Brentford boss Thomas Frank idolised Schmeichel and Laudrup growing up and now keen to follow in Great Danes’ footsteps
THOMAS FRANK idolised Denmark legends Peter Schmeichel and Michael Laudrup.
So imagine how thrilled he was to discover they also admire him as he aims to make Denmark proud, like his heroes did in the Premier League.
The Brentford boss will become only the second Dane to have managed in England’s top division when he leads his team out against Arsenal on Friday.
Barcelona legend Laudrup guided Swansea to League Cup glory and Europe in 2013 — while keeper Schmeichel won five Premier League titles and the Champions League with Manchester United.
Frank, 47, told SunSport: “I’ve always loved English football.
"I started watching in the mid-1980s and used to love Danish midfielder Jan Molby when Liverpool dominated.
“Then in the 1990s, I also followed Schmeichel. He was a fantastic keeper.
“He was named world’s best twice and won us the Euros in 1992 single-handed.
“Michael was one of the greatest players in the world with everything he achieved at Barcelona and Real Madrid.
“Peter has been in touch since we got promoted and texted me, ‘Well done, congratulations’ and about how he is looking forward to following Brentford.
Thomas Frank
“Denmark is a small nation, so I’ve met Michael a lot of times.
'For a Danish person, it’s huge that I’m going to be the only person with Michael to have managed in the Premier League.
“Peter has been in touch since we got promoted and texted me, ‘Well done, congratulations’ and about how he is looking forward to following Brentford.
“I’ve also spoken to Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer because there aren’t many Scandinavians coaching in the Premier League.
“Even though I’d never met Ole, we had that connection because we’re pleased to be where we are, having come from our part of the world.”
Frank has arrived at the top table having taken the hard route, starting off as an amateur midfielder at home-town club Frederiksvaerk BK, then working 18 years in Danish youth football, before three years as head coach at Brondby.
He landed a job as Brentford assistant first-team coach in 2016 and has overseen some historic moments since he was promoted to take over the hotseat from Aston Villa-bound Dean Smith in October 2018.
There was the final game at Griffin Park, the first match at the new Brentford Community Stadium and beating the club’s play-off curse to clinch promotion to the Prem for the first time in the club’s history.
Attacking midfielder Myles Peart-Harris, 18, switched from Chelsea for £1.3m and yesterday they got Yoane Wissa, 24, from Lorient for an undisclosed fee.
All four of these signings are typical of Brentford's prudent, well-thought-out approach to spending.
And the Bees boss said: “None of them have played in the Premier League before. We believe if we find the players with the right qualities and they fit our four main principles – hard work, togetherness, performance and attitude – they’ll be fine.”
Brentford have had a reputation in recent years for playing swashbuckling football that at times swept Championship opponents aside.
For the last two campaigns Brentford have been the top scorers in the second tier. Their 79 last season was only one shy of the 80 they thumped in 2019-20 with their famous BMW frontline of Benrahma, Bryan Mbeumo and Watkins.
But a little known fact - that does not get spoken about much - is their defence. The 42 they let in last season was the fourth best in the Championship - a year after they conceded just 38, the league's second best only to Leeds.
So what will Brentford's approach and expectations be this coming campaign against English football's big-hitters?
Frank said: "Our expectation cannot be to win more than half of our games before we start this season - but we will always focus on the next match and winning.
"But when we speak about approach, our mindset will be exactly the same. We want to be as brave, forward thinking and as attacking as possible.
"There will be games where we are suffering and need 11 players defending our box like a lot of other teams but we'll always try to play forward."
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In the last ten years, five teams who won promotion via the play-offs have survived and five have gone down.
Frank laughed: “Then maybe we should just flip a coin and forget about playing the 38 games!”