'Annoying': Thomas Frank now shares what he said to Chelsea's Edouard Mendy on the pitch at full-time on Saturday
Brentford boss Thomas Frank revealed the conversation he had with Edouard Mendy after he single-handedly secured three points for Chelsea last Saturday.
As quoted by the club’s website, Frank admitted his and Mendy’s chat at full-time was nothing more than a tribute to the Blues heroic no.1.
The Senegalese international was totally impassable when the two teams met in the Premier League over the weekend.
After Chelsea went ahead through Ben Chilwell, the Bees completely swarmed their guests, hoping to break into the hive and retrieve the honey.
Unfortunately for Brentford, they were repeatedly met with the 6ft4in frame of a certain gloved guardian.
Mendy made four terrific saves in the second half to keep his side in front, all differing in technique, but all equally as important.
His last – and arguably the pick of the bunch – denied Christian Norgaard from scoring a bicycle kick by tipping the effort over the bar.
Very Frank about Mendy
After the match eventually concluded and Chelsea could breathe again, Thomas Tuchel’s men all rushed over to thank their courageous ‘keeper.
As did Frank, who confessed he was also part of the congratulatory mob.
“He was the main reason we didn’t win,” said the Danish manager about Mendy.
“He was absolutely world class and he’s been crazy good for Chelsea, so I just said to him it was a little bit annoying that he was so good, and I just praised him.
“If you want to win anything you need to have a fab keeper and number nine.
“We managed to keep Romelu Lukaku quiet but unfortunately we couldn’t get past Mendy.
“If you look at Chelsea, they should praise themselves because in terms of how many chances we’ve created it’s very good they have a good keeper or they wouldn’t have been number one in the league.”
Chelsea in safe hands
Title-winning organisations are often built upon the most solid foundations.
Chelsea might be able to unleash all the attacking armoury in the world, but they now have a fortress where they can store such weapons.
It’s no coincidence that Manchester City and Liverpool’s recent top division triumphs arrived shortly after they signed a new goalie.
The Blues have followed a similar model and the rewards are evident.
If Mendy can remain rock-solid for the rest of the season, then the league crown could well be heading back to Stamford Bridge.