Thomas Frank sounded more pleased with Brentford when they lost and nearly lost to Manchester United than when they won. After United's 3-1 win at the Community Stadium in January 2022, Frank opined, "We destroyed them in the first half, they didn't have a sniff. "The way we smashed them in the first half was fantastic, so proud of my team.
They (United) are unbelievably lucky. I know all the crap about taking chances. They changed the system against little Brentford." United at least recovered under Ralf Rangnick that night and clinically defeated Brentford with three goals in 22 second-half minutes.
At the same ground last season, Erik ten Hag's team got worse. READ MORE: Where do United go from here? Perhaps somewhere close to home READ MORE: FA moved for Tuchel amid United threat United almost committed floodlit robbery on Easter Saturday before Brentford's 99th-minute equaliser.
Frank said afterwards: "I think this performance was one or two levels higher than the 4-0 win against them." There was key context, too.