JEN: LESS CASH ...MORE DESIRE
MATHIAS JENSEN marvelled at Brentford’s passion after the Bees gave Manchester United the mother of bombardments – even if they had little to show for it.
“Every team should have this desire,” said the Danish playmaker. “We have a way lower budget than a lot of the other clubs so we definitely have to show desire every game otherwise we won’t have a chance.
“That’s what the club has been good at – creating a great culture and a style that is hard to play against. We don’t have the money that a lot of the other clubs have, which is why the culture is even more important.”
United absconded from Kew Bridge, where they were humiliated 19 months earlier, with an undeserved point and Jensen shrugged: “It sums up our season and it all comes down to quality I guess, but we are also a bit unlucky.
“We have been so close to putting in the performances recently and at some point we will get like what we feel like we deserved.
“We beat them 4-0 here last season but it is Manchester United, so even if we are doing very well against them, they also have some quality.
“Even though we were battering them the whole game they still put one in. We were very good at creating the chances – now it’s about training and training and hopefully we put them away in our next game.
“Performances lead to winning, and there have been a lot of good performances. Hopefully we are in a good period now even though we haven’t won for a few games.
“I’m sure it will come. Honestly, I am not looking too much at the table. We are just focusing on the next game just like we were last season when we were almost getting into Europe.
“It’s all about not looking forward too much and that’s why we have come so far. We will do the same even though we are closer to the bottom.”
Defeat would have been so unfair for the Bees and boss Thomas Frank admitted: “I almost lost faith in the big football god – at least he gave us a little bit back.”
Frank could scarcely believe his side needed Kristoffer Ajer’s 99th-minute equaliser to salvage a point.
He said: “What a performance – we are facing a more or less fullstrength United, we’ve got our entire back four out, and we completely dominated the game.
“To go 1-0 down in the 96th minute and still come back, the players deserve so much praise. They are a fantastic group of human beings to work with.”