Kevin Schade said Brentford feel stronger now than they did when he first arrived, as the winger reflected on a season that has put the club within reach of Europe before Monday’s game against Manchester United. In an exclusive interview ahead of the match, Schade said he no longer leaves every game feeling drained and insisted the team can cope with change better than outsiders think.
“I feel I am much stronger now, not only body-wise,” Schade said. “I don’t feel dead after every game anymore!” The 23-year-old has become one of Brentford’s most dangerous attackers, scoring a hat-trick in the 4-1 win over Bournemouth two days after Christmas and three more in a November 2024 victory over Leicester City, making him the only German player ever to score two trebles in the Premier League.
Brentford signed Schade on loan from Freiburg for the second half of the 2022-23 season before making the move permanent that summer, and his rise has tracked the club’s own refusal to be defined by departures. Last summer brought the exits of Bryan Mbeumo, Yoane Wissa and head coach Thomas Frank, while Christian Nørgaard also left as captain to join Arsenal. Even so, Brentford are ninth with a game in hand and would move to sixth, and into a Europa League place, with a win over Manchester United.
Schade said that sense of resilience is not new at the club. “Even before that, when Ivan Toney left, everyone said it would be difficult. But then we played even better. Maybe you can only see it from the inside, because I know all the players and what they can do. When anyone talks from the outside, you shouldn’t take it too seriously,” he said.
He added that the summer changes looked worse from the outside than they did inside the dressing room. “Yes, of course. Because the gaffer left and the top scorers left — but they don’t see what’s behind that,” Schade said. “Igor Thiago came back, we bought Dango [Ouattara], Damsy [Mikkel Damsgaard] is still here, and we had a structure.”
Keith Andrews, who was appointed head coach after missing out on the same role at League Two MK Dons two months earlier, has inherited a side still in the mix for what would be Brentford’s first European campaign in club history. Schade said Jordan Henderson has also helped steady the group. “You can learn so much from him. When it’s not going well on the pitch, he’s the one who pushes everyone to stay calm and bring back the quality,” he said. “It is an incredible job that he is doing.”
Brentford have not won at Old Trafford since 1937, a run that only sharpens the stakes on Monday. But Schade’s form, Thiago’s return and the club’s place in the table suggest Brentford are no longer simply trying to survive change. They are trying to turn it into history.
