🔗 Share this article

More than halfway through the season, The Bees are in dreamland.

Following four wins in their last five outings, and a Samba striker banging in the goals, suddenly supporters are envisioning thoughts of trips to Milan, Munich and Barcelona next season.

A emphatic three-nil win over the Black Cats moved their manager's side into fifth in the top flight – a place that was good enough to secure Champions League football last season.

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

There's a significant distance to go yet but the West London outfit are squarely in the battle for European football.

No one was forecasting this last summer.

Thomas Frank had left for Spurs after seven years in charge, a period in which he had not only guided the club promoted but also cemented them in the top flight.

Club captain Christian Norgaard left for Arsenal and attacking duo Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa – who scored a total of 39 goals in 2024-25 – were also sold, joining Manchester United and Newcastle United respectively.

Specialist coach Keith Andrews was elevated to succeed the Dane, while there was no striker among the summer signings.

A year of difficulty, possibly even relegation, was forecast. Yet here we are in the new year with Brentford in the top five.

So, how did they pull it off?

The Brazilian's Historic Season

Brentford's decision not to sign another striker was partly down to circumstance, with one forward's move not being finalized until deadline day.

But they also knew they had a £30 million striker already waiting to go.

The 24-year-old joined from Club Brugge in July 2024 for a then-record fee, but was hindered by injury in his first campaign, going without a goal in his initial outings.

Thiago has set about making up for lost time this season, though, with his double against the Wearside club taking him to 16 league goals – the highest tally by a player from Brazil in a single Premier League campaign.

Given the countrymen who have come before him, that is some accomplishment, especially with seventeen matches remaining.

"He's been a revelation," pundit Danny Murphy said. "He is a physical specimen, fast, powerful, but more skilled than people think. Good with his feet, both feet, he can score with both. You can see he's brimming with confidence. His statistics are fantastic. 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 level he is operating at.

And it is not just the quantity but the timing of the goals that have been so important for his team.

His first goal against the Black Cats was his 7th opener of the season. Given how often we are told the significance of the initial strike in a game, having someone you can depend on to take that early opportunity cannot be underestimated.

Prior to the game against Sunderland, no player to have attempted at least thirty efforts this season has a better shooting accuracy than Igor Thiago's 59.1 percent.

He hits the target. Achieve that often enough and the goals will – and have – come.

Given the struggles he had in his youth, where he worked as a bricklayer to support his family following the passing of his father, perhaps it should be no surprise that pressure on the pitch is something he takes in his stride.

"Our scouts deserve a lot of credit for the kind of players they bring in and characters," Andrews said. "It is really impressive. He is a really special person who has fitted into life very nicely. He has had to forge this path. He has earned his journey and toiled. He has got real determination about his personality. He is developing his abilities constantly and we are discovering more and more about him. He is a largely all-round centre-forward."

The Manager Proving Sceptics Incorrect

Their star striker is the man of the moment but the team are not and have never been a single-player team.

While they had star players – Ivan Toney, Christian Eriksen, Mbeumo and Wissa – under their previous boss, they were always seen as a team more effective than the individual components.

The fear was that once the Dane left, that may not be the case, and that the sum of Brentford's parts alone might not be enough to stay up.

As a result, appointing Andrews, with no previous managerial experience, and just a year at the club was seen by those outside the club as a huge risk.

A first managerial job is a challenge for anyone, especially when it comes in the world's toughest league and having made the leap from specialist coach to the top job.

But given that Ipswich boss one candidate was the only other alternative 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 correct.

The new boss won just one of his first five league games in charge but big home victories against Manchester United, Liverpool and the Magpies have since occurred.

Wins that, following their excellent recent form, could prove all the more important in the pursuit for Europe.

"We're in fine fettle and playing really well. We are playing with courage and conviction in everything we do with or without the ball," he added. "We're happy with how we are going but we want to keep striving."

In a league where fourth and 15th are currently separated by just a handful of points, they have little choice, because things could quickly look very different.

But, for now, The Bees are defying the odds. And the longer that continues, the closer to reality those aspirations of Europe will become.