BFC Squad Profile - 19/20
Reassessment as mini season about to commence
Having taken the lead from the Premier League, the EFL is itself now preparing for the restart of football.
A provisional commencement date of June 20th has been raised for The Championship, one week behind the top flight. This gives clarity to squads who have returned to training, although the restart date is subject to change with public health still able to dictate elite sport is returning too soon.
You can only plan for what you know and plan a little bit more for what you don’t.
Clubs will likely take a view to that of the final fixtures being a mini league or season within the main competition. A reset has taken place, giving squads up and down the league a different look in terms of selection and options.
With this in mind, we will conduct a re-assessment of the Brentford squad split into positional sections. Goalkeepers, Defenders, Midfielders, Wide Attackers and Forwards.
Teams are now effectively in pre-season training with some players needing small extensions to contracts so that they align with the new season end date.
With this in mind, news is emerging that Kamo Mokotjo is unlikely to be at the club beyond his current deal due to expire 30th June 2020.
Looking at Brentford’s Squad Age Profile, Mokotjo is the only midfielder that falls on the wrong side of peak years.
This does not mean “Kamo old, Kamo bad”. Quite the contrary, Kamo can still be an effective midfielder, the question is at what price, and is it worth investing his weekly wages instead on a player whose value is going to rise as he enters or moves through his peak years.
Brentford’s central midfield options are listed further below.
This area on the pitch almost exclusively consists of three positions -
A deeper midfielder - 6
Two advanced midfielders - 8s
Mokotjo is a very clever midfielder. He’s a good athlete without being physically imposing. His positioning, movement and line breaking passing is what sets him apart from some of the newer arrivals looking to contribute league minutes.
Before his injury, The General superbly anchored the midfield in the absence of Nøgaard for the home match win vs Fulham.
Playing 40% of total minutes available prior to the January transfer window, Mokotjo's importance to the squad is slightly diminished. Shandon Baptiste arrived in a double signing from Oxford, alongside Fosu, with the intention of immediately contributing towards the run in the absence of Sergi Canos, a faltering Valencia and the main subject, an injured Mokotjo.
Options into 3 midfield positions
Christian Nørgaard - 26yrs
Josh Dasilva - 21yrs
Matthias Jensen - 24yrs
Shandon Baptiste - 22yrs
Emiliano Marcondes - 25yrs
Dru Yearwood - 20yrs
Kamo Mokotjo - 29yrs
How much sense does it now make to play the South African when his future looks to likely be away from West London?
Midfielders will be the first section we review in the squad profile series.
A thoughtful piece. Thanks for the effort it took.