What Is Brentford's Preferred Formation?
- essentialbrentford
- Oct 14, 2015
- 3 min read
Last season Mark Warburton’s promotion-chasing campaign was built off the back of both quality and solidity throughout the team. The loss of Pritchard and Jota has seen a marked demise in the attacking quality on display at Griffin Park. Our defensive problems have become more accute, but this does not seem to be the fault of the back four.
Odubajo’s presence will certainly be missed, but his main strengths came when going forward and his departure has not been what has spurred our sudden leakage of goals. Maxime Colin looks a good replacement in a defensive sense and otherwise our back five remains the same. Dean and Tarkowski appear the mainstays as they were for the second half of last season and Bidwell is as trustworthy a full-back as you’re likely to find in the Championship.
So, what exactly is causing the defensive problems and what can be done in reconciliation?
We highlighted in our article about Carsley's attacking mentality that this has left us exposed at the back. However, another major reason for Brentford’s dip in form might be the way we line up. Whilst Warburton used the newly-popular 4-2-3-1 to devastating effect at times, Dijkhuizen plumped for a 4-3-3; a formation that he used at Excelsior. This style has been unchanged thus far by his successor Lee Carsley.
A recent ‘FourFourTwo’ article bemoaned the all-too-frequent use of 4-2-3-1 and the resultant stagnation in Premier League football. However, the teams who have played in that style appear to be those who have recently seen some relative success. Additionally, links can be drawn between the playing style of such teams and that of Brentford last season.
The 4-2-3-1 formation allows for a team to be reasonably solid at the back whilst breaking with real speed and precision. Examples include Tottenham, Everton and Arsenal, each of which have recorded excellent results when setting up with a formation. This season has seen the rise of counter-attacking football in the Premier League, with Crystal Palace in particular using such tactics to devastating effect.
One has to look no further than Brentford's deployment of the 4-2-3-1 last season to see the rewards that it can yield when used effectively.
4-2-3-1 is a very fixed formation which allows for a solid back 6 when on the defensive, whilst allowing a definite 5 or 6 man break at the other end. The 4-3-3 which Dijkhuizen introduced is much more vague. Whilst fluidity is seen as a benefit at the very top of the game it doesn’t suit the Bees’ current predicament.
Furthermore the lack of any real lightning pace following the departures of both Odubajo and Andre Gray over the summer means that the wide men in our front 3 have become less impactful than those of last season. This is not, I believe, down to a loss of quality but rather due to the fact that the 4-2-3-1’s line of 3 is far narrower than that of the 4-3-3, allowing the wing-backs to overlap and provide support such as they previously did.
Equally playing a narrow front 4 has the added benefit of creating shooting opportunities from central positions for the wingers. Both Pritchard and Jota proved the efficancy of this style of play time and time again last year.
So; a vulnerable defence, a midfield that lacks shape and wing play that is ineffective. But what role does the central forward play in a 4-3-3?
Both Marco Djuricin and Phillip Hoffmann are strong players, capable of effective hold-up play, whilst also capable of producing a quality finish. However, these qualities will be proven insignificant if the forwards are not supported as Gray was last year.
This is where Brentford's current 4-3-3 formation’s biggest flaw lies. A fairly-flat midfield 3 behind a very wide front 3 means that the lone striker is just that, completely alone. Any fan of the BBC’s MOTD will know that at least a few times a season the likes of Alan Shearer and Ian Wright pick out a struggling team within which a talented forward has little or no support. An isolated striker is no good at all.
A return to 4-2-3-1 will almost certainly not spark the end of Brentford’s current run of form, but the problems with the team's structure must be addressed. We must attempt to find a formation that effectively harnesses all of the talent that the Bees possess.
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