Bryan Mbeumo interview: On playing piano and predicting Brentford’s fast starts

After playing understudy to various No 9s over the years, the forward is thriving in his role as Brentford’s leading man

Bryan Mbeumo is drawing comparisons between football and chess, detailing the tactical similarities, when it is suggested to him that his Brentford team should be considered the masters of aggressive opening play. “Yeah,” he agrees with a smile. “It’s the checkmate in three moves.”
Mbeumo is referring to Brentford’s incredible recent record in the first few moments of matches. Thomas Frank’s side have found the net within two minutes of each of their last four Premier League games, with Mbeumo scoring two of those goals. It is an astonishing, record-breaking run.
Perhaps even more remarkable than those statistics, though, is that Mbeumo predicted it would happen. “I remember after the first one, I was speaking to Vitaly [Janelt, his Brentford team-mate] and I told him: ‘I think we can score in the first minute four times in a row,’” he says. “I told him this. Everyone knows what you have to do on the pitch, especially on set-pieces. So, if we had done it once, why not more?”
An ability to see things before they occur is the mark of a good player. On the football pitch, and the chess board. Mbeumo, the leader of Brentford’s attack, happens to know his way around both. “I can play,” he says of his passion for chess. “I know some stuff. Two or three years ago, I got really interested and decided to learn how to play properly.”
As for those similarities between chess and football, it all comes down to movement. “In chess, we move, we wait for the opponent to move and you attack or defend. It’s the same in football because if someone is attacking, maybe the player is coming, so you play the other way and create gaps.”
Mbeumo’s off-field talents are not limited to board games. This multi-faceted 25-year-old is also a keen pianist, having used online videos to teach himself to play. The club have even bought a piano for the training ground for Mbeumo to use, with the forward producing occasional performances for his team-mates.
“The first time I got interested in piano was maybe seven years ago. I went to a dinner with my friend, and his girlfriend could play. I just listened to it and it was amazing. I could just sit in a chair and listen to it for two hours. 
“I bought my first keyboard three years ago, and then I really got into playing constantly since this summer. I just love it.”
It is a fascinating window into the mind of an elite sportsman when Mbeumo says he feels more nervous performing piano in front of his colleagues – he likes to play songs by Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi – than playing a Premier League match in front of thousands of spectators.
“You always feel pressure when you play a game, but it is not something that scares you. You’re not scared to do bad because you know you can do it naturally.”
Mbeumo could certainly be described as a natural goalscorer. Ahead of Brentford’s trip to Manchester United this weekend, only Erling Haaland has scored more than his six Premier League goals this season. 
Mbeumo has responded to the departure of Ivan Toney by taking yet more responsibility and making yet more improvements to his game.
“I feel like a leader in the team. Everybody needs to take responsibility but I have been at the club for five years now. At some point, you need to be a leader. I don’t feel any pressure [following Toney’s move to Saudi Arabia]. At the end of the day, I know what I need to do.
“Maybe I have more expectations from the fans or the people outside the pitch, but if you want to reach the steps you want to, you need to embrace this.”
Casual observers of Brentford might assume this is Mbeumo’s first campaign as the main man of their attack. Earlier in his career in England, following his move from Troyes in 2019, team-mates Ollie Watkins and Said Benrahma attracted most of the headlines. Then, as Brentford established themselves in the Premier League, it was Toney.
Brentford’s supporters, however, will know that Mbeumo has been a vital player for some time. Last season, the loss of Mbeumo for 13 games had a far bigger impact on results than the lengthy absence of Toney. With Mbeumo, Brentford won 1.3 points per game. Without him, they won just 0.5.
“I don’t want to set limits on myself,” Mbeumo says of his personal development. “I think I can always go higher. I want to be the best at what I do, every time.”
Mbeumo’s commitment to self-improvement extends to his reading choices. He celebrates goals by pretending to read a book, in tribute to a friend who works in performance coaching, and is reading The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Don Miguel Ruiz. Mbeumo also uses brain-training apps to improve his cognitive skills.
Clearly, the Cameroon international – he was born and raised in France – is a man who cares deeply about his craft. That discipline has helped him to grow as Brentford have grown, to become a Premier League star as they have become a Premier League club.
“To be honest, I had never heard about Brentford before they approached me,” he says of his move from Troyes, in the French second division, at the age of 19. “But when I met Thomas, I think he knew where I wanted to go. They had watched 28 out of my 35 games in Ligue 2. They wanted me a lot.”
Mbeumo could not have known then that, within five years, he would have matured into one of the best attackers in English football – and indeed a sensation in the wildly popular Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game. 
A quarter of all FPL players worldwide have picked him in their team this season. Mbeumo does not play it himself, but he clearly feels its presence.
“The FPL people, oh my God…” he laughs. “Sometimes when I play a bad game, I like to watch social media and see what people are thinking. When I see the FPL players, they are like so angry about my performance. That makes me laugh a little bit.
Name a better #FPL asset than Mbeumo right nowI’ll wait… pic.twitter.com/fmLLc5apid
“Sometimes people take it too seriously. It’s a bit funny. I even receive messages sometimes and they say, ‘oh, why didn’t you score? I captained you in my team’.”
Perhaps Mbeumo will keep his FPL managers happy this weekend, when Brentford look to inflict more pain on United and the under-fire Erik ten Hag. 
In this fixture last season, Frank’s side lost after conceding two goals in stoppage time, but they will be as aggressive as ever in pursuit of another footballing checkmate.
“Yeah, of course, we go there to try to get revenge,” Mbeumo says. “Before every game, no matter who we play, we say we are going there to win. Not to just play and hope we get something. We want to win every game. We are not intimidated.”