Why Should Brentford Fans Care About FC Midjtylland?
- essentialbrentford
- Nov 27, 2015
- 4 min read
To any ordinary football fan, FC Midjtylland is a professional football club who play in the Danish Superliga. However, to a fan of Brentford FC, Midjtylland should be much more than this.
Midtjylland are not yet on the radar of most English football fans. The club are in a comparitively obscure league (the Superliga is nowhere near high profile as La Liga, Serie A, etc.) and Midtjylland have only recently risen to prominence. Indeed, the Danish side were on the verge of going under before Matthew Benham took them over in July 2014.
The decision to invest £6.2million in Midtjylland was taken due to the recommendation of Rasmus Ankersen, a name Bees fans will recognise due to his role as co-director of football at Brentford. Ankersen, who had spent time at Midtjylland in his playing days, suggested that they would be the perfect side to buy in order to test their statistical analysis.
Ankersen was appointed chairman of Midtjylland, and the Danish side became a testing ground for Benham's revolutionary football philosophy. The 47-year‑old Brentford owner made millions by using mathematical models to predict football results and believes the figures can also provide a vital edge in the transfer market and on the pitch.
Whenever someone tries to go against the system they are met with a huge amount of resistance. There are many people who would love to see Benham's "Moneyball" system fail. These people are the traditionalists, the ones who say things like "numbers can't measure how big a player's heart is".
Indeed, Mark Warburton can be categorised as one of these people. He disagreed with Benham's footballing philosophy and refused to work under it.
This is why Midtjylland proved the perfect club for Benham to take over. The financial situation at the Danish side meant that they were grateful for the investment and allowed Benham to run the club as he liked. They realised that beggars can't be choosers.
Ankersen's primary job was getting the coaching and playing staff at Midtjylland on board with the new way of doing things. At first the revolutionary ideas that Benham and Ankersen brought to the table were met with sketicism by the Danish side. The club captain has even been quoted saying he though it was "bullsh*t".
However, Ankersen (a motivational speaker by trade) eventually helped Midtjylland buy into the revolutionary ideas - just as he is trying to do with Brentford at the moment.
Midtjylland went on to win the Danish Superliga last season for the first time in their history. They are currently second in their Europa League group, and require a win or draw against Club Brugge to qualify for the knock-out stages, where they could face the likes of Tottenham.
But why should Brentford fans care about all this? Well, the answer is that the similarities between Midtjylland and Brentford are uncanny.
Both clubs were struggling financially before Benham swooped in and became majority share-holder.
Both clubs have been rising in prominence and stature since he has taken over. Midtjylland completed a record-breaking season last year, whilst Brentford achieved their highest league finish in over half a century.
The fundamental difference is that Benham implemented his "moneyball" system into Midtjylland as soon as he took over in 2014. At Brentford, although he has used the same system to a lesser degree for a few years, he only revolutionised the whole structure of the club this Summer.
Brentford's slow start to the season can be attributed to the settling process of the new system. Indeed, this whole season is focused on getting the structure in place and finding our feet somewhat.
However, Midtjylland have proven that the system works.
Rasmus Ankersen describes what has happened since Benham bought Midtjylland last July as “a fairytale”. But the introduction of specialist kicking coaches, in-game statistics for half-time team talks and the use of analytics for set pieces is Midtjylland’s new reality.
As their Denmark defender Erik Sviatchenko puts it: “Matthew is the x-factor. His money is hugely important. But his use of statistics and mathematics is the extra thing that gives us the advantage.”
During the Summer, several of Midtjylland's coaching staff were transferred to West London to work with Brentford as part of the club's radical overhaul.
Rasmus Ankersen is one of them, and he now holds a position at both clubs. Brentford also employ former-Midtjylland man Bartek Sylwestrzak, a specialist kicking coach, to work with the best players from under-14 level to the first team.
Twice a month Bartek analyses how each player strikes the ball and devises training programmes that players work on in their spare time. Cynics will scoff. But is it possible that Alan Judge's surge in form is down to more than just luck?
The success of FC Midtjylland serves as a marker for how far Brentford can go. The two clubs are not just bound by the same owner. They are bound by their revolutionary ways. They use methods that no other football club in the world do. Their path is inextricably linked, and they are changing the way that football is being played.
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