Thomas Frank’s Brentford Tactics Explained

hello welcome back i'm statman dave and today we're going to be discussing thomas frank's brentford and tactics explained remember to subscribe if you're new smash that like button but anyway let's get this party started [Music] following their promotion to the premier league brentford have taken the competition by storm with their attacking intent and innovative tactics so today we're going to go through what makes the bees such a special side in the premier league thomas frank has set brentford up in a 3-5-2 they're defensively very solid which has drawn comparisons to the likes of chris wilder sheffield united but they've started their top flight career in an even better shape than the blades did in the 2019-20 season comparing the clubs in their respective seasons brentford not only have a greater xg per 90 but a lower xg per 92 with brentford enjoying an xg difference of nearly 0.8 per 90 minutes brentford's great defensive record comes from frank's system and the player's defensive work rate without the ball they defend in a 3-5-2 and look to press in a man-to-man scheme this can often see the ball side wing back step up and press resembling a 4-4-2 whilst they've got possession their wing-backs look to hold the width as the central midfielders supplement the attack resembling a lopsided 3-2-1-4 they're a very direct team that often look to get their strikers involved often playing for flick-ons or knock-downs before building the attack with short but quick passing combinations notably progressing through the up back through method in the final third we've seen a lot of evantoni dropping off and playing balls through defense which can also see the bees sending crosses from wing backs or even a supporting central midfielder or striker pulling wide and crossing for his partner when the wing-backs do cross however we often see the other join the front two in the box and the sporty midfielder get on the edge they're a very well drilled side and these tactics alone will ask questions of the very best teams in the premier league but what sets them apart is their attacking threat from set pieces like fc michelan brentford is owned by matthew benham under venom's guidance micheland have been built on data and analytics as they look to gain marginal advantages by looking at the game differently they won their first league title in their history under his ownership in 2015 with set pieces being a major focus of their success in fact in 1920 when they last won the league a whopping 49 of their goals were scored from set pieces giving michelan success brentford's own model also has a big focus on data and set pieces which sees them come up with very creative routines take that opening goal in the 3-3 draw with liverpool yano with the free kick he takes it short to norgard who lifts over the top for kanos to cross tony gets a touch as pinnock finishes at the back post this was a very well thought out move brentford loaded the back post in a way that made liverpool assume that that's where the ball was going then the initial square pass takes the attention of salah and jones which allows kanos to make his run untracked combine this with the initial positioning of tony and janssen in offside positions means that liverpool's defenders leave them as they're not a danger however by using the width from the pitch through kanos and getting him behind liverpool's defenders were too far away from brentford's now on side attackers to catch them even though kanos's touch is bad tony has to improvise and janssen misses a chance brentford's data-driven approach loading of the back post sees pinnock score but brentford aren't all about unusual routines the general setup is excellent from all dead balls and like with an attacking structure brentford have a set piece playbook no matter the situation be it a corner free kick or throw in brentford load the box with her five biggest aerial threats the three centre-backs defensive midfielder christian norgaard and key striker evan tony but to protect against the transition they always have one short passing option and three players on the edge of the box who wait for the second balls and as competent at finishing off clearances as they are stopping counter-attacks they don't just have one type of delivery but brentford can send in all kinds of passes and crosses to targeted areas of the box however from free kicks brentford have a preference to overload the back post with their three centre-backs up against two markers however they can use variety and diversion by moving one of them away regardless it's always pontus janssen and ethan pinnock who will find that space pinic especially seems to be the man they look for on the back post to knock balls back across for teammates their free-kick set up worked to perfection in the 2-1 win over west ham matthias jensen with the free-kick as brentford have a two-on-one at the back post with pinnock and janssen and their three safety players on the edge jensen looks to the back post and finds janssen his shot is saved but first to react is whisser on the edge who rifles the ball home whilst this looks like a fortunate goal brentford have done their homework positioning their most dangerous aerial threats where they can be the most effective but frank has positioned a forward on the edge of the box who's gonna gamble on a loose ball more than any other player whisser is the only player on the move and he has got the finishing ability to win the game for the bees they do this frequently with either whisser or of course and burmo sitting in that position for those second balls on the back post brentford also have throw-ins to create chances from like with corners and free-kicks brentford loads the box with five players but often as centre-back takes the throw that the striker joins the five the three tallest players often the two centre-backs and tony attack the near post and take the attention of the goalkeeper whilst norgard and often in burmo position themselves deep reacting for and attacking the ball in motion they are usually pretty stationary until the contact but they're on their toes which usually sees them winning the second ball we saw this in their second goal against arsenal where leno couldn't get to the ball to stop the cross but couldn't also stop norgard from heading home the second ball like with other scenarios brentford have variations of throw-ins such as taking short throws to crossing first time to their tall attackers they even throw in a bit of disguise by having long throwers moving towards the ball as if they're going to go and take the throw before getting the ball into play this exact moment nearly caught liverpool out although by loading the box and leaving their centre-backs high brentford still managed to score from a chaotic second phase kanos with the throw-in as the centre-back zanka trots over which sees liverpool switch off kanos takes it quickly and crosses but van dyke is the only liverpool player switched on and clears but brentford recover the possession they go back to david raya who calmly picks out kanos with one of the passes of the season from a goalkeeper kanos finds aya who hangs it up to the back post where brentford have a three on one on trent alexander arnold norgard wins the header janssen hits the bar as yano puts the ball into the back of the net this goal shows the benefit of sustaining an attack and leaving your aerial threats high after a set piece but it also shows how important a goalkeeper can be a big aspect of brentford's play is creating second ball scenarios often when their centre-backs have a free defensive header they'll direct the ball upwards to give their teammates the opportunity to optimize their positioning and win the second ball they do this through horizontal come backness and a lot of bodies to contest the ball so wherever it lands there's a brentford player who can challenge but the goalkeeper is also an integral part to this strategy david ray is able to put the ball anywhere on the pitch from goalkick's open play and with the ball in his hands and alvaro fernandez is also very good with his feet brentford's set up attacking situations through rey's distribution but load the target area of the pitch ready for second balls the preferred method is through targeting eve antoni who attracts the centre-back but through his size and strength he can pin and either knock the ball down or flick the ball on to make the latter more viable we constantly see brian and burmo spinning him behind ready for that flick on but they don't always go to tony thomas frank is a very pragmatic manager and will look to make the most of a slight advantage for his team if their opposition has a physically inferior full-back the goalkeeper will target them and look to use brentford's wing-backs as a target to flick the ball on to and burmo we saw this to great effect in the 3-3 draw with liverpool where brentford targeted trent alexander arnold using left wing back rico henry as their target man in fact eve antoni should have put the bees ahead on eight minutes brentford with a free-kick rare goes along to henry who easily out-jumps trent flicking it onto him burmo the forward drags matip out wide before playing a 1-2 with henry before swinging in a cross that tony can't quite get an angle of the goal this was a big chance for brentford given the quality of tony you can see how easily liverpool are undone by brentford's direct tactics in the initial aerial jewel trent has to challenge which leaves a massive gap for matip to cover but as in burmo is expecting the flick on he gets there first then brentford's attackers quickly create a crossing situation whilst matip is out of position and tony completely blindsides virgil van dijk but we can't understate the importance of tony in this style the forward is an incredible threat in the air and will dominate most players in those kinds of jewels immediately after he should have put brentford ahead the bees kept the pressure on with their second ball tactics and tony's aerial dominance alison goes long with a goal kick but janssen heads the ball up as brentford swarmed that central area tony out jumps van dyke and in burmo rides one challenge bypasses robertson and works it tonyaka who can't convert this wasn't the only occasion that tony dominated liverpool's defenders in fact tony won nine aerial jewels in the game with van dyke winning 50 of his jewels whilst matip just won 38 percent both were well below their usual aerial duel win rates thanks to tony's ability and brentford's tactics even tony and brian and burmo are another reason why brentford's tactics are so effective they're a classic big man little man strikeforce but with a modern twist and burmo is a dynamic forward with great movement who's capable of playing all across the line tony meanwhile is a modern-day target man with the physicality of the classic role but the technical ability of a playmaker the duo often combined by getting tony on the ball deep either going through direct long balls or playing it into his feet while sabermo is always making that run on the last line and burmo's versatility means that he can make the run in every direction beyond tony and still be effective when he's wide left he operates like a classic winger looking to set crosses into the box from the right hand side he's more like an inside forward cutting in onto a stronger left foot and getting shots off whilst through the middle he plays like an advanced forward who looks to break away and finish off chances tony is irreplaceable in this setup his combination of physicality and creativity have been outstanding in fact he ranks number one in the premier league for expected assists this season the two strikers also make brentford tough to play through and offer a genuine first line of defense with the bees often dropping to a 5-3-2-0 to block off central passing lanes and allow the forwards to set the pressing tempo all in all thomas frank has made the bees into an outfit that could mix it up with the best his alternative tactics with a heavy focus on set pieces combined with the determination to play positive football we'll see brentford becoming an established premier league club in the long term but anyway guys what do you think have you been impressed by brentford so far this season let me know in the comments below i've been statman dave we'll see you later thanks for watching if you've enjoyed this video why not check out some more content on the statmandave youtube channel [Music]