This image is a derivative of Brentford Fans - May 2009 - Braemar Road Stand by Gareth Williams (CC BY 2.0)

It was the perfect storm. 

A Brentford side fresh of promotion, in a new stadium that was bouncing and in their first Premier League game in their history. They took on an Arsenal side ravaged with injuries and walked out with a famous 2-0 win courtesy of a Sergi Canos thunderbolt and a late Christian Nørgaard header.

Many speculated as to whether Brentford were set to become the new Leeds, using their first season back in the big time to push for a top-half berth. And through their first 7 games expectations were sky-high with the Bees losing just once. 

However the rigours of EPL life have already begun to catch up with them with just 1 win from their last 8 matches with the club now just 7 points off occupying a relegation spot. 

For Brentford to secure their top-flight status things are going to have to change. 

While they’ve got a clearly defined game-style which first helped to secure them promotion and then saw them thrive in the early going, they’re clearly going to need a lot more if they are to flourish over the course of the entire season. 

We’ve dissected their problems and enquired as to how they can become a top-half threat rather than a demotion candidate. 

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Thomas Frank’s beautifully flawed system

Thomas Frank has managed Brentford since 2018. For the majority of his stint, he’s employed a 4-3-3 formation however towards the end of last season he abandoned the 4 at the back formation after a string of draws and switched to the 3 at the back system.

This immediately caused a change, as from that point on the Bees won 7 of their remaining 10 games, booked a spot in the Championship playoffs before securing their ticket to the EPL. 

This system is built on discipline and structure and where each player has a role that must be completed, though it's also a system that can falter when a player doesn’t do enough or tries to do too much. 

And Ivan Toney is a a perfect example. He’s only scored 4 goals this season and while his role in the system is not to purely score goals, it is to create and drop deep to get on the end of long balls and link with the attack, as seen by his 25 shot-creating actions, the second most at Brentford. 

However, this has posed a question; With how clinical a striker Toney was in the Championship last year, and with how horribly unlucky Bryan Mbeumo has been so far, would it suit Brentford to play Toney as an out-and-out number 9, pushing the last man and getting into the box? Toney has, after all, only taken 32 shots so far this season and a move to a more central position could pose more problems for defences. The gamble however would be whether it cuts off such an excellent conduit between attack and midfield.

Defensively, as is the case with most 3 at the back formations is that it turns into a 5, with the wingbacks dropping deep. The midfield 3 also drop deep while the 2 strikers sit high, allowing for an easy out-ball, thus creating good counter-attacking opportunities. Brentford is a very good team in the tackle, having the 2nd most tackles in the attacking third with 3 per game and 4th for percentage of dribblers tackled with 44.1%. However, they aren’t the most efficient pressers, ranking 10th for successful pressure percentage with 29.2%.

Offensively, Brentford is somewhat of an unknown quantity. They have the 4th highest speed in attack with 1.62 metres per second, however, they have the lowest amount of 'direct attacks' with 7, whilst having the second-lowest 'build-up attacks' with 7 also. This perpetuates the importance of Ivan Toney. Toney is the most integral part of Brentford’s attacks as he is the main target of Brentford’s long ball heavy game. However, where he collects the ball in the issue. 

He more often than not collects the ball around the halfway line, or slightly inside the opposition half. He then flicks it over the top to Mbeumo or out wide to either Sergi Canos or Rico Henry - with the midfield three an option as well. Once possession is gained in an advanced area for Brentford, they play at a high tempo, looking to catch the opposition defence out and exploit gaps. This, in theory, does work and has in most games. However, having your most clinical striker acting as a link-up man, instead of getting in the box and being on the end of moves, heavily reduces the effectiveness of the system. 

Thomas Franks has built a very effective system that had already led Brentford to a fantastic start to the league. 

However, they are some clear flaws in the way they specifically attack that makes their start even more unusual. If Franks can tweak the system to make it more efficient, then Brentford will become a perennial, often dangerous, Premier League team. 

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Is this sustainable?

It’s undeniable that Brentford is playing efficient football. They are the highest in the League for the promoted teams and should the ball have fallen any other way against both Chelsea and Norwich, they could be even higher. 

With the injuries that they have suffered this season and the fact that striker Bryan Mbeumo has hit the post more times than any other player in the league, perhaps this system will look even better once the Bees start winning. 

Can they get more out of their best players? Absolutely. If the season progressed as it has, Toney will finish with 11 goals maximum. For a striker that has not scored less than 15 goals in his last 3 seasons, as well as scoring more goals each year, that number would be underwhelming. Survival is a lot easier when you have a striker scoring goals, and from what we’ve see, Mbeumo isn’t that guy just yet.

Defensively, Brentford is more than capable of maintaining their impressive defensive record. They have the advantage of playing with plenty of players behind the ball without possession - thus restricting the space for the opposition. 

Overall, Brentford has defied most people’s expectations this season. They are playing good football whilst taking some of the best clubs in the country to their limits. 

Thomas Frank has built a bizarre system that is somehow incredibly flawed, yet incredibly effective. The question is whether it can stand up for the entirety of a gruelling EPL campaign. 

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