.

Thomas Frank's Bees emerged through the Sky Bet Championship play-offs last season to become the 50th different club to compete in the Premier League, 12 months after Wembley heartache looked to have denied them a place at the top table in English football. 

After overcoming Arsenal at home in the campaign's curtain-raiser, Brentford have also registered successes over Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Ham United, also drawing with 2020 champions Liverpool. It's an encouraging start for the west London outfit, but Rodgers isn't at all surprised. 

"Having had the experience of going from the Championship into the Premier League, I understand when players who haven’t played at the top level come in, they want to come in and prove themselves," the Northern Irishman told the media on Friday afternoon.

"That’s always a great recipe when you have players who want to prove themselves at the level and they have quality. Of course, that makes them a very, very difficult team to play against. That’s been proven early in the season. They’ve got belief.

"They won their first game and then you just seen them play with emotion in the stadium, which is great. The people who have followed the team for so many years can now see them at the highest level of the pyramid. You can see the joy. They have players who want to prove themselves in every game.

Fundamentally, you have an attacking philosophy and a defensive philosophy. If you can work those together and get results, that gives you confidence.

Brendan Rodgers

"They’re players who’ve got quality. The manager’s done a brilliant job, in terms of galvanising that culture over these last few years in particular, especially after just missing out in the play-offs the previous season to last.

"It’s a great story and how they’ve operated off the pitch as well has been very clever and very methodical. They’ve done a great job at Brentford. The players that got Brentford into the Premier League… Thomas, like I did at Swansea, will feel that they deserve that opportunity.

"But you also need to add some other players of quality around them. They want to prove a point and when they have the attributes that they have, then you can see from their start that they’re doing that. That continuity, that feel-good factor, as I said, it’s galvanising the culture."

That culture, built over a number of years and combined with off-field developments such as the building of a stunning new home stadium, have elevated Brentford to heights which were previously unattainable. Their tactical nous, both in matches and in the market, has also impressed Rodgers. 

"Some of their players have been there since League 1, into the Championship, and now the Premier League," he added. "Fundamentally, you have an attacking philosophy and a defensive philosophy. If you can work those together and get results, that gives you confidence.

Brendan Rodgers reserved praise for Brentford counterpart Thomas Frank ahead of Sunday's meeting.

"Certainly, when you come out of the Championship, and you’re coming up against real top level players, you see the difference. You see the quality that’s in every single team. Even subconsciously, the teams you think you should beat, they’ll always have players in there that are at a high standard and a high level.

"They’ve adapted so well and I think that’s a huge testament to Thomas and his staff, to give the players that belief. The players themselves have shown great qualities to play and actually they’ve had some really good results.

"They’ll look to continue with that, so we know we’re in for a tough game, but we know when we bring our game, it can be equally tough for an opponent. They play in that 3-4-1-2 system or 3-1-4-2, whatever way you want to call it, and they’re two strikers are a handful.

"They’re physical, they want to run, they compete and they have quality. They can score goals and the players in midfield can play. They can take the ball and pass the ball. On the sides, they’ve got good pace, and they want to deliver crosses into the box.

"The back three then try to close the game out and the goalkeeper’s exceptional with the ball at his feet, so he can start the game for them. For most teams in the Premier League, that is the level, so you’ve just got to be really organised in terms of stopping the build-up. Everyone has to be synchronised as a team.

"You know that you’ve got to be really competitive. They’re good in set-pieces, they’ve scored a number this season, so that element of the game is very good. All in all, it’s a typical Premier League game. It’s a tough game.

[Patson Daka] plays on the shoulder, he wants to run in behind and he’s a natural goalscorer. You can see that in him, very much like Jamie [Vardy] in terms of his movements.

Brendan Rodgers

"You’ve got to be at your best to gain the points and you’ve got to be very concentrated against a good side."

Patson Daka, on the other hand, made headlines on Wednesday as the Zambia striker hit four goals for the Foxes in a 4-3 triumph over Spartak Moscow in Russia. It was the first time since Derek Hines in a 6-3 victory over Aston Villa in November 1958 that a Leicester player had done so.

Rodgers has enjoyed working with City's new No.29 since his arrival from RB Salzburg in the summer and was keen to pay tribute to his personality as well as his footballing ability. 

"His strengths are what you saw the other night," Rodgers explained. "He plays on the shoulder, he wants to run in behind and he’s a natural goalscorer. You can see that in him, very much like Jamie [Vardy] in terms of his movements. They want to go in behind. They want to stretch backlines.

Patson Daka hit four goals in stunning fashion to secure three Group C points in the UEFA Europa League on Wednesday.

"Once they’re in that final 25 yards of the pitch, they have confidence they can score. Patson’s in a great position to learn from someone like Jamie.

"He’s watching him every day and, even without speaking, you can see that he’s looking at his movements and he’s learning and developing from being here in the environment. He is what he is.

"He’s a real, real good guy whose energy and life around the place… I think he typified it when he came in. He had to do his quarantine and he was going to be stuck indoors for 10 days. The Club were great in asking him what he wanted, in terms of teles and PlayStation and whatever else, in his room. He didn’t want anything. He said he just wanted some books. That was him.

"He wanted to read, he wanted to find out about Leicester… he probably read Vards’ book as well maybe! He’s such a great guy. He’s so full of life.

"He loves being here and I just think, with time, his game going to continually improve. He has this natural ability to sniff out a goal and you see that in his record and that will be proven here in the Premier League as well, I’m sure."