Mikkel Damsgaard: Confidence is Key | OneFootball

From the distance a player covers to expected goals and assists, nearly every aspect of modern football is measured.

Data has been instrumental to Brentford’s success – but there’s more to the game than that.

Football is played by people, and with that comes the unpredictability and imperfections of human nature.

Confidence - the feeling of self-assurance arising from an appreciation of one’s own abilities - cannot be quantified but is essential for any player striving to reach peak performance.

And Mikkel Damsgaard admits that confidence was in short supply when he joined the club from Sampdoria in August 2022.

The midfielder starred for Denmark at Euro 2020 - a sublime free-kick in a semi-final defeat to England underlining his credentials as one of the most promising young players on the continent - but missed six months of his final season in Serie A after a knee operation revealed he was suffering with a form of arthritis.

“Thomas [Frank] and Phil [Giles] knew everything about my injury,” Damsgaard begins.

“They’d done their research, spoken to my physios and knew everything that was going on with me.

“The club knew I was still a long way from physically being able to play in the Premier League, so from their side it was a little bit of an investment.

“They knew I was behind and had a lot of work to do, and I had thought that also, but this was the best place for me to develop, get some kilos on and get into the best shape possible.”

Damsgaard made 29 outings for the Bees during his maiden campaign in west London as he battled to get up to the speed - and weight - required to compete in the Premier League.

Deployed alongside compatriots Mathias Jensen and Christian Nørgaard, his player-of-the-match display during the Bees’ 3-2 victory over Fulham in March 2023 was a notable highlight.

25 appearances followed last term, with Damsgaard sidelined for almost four months after undergoing knee surgery in September.

“It wasn’t back to square one, because the first injury I had in Italy, I was really down in the dumps,” he says.

“The first injury was a sickness that I still take medicine for; the second was surgery after the knee had been swelling up.

“After training sometimes, my knee would swell up like crazy and I couldn’t walk the day after.

“I felt like I was getting there, and then I got injured. So, you lose it again and have to build back up.

“If you’re feeling like you can’t run as quickly and you’re not as strong, it’s very hard to find that confidence because you’re not moving how you want to.

“The first step is being able to move the way you want; then you can do the things you have in your mind.

“It wasn’t always easy, but you have to keep going.”

Damsgaard’s perseverance has paid off.

He is currently enjoying his best spell in a Brentford shirt and is thrilled to be showing the Bees fans exactly what he is capable of.

The 24-year-old has started seven Premier League games on the spin, adding a pair of player-of-the-match trophies to his mantlepiece – a reward for his outstanding displays against Southampton and Wolves.

After the 3-1 victory over the Saints, head coach Thomas Frank described his side’s pressing as “world class” – and the industrious Damsgaard was in the thick of the action all afternoon.

His interception on Taylor Harwood-Bellis resulted in Kevin Schade hitting the woodwork, and Bryan Mbeumo was in the right place to give his side a deserved lead.

Damsgaard was at it again for Brentford's second, this time nabbing the ball off Jan Bednarek which allowed Mathias Jensen to tee up Mbeumo for his second of the game.

In total, the Dane made four successful tackles (a total matched only by Will Smallbone) with three of those coming in the attacking third.

While Damsgaard is often casted as a creator (he himself admits that no.10 is his preferred position) this was the performance of an all-action, all-round midfielder.

“I’ve always had the cleverness to tap the ball away from an opponent, but I’ve definitely built a lot on the physical part. I’ve worked very hard to get there,” he says.

“What I enjoy most about the game is having the ball and creating chances - I like to have the ball a lot.

“But playing in this league, we can’t always expect to have the ball all of the time, so having those qualities off the ball is very important.

“Doing that a lot more here is helping me to get better at it.”

Damsgaard sparkled during Brentford’s 5-3 win over Wolves as the west Londoners made it 10 points from their opening seven games before the October international break.

It was his pinpoint delivery from the byline that Nathan Collins nodded home to give Brentford the lead, and the 24-year-old then swung in the searching corner that Ethan Pinnock headed beyond Sam Johnstone on the stroke of half-time. The pair combined again during the 2-1 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford.

The assists may headline Damsgaard's stats from the meeting with Wolves, but a deeper dig into his numbers further illustrates how influential he was in a creative sense.

Across Matchweek 7 in the top flight, only Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka (7) supplied more key passes than Damsgaard (6), and the Denmark international was also responsible for two accurate through balls during the encounter.

The former Sampdoria winger was outstanding and his ability to drift wide and provide quality was evidenced by five accurate crosses.

“[Damsgaard] was running the game in many ways,” Frank purred in his post-match press conference.

“I’m so happy that we are seeing some of those promising signs where he did fantastic in the Euros in 2021 - he’s back to a level where we see there’s something in this boy.

“He is showing a little bit more bite in training and will power.

“Last year he was unlucky with injury. Then he came into the team and was clearly struggling, so he never really had that run of games.

“Now I think he’s showing more what he’s capable of, but we need more always. He needs to consistently deliver.

“No doubt about it, he trusts in himself, he gets trust from us and he’s performing.”

Damsgaard, reflecting on his recent form, says: “You can see it so clearly if someone is playing with or without confidence

“It’s the small things: a midfielder receives a pass, and instead of laying it off he turns quickly and plays forward.

“Coming back from a long injury, I thought a lot about my mistakes.

“You want to be good when you come back, you want to be yourself, but then you realise you’re making more mistakes than you normally would, and it weighs too much on your mind.

“When you have a lot of confidence you think less and do what feels right.

“And when you do something that feels right, you know it’s more likely to succeed.

“You play with initiative. Being on the pitch feels more natural; you’re used to the tempo of the game, which is especially important in the Premier League because it’s so high.”

Damsgaard adds: “I can still build on my confidence, but I’m in a good space right now.

“Sometimes I could still be more aggressive around the box, creating more chances and maybe being a bit more selfish to finish or look for a pass that’s going to create a goal.

“But how do you remain confident? It’s a hard question.

“You’re a good player – you’ve made it this far because you are good – so you need to play freely and not overthink it too much.

“You are here because you deserve to be here – you have to keep that in mind.”

Having also opened his account for the Bees in a 3-1 Carabao Cup victory over Leyton Orient last month, Damsgaard’s desire for the months ahead is clear.

“Goals and assists,” he says without hesitation.

“I’m doing pretty good in other parts of the game – winning some balls back – but getting more goals and assists is something I want to work a lot on.

“To be calmer and more clinical in those important moments – that’s what I want to add.”