Brentford manager Thomas Frank is preparing his side to attack Chelsea and will not stand down his high-press principles when the teams meet at the Gtech Stadium in Sunday’s west London derby.
With 51 goals scored in the Premier League, Frank’s team are only three behind Chelsea’s tally and the Dane is not discouraged by what he saw in the Blues’ win against Tottenham on Thursday.
Spurs took a more open approach than some of Chelsea’s recent opponents which left room for Enzo Maresca’s side to play their preferred pacy transitions, with wingers Jadon Sancho and Pedro Neto enjoying space out wide to get in behind the defence.
Enzo Fernandez’s goal in the second half at Stamford Bridge earned a 1-0 victory that moved Maresca’s team back into the top four, but they now face a second derby in three days as they look to maintain their momentum in the race for the Champions League.
That leaves Frank weighing up whether to aim to frustrate Chelsea as attempted by Leicester and Copenhagen recently – when Maresca admitted his players struggled to pick through a low block – or take a bolder approach and risk being undone by their opponents’ dynamic transitions.
“No doubt, because they’re very good on the ball Chelsea, there will be spells where will have to defend low, defend the box well,” said Frank. “But we always try to go in high press and we definitely will try to attack when we can.
“I think the mindset is always to attack, but there will be games where we are slightly more, how can you say, clever defending behind however many players you commit. But the mindset in the high press is always to be aggressive and go man-man.”
Brentford are 11th and without a win at home since beating Newcastle in December, but a strong finish to the season could yet see them insert themselves into the fight for a European place.
Chelsea’s own mini-revival has seen them win three of their last four in the league and victory over Spurs has them buoyed by their first real momentum since they sat second on December 22.
Things are thus poised on Sunday for a high-stakes encounter with both sides eyeing victory.
“I think it’s fair to say that a lot of these teams are more at their best when there’s a little bit more space,” said Frank. “I’m not afraid of the man-man high press and they will play behind us, they did that last time.
“Can they score from it? Yes, but I believe in it. It’s more the clear transitions where we have to be not better organised, just better aware of it. I think we’ve been very organised in the last eight or nine games in that phase.”
