Brentford boss Thomas Frank: Gap between European teams is getting worse

Brentford boss Thomas Frank is convinced the “boring” gulf between the haves and have-nots in football is “only getting worse”.

The 10th-placed Bees maintain one of the smallest wage bills in the Premier League but have routinely struck above their financial weight, going into Wednesday night’s encounter with Chelsea in the top half of the table, a place above their opponents.

It’s a position that delights Frank, but the Danish head coach remained staunchly pessimistic in his assessment of the bigger picture in which his team remains an anomaly.

He said: “The beauty of football is that anything can happen. The beauty of football is that we were able to go to Chelsea last year and win. And we have a chance (Wednesday). That is the beauty.

“But the reality is that there is a huge risk, or whatever we call it, that we will lose or may lose against a team of world-class players and they have spent £600m. That is the reality, that would be very difficult.

“There is very little chance that a club outside the top six/seven with Newcastle could break into the top four. That is almost impossible. I hope it happens one day. I don’t think it’s happened since Leicester won in 2016.

“That was seven years ago and I think it’s only getting worse. I think you’re watching PSG (Paris St Germain) in France, I think you’re watching Bayern Munich, I hope Dortmund win, they’re still up there, one of the two, but you don’t see anyone but Bayern. or Dortmund that is winning the championship in Germany.

“For me personally, I think it’s a bit boring. I think it needs to be a little stricter, but I don’t think we can change that. I think that’s a bigger question for others to answer than myself.”

Brentford representatives were among those attending the launch of the Union of European Clubs (UEC), an organization that seeks to give a voice to more than 1,000 professional clubs on the continent, on Monday.

Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish was also part of the delegation of five English clubs to the Brussels event, where he warned that “there is a two-speed Premier League: there is a top half and a bottom half and that disparity will be every bigger and bigger.” and bigger unless we put some rules in place to try to control it.”

The UEC bills itself as an “independent representative body founded to enhance support and advocacy for non-elite professional clubs across Europe.”

The group believes that there are around 1,400 professional clubs in Europe that have no voice and should be represented on UEFA’s decision-making boards in the same way as member clubs of the European Club Association (ECA). .

Frank agreed that the organization could be of benefit to clubs like Brentford by addressing collective concerns as a united front.

He added: “I think it’s good. I think it’s very important (because) when you talk to other clubs at the same level, I think there’s more to compare, and you have some of the same challenges that you can discuss and learn from those experiences. And that hopefully can add value to the broader group.”