Rico Henry on the team spirit cultivated at Brentford: "We didn't know how things would go after Christian [Eriksen] left but we knew our togetherness and work ethic would keep us together and doing well. It's showing that now."
Monday 6 March 2023 19:56, UK
How far can you stretch the smallest budget in the Premier League inside the division's second-smallest stadium, without momentum running out?
Just ask Thomas Frank. The Danish Mourinho is performing miracles at the Gtech Community Stadium, where the tag of just being a "bus stop in Hounslow" has long been reclaimed by the club's fans as they ride a wave of success.
Facing understandable doubts after Christan Eriksen's summer departure to Manchester United and without significant additions to their starting XI, repeating Brentford's debut Premier League finish of 13th, let alone bettering it, appeared a tall order.
Barely half-way through the campaign, it doesn't any more. Brentford are on comfortably the longest unbeaten run of any side in the division, have thrashed Man Utd, won at Man City and thrown a comfortable win over Liverpool into the bargain.
Not only that, but they are now realistic contenders for a European spot with 15 games to go. Victory over London rivals Fulham on Monday Night Football would lift them a point off the Cottagers in seventh.
Inside the club there was never the same level of doubt raised about the post-Eriksen era. Though his arrival in January 2022 coincided with an upturn in their form, they also welcomed a number of players back from injury around the same time, and were far from a one-man band in reaching the safety of mid-table.
Brentford have long shown that money only buys so much. When Aston Villa paid almost £30m for Ollie Watkins in 2020 while they were still in the Championship they spent less than a fifth of that on his replacement, Ivan Toney, from Peterborough. In his first season, he smashed Watkins' goalscoring tally from the previous year.
Teams with far bigger budgets than the Bees have shown the importance of building a strong dressing room, and the pitfalls of a bad one. That costs as much in character as it does in cash, and Brentford are as careful about who they sign as anyone in the Premier League.
Their limited activity in the summer was fully intentional. It took a long time to build this team ethic at the Robert Rowan Performance Centre, but it would take far less time to knock it down.
Rico Henry, still only 25, is probably well-placed to comment. Since Sergi Canos' departure in January he is now Brentford's longest-serving player, and only two years off claiming a testimonial at the Gtech.
He explains: "We didn't know how things would go after Christian left but we knew our togetherness and work ethic would keep us together and doing well. It's showing that now.
"Just because he'd gone, it didn't mean we'd lose that good culture that's embedded into the team by the manager.
"He's larger than life on the training pitch as much as he is in front of the cameras, he's always joking around, but when it's time to get to work, he's really serious about things.
"He's never afraid to tell us what we're doing wrong. That's what we need, to keep pushing on, that's what's got us here in the first place."
Brentford have been keen to foster that team unity off the training pitch as much as on it. In some ways, social activities feel as important as tactical drills or set-piece routines. The club put them on regularly and get the buy-in from their players - who build friendships as much as working relationships.
That doesn't stop them driving competitiveness within the group, either.
Henry says: "We've been clay pigeon shooting this week, we go assault-rifle shooting too. It gets pretty competitive, me and Bryan [Mbeumo] are always at each other. Even pool sessions - I think the boys are playing while we're talking now.
"It's always competitive, and that's what keeps us together and pushing on. Sometimes we get a little trophy in gym sessions from our strength coach Tom [Perryman] if we get the best power scores, that happens quite regularly too."
Henry drives his own personal ambition too. Named on England's long list for the 2022 World Cup, he was always an outsider to make the final 23 without a call-up to his name ahead of the tournament.
The left-back kept a close eye on first-choice Luke Shaw during England's run to the quarter-finals in Qatar, and knows he needs to continue raising his attacking output - already up to two assists this season from none in 2021/22 - to have a fighting chance of challenging him.
"I've not spoken to Gareth Southgate personally, but it's where I want to be, playing for England," he says. "That's everybody's dream, but I want to keep pushing with Brentford and getting more goals and assists, being defensively solid and see where it leads.
"I look at Luke Shaw, who's been really good this season, and think why can't I be there? I have to focus on myself, keep doing well for Brentford and see where it goes.
"I look at Trent Alexander-Arnold and Reece James' numbers and they're crazy, that's where I want to be too. I want to be on a par with them while still being defensively solid. I'm always pushing in training, practicing putting a lot of balls in the box, but it's what I want to do more in games."
With the unit Frank has created in West London, Brentford's motivation is rarely called into question. But should they need any added inspiration for Monday's game with Fulham, Henry has the carrot of a first ever foray into continental competition feeling all the more possible with the way this season is panning out.
"We know it's achievable," he admits. "Some of the draws we've had, our performances have been really good and we could've won, So we need to try to win more games. But it's in the back of our minds."
Keep on like they are, and this bus stop in Hounslow could be heading on a European tour.
Watch Brentford vs Fulham live on Sky Sports Premier League from 7pm on Monday; kick-off 8pm.
