Brentford FC
·9 December 2024
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Yahoo sportsBrentford FC
·9 December 2024
In the interview with Jake Humphreys and Damian Hughes, the Brentford boss also discussed the innovations he explored to progress in the Premier League, the human element of footballers, and some key traits he looks for in his players' personalities.
“There are a few narratives about Brentford, most of them are positive,” Frank began.
“I think the ‘secret sauce’, or whatever you’d call it, is the people in the club. It’s people who create the culture - and culture beats everything.
“The culture that we’ve built together over the years is, in my opinion, incredible. If you want to go quick, go alone; if you want to go far, then you go together.
“We have a lot of good people - staff, players, directors - who are working together and pulling in the same direction.
“That culture is built on what I would call the path to success: passion, attitude, togetherness and hard work.
“Yes, data is important, but all the indicators of high performance are culture, people, togetherness and teamwork. That’s the secret sauce we have."
“I think the ‘secret sauce’, or whatever you’d call it, is the people in the club. It’s people who create the culture - and culture beats everything'
Asked about which players assist him in maintaining that desired culture, Frank continued: "I think Christian Nørgaard is a very natural leader. He treats everyone the same. He’s got good emotional intelligence about how to interact with different players.
"He has no problem saying to the young kids that they need to step up, or to Bryan Mbeumo, for example, that he needs to work harder or that he made a bad pass!
“Yoane Wissa is a player who is, of course, very good for us, but you can also see he gets around the other players.
He’s looking after [Yehor] Yarmoliuk, who is dealing with his parents and everything happening in Ukraine. He’s talking to him and taking care of him. In games and training, he’s also pushing to make the team better.
“Vitaly Janelt is also a player that is around a lot of players in the squad. He has high standards for training and is also emotionally intelligent.
“I love them all but another I’ll mention is Ben Mee. He’s a very experienced player who, even though he’s not playing as much as he wants to now, is giving a lot to the group. I talk to him about how important the conversations are with the younger players.
"Things like that are so important to how you perform, but also for the culture."