Thomas Frank on Brentford 2-1 Chelsea defeat

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Thomas Frank on Brentford 2-1 Chelsea defeat  15/12/2024  Stamford Bridge, london, UK

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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?

05:03Minor 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.

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