Dango Ouattara has praised Keith Andrews and Brentford’s environment, saying he has felt no pressure since his arrival.
Dango Ouattara has praised Keith Andrews and Brentford’s dressing room for helping him settle quickly at the club, with the winger making clear that support inside the building has been central to his strong first season in west London. Speaking in an exclusive interview with TNT Sports, Ouattara said he has not felt weighed down by pressure since arriving, instead pointing to the role played by staff and team-mates in easing the transition.
“I didn’t put pressure on myself,” Ouattara said. “I had the support of all the staff. My teammates helped me settle in well, so that made things easier for me. So I don’t feel any pressure.” His point is less about the move itself than about what Brentford have put around him. The impression is of a club that has made the transition straightforward rather than overwhelming.
He made a similar point when discussing the squad more broadly. “I feel well received by everyone,” he said. “Everything is going well. It’s pretty much the whole team that welcomed me well.” For Brentford, that matters because it speaks to something the club has been trying to build over a longer period. Their model depends not only on recruiting players with the right profile, but on integrating them quickly enough for the move to make sense on the pitch. Ouattara’s comments suggest that the process has worked well in his case.
A large part of that, in his view, comes back to Andrews. Brentford’s head coach has had to manage a season in which expectations have shifted repeatedly, but Ouattara’s description of him was simple and direct. “He’s always there for the players. He takes care of everyone,” he told TNT Sports. “And on the field, he’s someone who imposes his style of play.” He then linked that to Brentford’s wider campaign, adding: “This season, we’ve managed to win quite a few matches against the top teams. He has his own style that allows us to have a successful season.”
The 24-year-old has six goals and six assists across all competitions in his debut campaign, underlining that his adaptation to Brentford has not slowed him down significantly.
Ouattara’s comments speak well of Andrews in his first season as a head coach. For a player still adapting to a new club to describe the environment in those terms is a positive sign, suggesting Brentford’s message under Andrews is being received clearly in the dressing room.