Manager Thomas Frank is remaining positive about Brentford’s current performance levels despite losing four league games on the bounce.
The Bees suffered a surprise defeat to Premier League basement club Norwich City on Saturday, the visitors' first win of the season.
Although Frank’s team have dropped to 14th in the table as a result, he is refusing to panic and believes recent games have rested on fine margins.
“Of course we are irritated and frustrated that we lost four-in-a-row. That is nothing to run away from.
“But I also think it is important to look at the performances. If you don’t do that you can’t be consistent.
⚽ A first #PL goal for @ricohenry14 #BrentfordFC #BRENOR pic.twitter.com/ElytRdWDZa
— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) November 6, 2021
“Sometimes those margins go your way, at this moment in time they are not going our way.
“The games are tight, it was a good performance against Chelsea, and it was a good first-half against Leicester. We are talking about two top-five sides from last year.
“This game again, we completely dominated Norwich in the second-half, which I can’t remember us doing in the Championship.
“I think we need to look into that and not get too down. We had one bad first-half against Burnley, so if we continue like this, no problem.
“At this moment in time we just need to work a bit harder to get the margins on our side.”
On Saturday Frank’s team were two goals down inside half an hour at home, after Mathias Normann and a Teemu Pukki penalty gave the Canaries control.
From then on it was always going to be an uphill task to get a result.
💬 “We made it difficult for ourselves by conceding early - we put pressure on ourselves. We can’t afford to do that.”
— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) November 6, 2021
Rico reflects on Norwich defeat. @pensionbee | #BRENOR | #BrentfordFC 🐝 pic.twitter.com/ZhFZ7ebPAk
But Brentford rallied, with Rico Henry pulling a goal back, as they created numerous chances to draw level.
“I think throughout the 90 minutes overall the performance was good, there was more than enough to win this game,” added Frank.
“We created an XG of over three, 19 shots and had total dominance in the second-half.
“It was a first–half that could have been better, but it was not a bad one, it was a little bit above average.
“Of course we were spoiled by their early goal, but had started well and were on the front-foot in the first five or six minutes.
“Then they score where (Mathias) Normann suddenly turns into Lionel Messi, he puts it in with his weak foot.”
Although it was tough to swallow another loss, The Danish coach believes the overall display against the Canaries was an improvement on the previous week at Burnley, when a first-half defensive horror show sealed their fate.
Defeat at home
— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) November 6, 2021
🐝 1-2 🔰#BrentfordFC #BRENOR pic.twitter.com/iITgbFretC
Frank also was again impressed by Saman Ghoddos, who the second Saturday in-a-row made an impact after the bench.
Last week he produced an acrobatic goal at Burnley, this time he produced a wonderful cross for Henry to get Brentford back in the game.
Frank added: “It was a top ball in (from Saman Ghoddos) a top goal, he created some really good opportunities.
“I agree Saman did well.
““I think there were big differences between this first-half and the Burnley first-half. That (last week) was really bad. This was not really bad.
“Yes we conceded two goals, but this is football and the margins of what can happen.
“But it was not bad, bad defending. It was just something we need to do better.
“There was very little other chances in the first-half. We then created opportunities and were on top after.
“In football the most difficult thing is to cope with a loss, especially after another good performance.”
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