Thomas Frank on Brentford 2-1 Chelsea defeat
15/12/2024
Stamford Bridge, london, UK
15/12/2024
Stamford Bridge, london, UK
Category
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SportsTranscript
00:00I think we played a very good game. I think we were in many ways unlucky not to get something
00:09out of it, or at least a draw. I think our second half was fantastic. I think we went
00:15more or less toe-to-toe with number two in the Premier League, one of the favourites
00:20to win the title. I know they don't want to talk about that, but look at their players,
00:23look at the money they've spent, look at the way they play. They're well coached. All they
00:27deserve is only praise. The way we did our second half, I thought it was hugely impressive.
00:33I think we were very unlucky not to get at least a draw. One moment in the game, you
00:38don't know what will happen after that, I'm very aware of that, but those two big moments
00:41were Narogata and Fabio. Then we scored one, then we put pressure on in the end and you
00:46could see they took set-pieces short and tried to run in the corner and protect the lead.
00:51The way they celebrated for the 2-0 and the win, it meant a lot to them. It must have
00:57caused them a lot of trouble. I'm very pleased with my team's performance today.
01:06You said Chelsea side that are one of the favourites for the title?
01:10Yes, of course. We agree they are second in the league. We agree that City, Arsenal and
01:17Liverpool drop points. They're in amazing form and they've got their key players playing,
01:22all of them more or less. I see them there.
01:26What happened with Cagrella and Xhada at the end?
01:29I don't know, if I'm honest. They won the game, they should just walk away and be happy.
01:37I don't know exactly what happened. I want my players to walk away and be happy we won
01:41the game and don't get into a infight.
01:43You were in deep conversation with a forward official. You were unhappy with something.
01:47What was that?
01:48Nothing big. I think the refs did quite well. There were no key moments they missed out
01:54on, so minor, minor details.
01:56How much of Fabio Cavallo's performance came on? He came so close to scoring, but was then
02:02nicked with possession for Chelsea's second goal?
02:05I think Fabio worked hard. I think he was very close to scoring a goal. I think if you
02:09lose the ball once, it's not the guy who loses the ball. It's how we react and do it
02:13after that. So, in general, I was happy with it.
02:15You wrestled back control in the second half. What was said at half-time to change the image?
02:23I think a game is 90 minutes. I knew that, as I said, it's a very good team with very
02:31good players. So, of course, I wanted to be a little bit higher, more moments in the first
02:35half. But in the second half, we just adjusted a few bits. We were a little bit more high-pressure
02:41at moments, but we just got more. But we also lifted the level on the ball, so we got out
02:46of the tricky situations and there was a lot of space to run into. So, I think we did that
02:51very well.
02:52Thomas, I saw when Kikerela went down in stoppage time, clutching his face. You were saying,
02:58wow. I couldn't have done it.
03:00Did you see the situation?
03:02Sort of.
03:03Yeah. And what did you see?
03:05I thought he was probably playing for time rather than being kind.
03:09I think he played on a foul, which is fair. Personal opinion, I think Kikerela is a top
03:14player. I think he's doing very, very well. I don't like when players go to the ground
03:18and take him to the face without hitting the face. I don't want my players to do it.
03:22I'm happy to say to Kikerela, because I respect him massively, but hey, it's his choice.
03:29He's a bit of a wind-up man, hasn't he?
03:32Say again?
03:33He's a bit of a wind-up man, hasn't he?
03:34I don't know. I think he's just a good player. I'm just talking about that situation.
03:38Could you understand the reaction of your players to that line?
03:43To which situation?
03:43To when he went down.
03:45Yeah, but we shouldn't make too big a story of it. I know what all the headlines will
03:49be now about it. I just think that's one situation, nothing happened. So, I hope you
03:54guys write about a fantastic game instead of one incident that's just irritated me.
04:00I promise that.
04:01You promise that? Thank you very much.
04:03He said he can't promise.
04:05He did end up getting sent off, so it's hard not to write about it.
04:10That's not your problem.
04:11No, that's not my problem, actually.
04:12As one of the nicer guys in football, how do you find the challenges of modern-day
04:21management in terms of being a free person, just being competitive with you as an individual?
04:27If you knew me, I'm very, very, very extremely competitive. So, I try to be respectful and
04:35do things in the right way. But I'm happy I'm not playing on the pitch sometimes.
04:43I probably would get sent off sometimes.
04:46As a future step away from the game, is it really important for you to switch off in
04:50your spare time?
04:52That's easy. It's more in the heat of the moment where I need to control myself, like
04:57around the end of the game.
05:00How's your arm?
05:00How's your arm?
05:03Minor injury. Just couldn't make it today. We were hopeful that he could be involved
05:12for Wednesday. So, it's really minor.
05:17What part of the body?
05:19Just a minor calf. Not even a strain, just a calf issue.
05:25How pleased were you with the return of Chris Iyer? I think he added a lot of width when
05:29he came on. A lot of attacking.
05:31Yeah, I think it was happy to have Chris Iyer coming off the bench. Also, to have a
05:38little bit more of our key players back. So, we put Vitaly on and then we could put the
05:42triples up with Fabio, Kevin and Christopher. I think that helped coming back in the game.
05:47And then Jarmolek was one of many young players, along with Meg Hoover, who came into a real
05:52West London derby. It was furious. It was intense. How well did they do under the pressure?
05:57I think especially... Of course, I think Jadon also did well in the end of the game and I
06:02like that he got his Premier League debut. But I think Jarmo, I think he did well in
06:13a very competitive game in many ways.
06:16And what's preparation going to look like for Wednesday? Obviously, quite a quick turnaround.
06:21I think it's about recovery. A quick turnaround and then we're ready to have a very big game
06:29for us on Wednesday.