The international break must have been like cooling water on a hot day for embattled Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag. A chance to do what he enjoys most — the on-field coaching — during two weeks away from the relentless pressure of results.
But if Ten Hag has been enjoying the relatively calm waters of the Carrington goldfish bowl this past fortnight, facing Brentford on Saturday could be like an electric toaster being thrown in — instant shock.
The longest, last time out against Wolves, took just 76 seconds. Before that, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United were all victims of Brentford’s rapid starts. No other team in Premier League history has ever been so prolific so early.
Brentford's Kick-Off Masterclass
There is a method to Brentford’s kick-offs, as The Athletic has explained previously.
Under set-piece coach Keith Andrews, a 44-year-old former Republic of Ireland international who joined Brentford in July, the club have been treating kick-offs as they would any other set-piece situation.
“First and foremost, it is not a coincidence,” said Frank, speaking to Vavel last month. “It’s not like we just roll it back and kick it forward; we maybe roll it back and maybe kick it forward, or maybe we do something, but there’s clear roles for everyone involved.”
Essentially, their starts can be distilled into three principles: play forward, play quickly, and position yourself for second balls.
Their opening goal against West Ham is a good example.
Brentford carefully position their defenders when they compete for second balls. Here, they fan out rather than chasing the ball like moths to a flame. It might be useful to visualise this as a form of zonal attacking.
West Ham, with knowledge of Brentford’s starts, are so concerned with winning the first header that they drop seven players deep. This leaves Brentford with lots of numbers in midfield, which means they can regain the ball when it loops back their way.
In the interim, the Brentford players who have gone forward use the clearance to find their own pockets of space — here, there are four of them. Nathan Collins plays an excellent ball forward to Kevin Schade, who turns his man, and Brentford are on their way.
Within the first 30 seconds of the game, they manage to play three crosses into the box after corralling clearances — working at that volume will lead to chances.
Another factor is the positioning of their wingers, who set up wide to maximise their chances of being found in space and to stretch the opposition defence. Here, West Ham have had to run touchline to touchline three times.
That invariably creates pockets of space — look at the forcefield around Bryan Mbeumo when he brilliantly volleys home from the third cross.
How To Stop Brentford's Explosive Starts
So how do you stop this?
Wolves had clearly been watching closely too, and their response was also interesting. Rather than drop every player deep, they tried to use pairs of players in order to win second balls themselves. The still below is a good example.
There was one major problem. In trying to do this, Wolves’ players became positionally adrift. Never mind winning looped headers — here, Sepp van den Berg can simply gallop 40 yards forward, with the entire Wolves midfield caught narrow.
The Importance of Positional Discipline
A similar thing happens here — four players try to close down Collins, who still has a simple out ball. Then none of them pick up the centre-back as he jogs into the box…
… and scores, taking advantage of another stretched defence.
Brentford were able to make use of the ground which Wolves gave them. Clearly, there is a balance to be struck between putting pressure on second balls and maintaining positional discipline.
Beyond the Kick-Off: Mid-Game Onslaughts
So far, the focus has been on Brentford’s kick-off routines to begin games.
However, in their last four games, they have taken nine kick-offs mid-game after conceding. It is worth analysing these as well.
Brentford’s quickest goal from a kick-off actually came this way — against Wolves, when Christian Norgaard scored just 29 seconds after the restart to put Brentford back in front, 3-2.
This again comes from Wolves’ mistakes. After initially winning their headers, a rash decision to dribble out allows Mbeumo to intercept. Vitaly Janelt can play a simple ball for Norgaard to score.
Brentford could have scored more goals from kick-offs. Here is a promising position they got into against Manchester City…
… and another against Wolves again.
From 13 kick-offs across four games, Brentford have either scored or created a goalscoring chance from eight of them.
Finding the Right Approach: Counter-Attacking as a Solution?
So do the other five provide any clues as to how to stop them? Yes and no.
For two of them, Brentford’s onslaught stops after overhit or mishit passes — for example, against City, their initial long ball dribbles out for a goal kick. This is not really something which can be utilised as a tactic — “Psst, Flekken, put a little extra into this one.”
But the other three might be useful to Ten Hag — not just for what the opposition do to stop Brentford, but because of what they do themselves.
On each occasion — these are against City, West Ham, and Tottenham — the opposition wins back the ball early, either intercepting a Brentford pass or trapping a lone player.
Then, rather than boot the ball back to Brentford, so Frank’s side can build again, they develop their own attack. In City and West Ham’s case, they do this directly, moving the ball forward rapidly…
… and flooding numbers wide.
In short, they do not behave unlike Brentford.
Wolves’ decision to dribble out for Norgaard’s goal, though an example of poor execution, was not necessarily the wrong choice philosophically. To deny Brentford the chance to score, deny them the ball when you do get it, until the game settles down.
Brentford are good at stopping this — they are amongst the best pressers in the Premier League, which is why their kick-off tactics have been so effective.
So, the one tip which Ten Hag can take into Saturday? To beat Brentford, be more like Brentford.
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Jacob Whitehead is a reporter for The Athletic, who covers a range of topics including investigations and Newcastle United. He previously worked on the news desk. Prior to joining, he wrote for Rugby World Magazine and was named David Welch Student Sportswriter of the Year at the SJA Awards. Follow Jacob on Twitter @jwhitey98
