If you try to picture Brentford’s style of play since their first Premier League season in 2021-22, specific images come to mind.
Solid defensive organisation is one, man-to-man pressing and innovative set pieces are others, and that vision surely includes long balls to Ivan Toney.
Their occasionally direct tactics were so successful that they overshadowed Brentford’s attempts to play out from the back when the opportunity arose.
Toney’s departure to Saudi side Al Ahli over the summer — and an injury to new arrival Igor Thiago, who has recently returned to action — prompted Frank to tweak his team’s style in possession, but it was something the head coach wanted to do last season, long before Toney left.
“We talked about Brentford 2.0,” Frank told The Athletic in May. “We wanted to add layers to our style. We wanted more control and to be more dominant on the ball to create chances. I didn’t want a thousand passes before we scored a goal.
“All of our offensive statistics went up from the beginning of the season until the 12th game. Possession, passes, crosses, number of players in the box, xG (expected goals), goals — and then the injuries hit us. We tried to still go down that route for the next couple of games but we had too many players out.”
Last season, Frank’s evolution on the ball was put on pause, Toney left in the summer, that tempting long-ball option is less tempting, and now the evolution is underway again.
One aspect of their game that immediately stands out this season is goalkeeper Mark Flekken playing shorter passes compared to in the past.
Looking at the share of Brentford goalkeepers’ passes played ‘long’ — balls that travel at least 32 metres (35 yards) — there has been a shift towards playing out from the back. Their percentage of long balls has dropped to 44 per cent in the Premier League this season.
Frank has mainly used a back four in 2024-25, and Brentford’s shape in possession has changed depending on what the team wants to achieve, who is available and how the opponent sets up.
Essentially, Frank deploys variations of a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3, with Mikkel Damsgaard or Mathias Jensen offering an attacking profile in midfield alongside Christian Norgaard and Vitaly Janelt.
In the 2-1 loss to Manchester City in September, Yoane Wissa dropped in the left half-space to form a 4-2-2-2 shape on the ball.
Brentford built up differently against Fulham in November. In that game, Janelt positioned himself higher up the pitch to make it a 4-3-3.
The following week, Damsgaard started as a left-winger against Bournemouth but constantly roamed inside the pitch to play as a second attacking midfielder next to Jensen, with Keane Lewis-Potter providing the width.
There have been different shapes on the ball, but the constant feature this season is how Brentford have been using passing combinations in the wide areas to play through their opponents.
Their first goal in the Premier League this season, against Crystal Palace in August, has been repeated in the following months.
In this example, Brentford are building up in a 4-2 shape, with Norgaard and Janelt in front of the defence…
… and higher up the pitch, Wissa is dropping to act as the second attacking midfielder next to Jensen, while Bryan Mbeumo and Kevin Schade are stretching the defence.
Wissa’s movement drags Joachim Andersen out of position, and Brentford’s right-back, Mads Roerslev, plays the ball into the dropping centre-forward to start the passing sequence.
Trying to find the free man before Palace adjust their pressing, Wissa plays a one-touch pass to Norgaard, and the Denmark midfielder quickly finds Janelt in space.
Having been dragged up to Brentford’s half, Andersen tries to press Janelt but the German dribbles past him while Wissa and Norgaard attack the space the centre-back has vacated.
As a result, Adam Wharton is forced to leave Jensen free and defend Wissa…
… who receives the ball in space, with Marc Guehi (No 6 below) unable to commit to marking Wissa because of the threat of Mbeumo out wide.
Mbeumo starts his run before Wissa receives the ball, which puts him ahead of Guehi when Wissa plays it into his path. Meanwhile, Jensen and Schade are in a two-versus-one situation on the opposite side…
… which adds to Mbeumo’s options inside the penalty area. However, the Cameroon forward dribbles inside the pitch before curling the ball into the bottom corner.
In another example, from the 4-3 victory against Ipswich Town in October, Damsgaard drops deeper to aid Brentford’s build-up and plays the ball to their left-back, Sepp van den Berg, who passes it along the touchline to Lewis-Potter.
Meanwhile, Janelt is surging forward to attack the central space…
… and the midfielder maintains his movement as Lewis-Potter is receiving the ball. The left-winger uses his first touch to dribble inside the pitch, which forces Kalvin Phillips to react, leaving Janelt unmarked.
By continuing his third-man run, Janelt can attack the space behind Dara O’Shea, who moves up to defend Lewis-Potter. The domino effect is that Ipswich’s other centre-back has to cover when Lewis-Potter finds Janelt’s run…
… which frees Wissa. Janelt then finds the centre-forward near the penalty spot…
… and Wissa scores to start the comeback.
Minutes later, Brentford replicated the move on the other side of the pitch. Here, Damsgaard drops to offer Roerslev a passing option, but then changes his direction as the right-back plays the ball to Mbeumo.
Again, it’s a third-man run behind the midfielder that puts Damsgaard in a dangerous position, with Ipswich’s centre-backs focusing on Mbeumo and Wissa. Mbeumo plays a one-touch pass into the path of Damsgaard…
… who finds Wissa’s run…
… and the centre-forward scores to make it 2-2.
In another variation, against Leicester City last Saturday, Damsgaard’s positioning drags Wout Faes up the pitch, with James Justin and Conor Coady marking Lewis-Potter and Schade.
As Damsgaard plays the ball to Ethan Pinnock…
… Lewis Potter and Schade start swapping positions and the Denmark midfielder drops deeper, with Faes unsure whether to follow.
By taking Faes out of the equation, Lewis-Potter and Schade are left in a two-versus-two scenario. Damsgaard is under no pressure.
Lewis-Potter starts his run first to move Coady away from the touchline and isolate Schade against Justin, where the pace of the Germany forward gives him the upper hand.
Damsgaard manages to find Schade’s run behind the defence…
… and the latter plays the ball across goal for Wissa…
… who scores the equaliser.
Regardless of Brentford’s shape in possession, their passing combinations in wide areas have been a feature this season. It is an attacking principle that fits the profiles of the players they have now, and is an evolution of their game on the ball.
Frank talked about “Brentford 2.0” before the 2023-24 season. Despite a delay, the evolution is back on track.
