🔗 Share this article

More than the midpoint of the season, Brentford are in dreamland.

With victories in five games, and a Samba striker netting the goals, suddenly supporters find themselves drifting off with thoughts of trips to European capitals next season.

A convincing three-nil win over Sunderland moved Keith Andrews' side into the fifth spot in the Premier League – a position that was sufficient to secure European football last season.

Solely table-toppers Arsenal have collected more points over the past half-dozen matches.

There's a significant distance to go yet but Brentford are firmly in the fight for continental football.

Few was envisioning this last summer.

The former head coach had left for Tottenham after seven years in charge, a period in which he had not only guided the club promoted but also established them in the elite division.

Skipper their Danish midfielder left for the North London club and goal-scoring duo two key forwards – who scored a combined of 39 goals in the previous campaign – were also sold, joining United and Newcastle United respectively.

Set-piece coach Andrews was elevated to succeed the Dane, while there was no striker among the off-season arrivals.

A season of struggle, possibly even relegation, was forecast. But here we are in the new year with the club in the upper echelons.

So, what is behind their success?

Igor Thiago's Historic Campaign

The club's decision not to bring in another striker was partly down to timing, with one forward's move not going through until the final day of the window.

But they also knew they had a £30m striker already ready and waiting.

The 24-year-old joined from Belgium in the summer for a then club record fee, but was hindered by injury in his first campaign, going without a goal in eight appearances.

Thiago has gone about compensating for lost time this season, though, with his brace against the Wearside club taking him to 16 league goals – the most by a player from Brazil in a single Premier League campaign.

Considering the fellow Brazilians who have preceded him, that is a remarkable feat, especially with 17 games remaining.

"He's been a breath of fresh air," pundit Danny Murphy said. "He's a physical specimen, quick, powerful, but technically better than people think. Good with his feet, either foot, he can score off both. You can see he's brimming with confidence. These numbers are fantastic. He must be so proud. That's a big compliment to him."

That only a trio of global superstars have scored more in any of the continent's major leagues to this point shows the standard he is operating at.

And it is not just the quantity but the crucial nature of the goals that have been so vital for his team.

His first goal against the Black Cats was his seventh opener of the season. Given how often we are told the importance of the initial strike in a game, having someone you can rely on to take that early opportunity cannot be underestimated.

Before the game against Sunderland, no player to have attempted at least thirty efforts this season has a better shooting accuracy than Igor Thiago's 59.1 percent.

He finds the target. Do that often enough and the goals will – and have – come.

Given the hardships he had in his youth, where he worked as a bricklayer to support his family following the death of his father, perhaps it should be unsurprising that pressure on the pitch is something he handles with ease.

"Our scouts deserve a lot of credit for the kind of players they bring in and characters," the manager said. "This is really impressive. He is a really special person who has adapted to life very nicely. He has had to forge this path. He has earned his journey and grafted. He has got real determination about his personality. He is developing his abilities constantly and we are discovering more and more about him. He is a pretty all-round centre-forward."

Andrews Showing Doubters Wrong

Their star striker is the man of the moment but Brentford are not and have never been a single-player team.

While they had key individuals – Ivan Toney, Christian Eriksen, Mbeumo and Wissa – under Frank, they were always seen as a team more effective than the sum of their parts.

The fear was that once the Dane left, that may not be the case, and that the collective quality of Brentford's parts alone might not be enough to avoid relegation.

As a result, appointing their set-piece coach, with a blank managerial CV, and just a twelve months at the club was seen by those external observers as a gamble.

A maiden role is a challenge for anyone, especially when it comes in the Premier League and having made the leap from specialist coach to the manager's office.

But given that Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna was the only other alternative that the hierarchy looked at, they were clearly confident they had the correct candidate.

To date, as often seems to be the case with the key decision makers at Brentford, it looks as if they were correct.

The new boss won just a single of his first five league games in charge but significant home victories against United, Liverpool and Newcastle have since occurred.

Results that, following their excellent recent run, could prove all the more important in the race for Europe.

"We're in fine fettle and playing really good. We are playing with bravery and conviction in everything we do with and without the ball," he added. "We are happy with how we are going but we want to keep improving."

In a league where fourth and 15th are currently separated by just a handful of points, they have no other option, because things could quickly look very otherwise.

But, for now, Brentford are defying the odds. And the longer that continues, the closer to reality those dreams of the continent will become.