Sports Mole takes an in-depth look back at Brentford’s 2022-23 season, which saw them claim a top-flight top-half finish for the first time in 85 years.
After a successful return to the top flight after 75 years away in the 2021-22 season, avoiding relegation, Brentford went one step further this campaign, by mounting a serious charge for European qualification.
Despite falling narrowly short, the Bees done fantastically well to take it down to the final day, before eventually being narrowly edged out in ninth place.
One sensational accolade Brentford can take from the campaign was a top-half finish for the first time since before the Second World War, and finishing as the highest-ranked club in West London, ahead of Chelsea and Fulham.
Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look back at Brentford’s memorable 2022-23 campaign.
SEASON OVERVIEW
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Final league position: 9th
EFL Cup: Third Round
FA Cup: Third Round
Top scorer: Ivan Toney (21)
Most assists: Bryan Mbeumo (8)
Arguably, no side in the Premier League pulled off as many shock victories as Brentford this season, during a campaign that will live long in the memory of every Bees supporter.
Comfortably avoiding the trap of second-season syndrome was the first target for Thomas Frank‘s side, who had finished 13th last season, while never really being in a relegation battle despite some shaky mid-season form.
In just two seasons though, Brentford have firmly established themselves as a top-flight club that belong at this level.
It was a thrilling start to the season for the club too, coming from 2-0 down to salvage a late draw at Leicester City on the opening weekend, but what was to come in gameweek two was arguably the most incredible result in the club’s recent history.
Manchester United arrived at the Gtech Community Stadium and were blown away by a ruthless and relentless Bees side, who stuck four past the Red Devils in the first 45 minutes, registering a scarcely believable 4-0 win.
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The highs of such a phenomenal result ultimately caused a pretty hard fall almost instantly for Thomas Frank’s men though, as the side suffered a spell of inconsistent form shortly after their win over United.
Despite hammering Leeds United 5-2, Brentford also suffered some wounding defeats, such as a 5-1 thrashing at the hands Newcastle United and a 4-0 loss at Aston Villa.
Things got worse too when the club were somehow dumped out of the EFL Cup at home by League Two Gillingham, who had just one shot all evening, scored with it to force penalties, before winning in the shootout.
With the club in poor form having won just one in eight and the World Cup break just around the corner, Frank took his side to the Etihad to face Manchester City, who had won every home game they had played so far.
As a club who have become synonymous with upsetting the big boys though, Brentford pulled off another extraordinary result against a Manchester club, as Ivan Toney’s 98th-minute strike saw the Bees come away with all three points, in possibly the most unlikely result of the season.
That win laid the foundations for a run of much-improved form post-World Cup, as an FA Cup exit to West Ham United aside, Brentford were unbeaten until mid-March, winning 22 points in 10 matches, a run which including another standout victory, this time against Liverpool.
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Europe suddenly became a real possibility as Brentford spent an extended period in the top seven, but defeat at Everton knocked them off course.
Similar to the early stages of the season, Brentford went on another disappointing run of form at exactly the wrong time, as a six-game winless run between March and April allowed the likes of Liverpool and Aston Villa to catch them in the European places.
Despite that though, there was still time for late flurry of results in their favour, kickstarted by another win away to their West London rivals Chelsea, who they comfortably saw off 2-0, after winning 4-1 at Stamford Bridge last season.
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Another excellent away win to a fellow London side, 3-1 at Tottenham Hotspur on the penultimate weekend of the season, made it four wins from five heading in to the final day, and amazingly still kept their European dreams alive.
By this point though, Brentford had already receiving the news they had been dreading for months, that top scorer and talisman Toney was to serve and eight-month suspension after breaching gambling laws.
While Toney only missed the final two games of the season, it presents a huge headache for the club going into next season considering he will not be available until January.
When the final day arrived, Brentford knew only a win would do against champions Man City, plus needing Spurs and Aston Villa to drop points, however, despite the Bees becoming the only side to complete the double over Pep Guardiola‘s side this season, they were still just beaten to the Europa Conference League place as all three teams won.
Nonetheless, it rounded off a spectacular season for Frank’s side in which they picked up more points against top six sides than any other club.
PREMIER LEAGUE STATS
Wins: 15 (9th)
Draws: 14 (=1st)
Losses: 9 (=15th)
Goals scored: 58 (=7th)
Goals conceded: 46 (=15th)
Yellow cards: 55 (17th)
Red cards: 1 (=10th)
Passes: 13,918 (19th)
Shots: 408 (18th)
Saves: 154 (1st)
Tackles: 587 (18th)
Own goals: 3 (=6th)
Hit woodwork: 10 (=14th)
Clearances: 768 (8th)
HOW DID IT COMPARE TO LAST SEASON?
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After such a strong showing in their first Premier League season, some Brentford supporters may have been fearful of a season of struggle, but keeping the spine of their team intact, apart from losing Christian Eriksen, meant there was never any likelihood of that once the campaign got going.
Brentford managed to improve on all aspects of their game this season, finishing in the top half after coming 13th last year, 10 points better off than in their debut season.
Metrics such as goals for and against also saw great improvement, managing to score nine goals more than last season, and retaining the services of Toney played a huge part in that.
The signings of Ben Mee and Aaron Hickey improved the defensive side of their game too, letting in 10 goals fewer than they did last season.
The cup competitions did represent the only blemish on their campaign though, exiting in the third round of both the FA Cup and EFL Cup, a big drop off from their run to the quarter-finals of the latter in 2021-22.
PLAYER OF THE SEASON: IVAN TONEY
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Brentford are a side built on team ethic and pulling together, but there is no doubt who their standout performer is, with Toney excelling once more this campaign.
Despite excellent seasons again for Danish internationals Christian Norgaard and Mathias Jensen, and Mbeumo in attack, Toney scored 20 league goals this season, with only Erling Braut Haaland and Harry Kane managing more.
A current Brentford player receiving an England cap would have been a ludicrous thought just a few years ago, but Toney fully merited his call up from Gareth Southgate and subsequent debut against Ukraine.
However, with his eight-month suspension now in effect following breaches of gambling laws, it is tough to see where his career goes from here.
He will be sorely missed by Brentford, and serving such a lengthy ban raises questions about what state he will be in once he is allowed to return.
STANDOUT RESULT: BRENTFORD 4-0 MANCHESTER UNITED
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For a club who were in League Two just 14 years ago, it is remarkable to consider that Brentford recorded wins over Man United, Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Spurs this season.
Picking just one standout result is devilishly difficult, and it was a close call given their win at the Etihad, but the ruthless nature of their 4-0 success over Erik ten Hag‘s side edges it.
United were absolutely blown away by their hosts, with all four goals coming in the first half at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Josh Dasilva got the ball rolling with an effort that David de Gea really should have saved, before another shocking piece of play from the visitors in defence gifted Jensen the chance to make it 2-0 and he duly obliged.
Mee then bundled home from a corner to add a third, and Mbeumo completed the rout inside the first 35 minutes, finishing off a quick-fire counter attack.
The scoreline made headlines all around the world, and perfectly illustrated how Brentford are so competitive at this level and capable of competing against any opposition, making life difficult for even the biggest sides in the division.
> Click here for a full list of Brentford’s results from the 2022-23 season
BEST MOMENT:
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The fact that Brentford scoring a last-gasp winner away to the side currently deemed the best in world football had close competition for best moment of the season shows just how phenomenal the Bees’ campaign was.
While this result was narrowly edged out as the result of the season, the actual moment where Toney fired home Brentford’s 98th-minute winner will remain one of the standouts of the season as a whole.
A counter-attack in the mould of how they scored their fourth goal against Man United ended with Toney nipping in front of Ilkay Gundogan to divert home Dasilva’s square ball in front of the travelling faithful in the corner behind the goal who went wild.
The fact that it came just days after Toney was snubbed by Southgate in his England World Cup squad made it even sweeter for the Brentford captain and their supporters.
The 4-0 thrashing of Man United, Mbeumo’s clincher at home to Liverpool, a 2-0 win at Chelsea and the sensational second-half performance away to Spurs were all strong candidates too in a season that had a lengthy list of memorable moments.
TOP PRIORITY FOR SUMMER
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Undoubtedly, the biggest issue facing Brentford is what to do without Toney for the first five months of the season.
Mbeumo has come up with plenty of big performances for the club in the last two seasons, while Yoane Wissa has proved a valuable squad player, and the recently-signed Kevin Schade has shown exciting glimpses off the bench, so it will be keenly awaited to see whether Frank places his trust in that trio, or whether he opts to dip into the transfer market, with a loan signing potentially a solution.
The future of Frank himself can never be 100% certain given the job he has done in West London, and with vacancies at elite clubs often coming available, including one in North London this summer, that could change the entire structure of the club.
One thing which looks more and more likely will be the departure of David Raya, as the side’s dependable goalkeeper has been attracting interest from Champions League clubs all season.
Raya should command a healthy transfer fee which Brentford can use to reinvest, but they do already have Thomas Strakosha in reserve, a man who was Lazio’s starting keeper for much of his six years in Rome.
With Brentford proving they are an excellently run club, these issues are likely to be quickly resolved should they arise though, similar to how Brighton & Hove Albion have dealt with player and manager outgoings in recent years.
FINAL VERDICT
Having spent 75 years outside the top flight, to compete for Europe after just two seasons back is an exceptional achievement for Brentford.
After a very good showing in their first season back a year ago, to improve even further on that and not suffer from second-season syndrome warrants the highest praise for Frank and his players.
Heading into the final day of the season with European qualification still a possibility would have been a distant dream for the Bees supporters as recently as five years ago, but it became reality this campaign.
Outside of the elite clubs, it was a very successful season for the small cluster of sides who are doing a great job of competing at this level despite having vastly fewer resources, with Brentford joining Brighton, Aston Villa and Fulham in overachieving massively.
With Frank at the helm, a professional squad of players all pulling in the same direction and a good structure behind the scenes, Brentford are capable of maintaining this level next season, but the absence of Toney leaves a huge question mark hanging over the club’s future success.
