Keith Andrews wants Brentford to improve on last season after outlining his ambitions, praising Mamadou Sangaré and assessing his summer squad.
Keith Andrews heads into the new Premier League season convinced Brentford are in a stronger position than 12 months ago, and he’s made it clear he expects his players to build on last year’s ninth-place finish.
The Bees kick off their campaign at home to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday evening, buoyed by an encouraging summer that finished with a thumping 7-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt.
Now in his second season as head coach, Andrews isn’t shying away from what Brentford want to achieve after coming so close to European football last time out.
“The ambition for this season is to be better and that naturally brings you to a really good place in the table,” Andrews said in his pre-match press conference.
“We start from a better place. The players are in a really good place and very, very ambitious to achieve something special this season.”
Brentford’s ninth-place finish last season kept them in the European mix until the final day, laying solid foundations in Andrews’ first year. This summer, it’s been about strengthening what’s already there rather than starting over.
Andrews Happy With Brentford’s Summer Business
Brentford wasted little time in the market, snapping up young centre-back Jannik Schuster before bringing in Premier League know-how with Callum Wilson and Jaidon Anthony.
The headline signing, though, was in midfield: Mamadou Sangaré joined from Lens for a club-record fee after catching the eye in Ligue 1 last season.
Andrews feels the business done so far has left him with a squad ready to push on again.
“The squad is in a good place,” he said.
“We got some business done early with Jannik as a young centre-back and two Premier League-ready players with a lot of experience in Callum and Jaidon Anthony. We’re really content with the business we’ve done.”
Wilson and Anthony bring fresh competition to an attack already featuring Igor Thiago, Kevin Schade and Dango Ouattara. At the back, Schuster arrives at a time when Brentford will be without Sepp van den Berg for the start of the season.
Andrews confirmed the Dutch defender will be sidelined for the opening weeks, ruling him out of the Tottenham clash.
Van den Berg played a key role in Brentford’s defence last season, so his absence gives Andrews an early selection headache as he looks to settle on his back line.
Sangaré Already Impressing Andrews
Sangaré has already caught the eye in pre-season and could make his competitive Brentford debut against Spurs.
The 24-year-old found the net in the emphatic win over Frankfurt and arrives off the back of a season where he established himself among Ligue 1’s standout midfielders.
Andrews has been quick to praise both Sangaré’s qualities on the pitch and the attitude he’s shown since landing in west London.
“Mamadou is a very talented midfielder,” he said. "He can do lots of different aspects of that role.
“He’s a very focused, very determined and very ambitious young man, but he’s hungry to achieve. He’s certainly a player on an upward trajectory.”
Sangaré joins a midfield group featuring Vitaly Janelt, Yehor Yarmoliuk, Mathias Jensen and Mikkel Damsgaard, giving Andrews more options than he had at times last season when injuries bit hard.
Bringing him in was a statement of intent from Brentford, who broke their transfer record after finishing ninth and coming within touching distance of European football.
Naturally, the prospect of Europe will be part of the conversation about what progress looks like this season, though Andrews hasn’t pinned down a specific league target.
For now, the focus is simply on raising the bar again.
Brentford have now had a full season under Andrews, kept hold of the core that pushed for Europe, and added reinforcements in key areas over the summer.
Saturday will give the first real glimpse of how far that can take them.
Tottenham come to town after a summer of changes themselves, but Brentford head into the opener on the back of four straight pre-season wins and with Andrews convinced his side are in a far better place than this time last year.
After coming so close to Europe last season, standing still is not on the agenda.
