Sepp van den Berg has been a regular for Brentford since joining them from Liverpool on a permanent transfer in August 2024.
Thomas Frank has mainly used him as a centre-back and has also deployed him on the right side of defence. Van den Berg made his Brentford debut when he came off the bench against Southampton last August.
Since then, the defender started 24 games in all competitions for Brentford. He picked up a knee injury in the Bees’ 1-0 league win against West Ham United on February 15th and has been on the sidelines since then.
Voetbal Primeur had a chat with the Dutchman, where he stated that he is enjoying his life at the London club.
Van den Berg wasn’t able to cement a place at Anfield and the Reds sent him on loan to Preston North End, Schalke and 1. FSV Mainz 05 between 2020 and 2024. He didn’t play in the Premier League during his time at Liverpool.
On his time at Brentford so far, he said: “Walking in here and becoming a regular starter in the Premier League: that is really not that easy.”
The former Reds man is pleased that Brentford gave him an opportunity to play in the top division in England.
“It was certainly tough for me in the first few matches. We also played directly away at Liverpool, [Manchester] City and Spurs. The pace here is so high and the quality of the players is also second to none,” Van den Berg explained.
“If you look at the names around here and how good those guys are… But it is mainly the pace and intensity: that’s really high in the Premier League. Of course, I have also played football in the Netherlands and Germany, but this is the highest level I have played at and seen so far. It’s a different kettle of fish.”
The Brentford man’s brother, Rav van den Berg, has been at Middlesbrough since 2023. Voetbal Primeur state Sepp ‘secretly dreams’ of either playing with his brother or against each other.
“It seems very funny to play against him once. Coincidentally, we talked about this the other day,” he added.
“Rav is doing very well at Middlesbrough now, so who knows what will happen to him. If we were to play against each other, we should just not cover each other at corners. Then I don’t think things will go quite right and I can’t quite contain my laughter. It seems really cool, playing against each other.”
“But I’d rather play together with him, in club or the Dutch national team. For any family and certainly for us as brothers, that’s really a dream.”
