🔗 Share this article

More than the midpoint of the campaign, The Bees are in dreamland.

With victories in five games, and a Samba striker netting the goals, suddenly Bees fans find themselves drifting off with thoughts of trips to European capitals next season.

A convincing 3-0 win over Sunderland moved Keith Andrews' side into the fifth spot in the Premier League – a position that was good enough to secure European football last term.

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

There is a long way to go yet but the West London outfit are firmly in the battle for European football.

No one was envisioning this last summer.

Thomas Frank had departed for Spurs after seven years in charge, a period in which he had not only guided the club promoted but also established them in the elite division.

Skipper their Danish midfielder left for the North London club and attacking duo Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa – who scored a total of thirty-nine goals in 2024-25 – were out the door, joining Manchester United and Newcastle United respectively.

Set-piece coach Andrews was elevated to succeed Frank, while there was no striker among the summer signings.

A season 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 bring in another striker was in part down to timing, with one forward's move not going through until deadline day.

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

The 24-year-old joined from Belgium in July 2024 for a then-record fee, but was hindered by fitness issues in his debut campaign, going without a goal in eight appearances.

The 24-year-old has set about compensating 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 English top-flight campaign.

Given the fellow Brazilians who have come before him, that is a remarkable feat, especially with 17 games left to play.

"He's been a breath of fresh air," former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy said. "He is a physical specimen, quick, powerful, but technically better than people think. Good with his feet, either foot, he can score off both. You can see he's brimming with confidence. His statistics are incredible. He must be so pleased. That's a huge compliment to him."

That only Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe have scored more in any of Europe's top five leagues to this point shows the level he is operating at.

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

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

Prior to the game against Sunderland, no player to have attempted at least thirty efforts this season has a better shot accuracy rate than the striker's 59.1%.

He finds the target. Do that often enough and the goals will – and have – come.

Given the struggles he had earlier in life, where he worked as a bricklayer to provide for his family following the death of his father, perhaps it should be unsurprising 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 personalities," the manager said. "It is really notable. He is a really special person who has fitted into life very well. He has had to forge this path. He has worked for his journey and toiled. He has got serious grit about his personality. He is developing his abilities constantly and we are discovering more and more about him. He is a largely complete centre-forward."

The Manager Showing Doubters Incorrect

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

While they had star players – a host of talent – under their previous boss, they were always seen as a team more effective than the individual components.

The concern 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 avoid relegation.

Consequently, 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 test for anyone, let alone when it comes in the world's toughest league and having made the jump from set-piece coach to the manager's office.

But given that Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna was the only other alternative that Brentford looked at, they were clearly convinced they had the correct candidate.

To date, as often seems to be the case with the brains trust at the club, it looks as if they were vindicated.

The new boss won just a single of his first 5 league games in charge but significant home victories against Manchester United, Liverpool and the Magpies have since occurred.

Wins that, following their brilliant recent run, could prove all the more important in the race for Europe.

"We're in good form and playing really well. We are playing with bravery and conviction in everything we do with and without the ball," he added. "We're happy with how we are going but we want to keep improving."

In a league where the European spots and the lower mid-table are currently separated by just a handful of points, they have little choice, because things could quickly look very otherwise.

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