Brentford FC v Coventry City FC - Tactical Preview
Brentford Community Stadium - 17/10/20 - Sat 3.00pm
With four games gone, Mark Robins’ Coventry City side sit on four points with an identical record to Brentford. A win, draw and two losses have shown that they are not going to be overawed at this level.
They’ve come a long way from conceding right from the kick off against Bristol City in the first league outing of the season. Paterson’s tap in goal was well worked as he makes a blindside run into the box and went in before 30 seconds were up on the clock. It would be easy to collapse from there yet Coventry grew into the game, equalized and were unlucky not to come away with something from Ashton Gate.
Terrible teams do not get promoted out of League One. There has to be something tangible that promoted teams do consistently well and in Coventry's case it is their system. How well they can repeat what they previously did so well has to be reassessed in the context of this new level. As we will discuss, some tactics are going to get a reaction and be exploited by a heightened level of opposition. Some tactics will easily transfer and continue to make them effective at Championship level.
Strengths -
Focus on one system
A winning team and a positive mentality
Continuity in the first team and the familiarity that brings cannot be taken for granted.
Full-Backs provide good width
Disciplined defensive structure
Coventry largely have the same squad that played and dominated League One before the season was cancelled. Notable additions are RCB Norway U21 player Østigard on loan from Brighton after spending last season at St.Pauli in the German second tier.
Their style is quick short possessions and it is this short passing that helps them break beyond pressure and provide low through balls from midfield into the feet of someone in the hole or penetrating through balls beyond a defensive line.
There are occasions on the ball where you would like to see a tighter touch or more agility to hold onto possession preventing a ball bouncing out of control just enough to see an opponent nick in and steal possession. Do not, however, allow that to fool you into believing Coventry do not have some smart on the ball technicians.
In fact, what becomes apparent when observing Coventry at length is any technical deficiencies they have are more than made up for through the understanding and confidence in the system.
Weaknesses -
Pressing them from a goal kick and aggressively during build up, forcing them to go long is almost always going to result in them giving up possession. Challenging for long-balls in aerial duels is a tough ask and they try to refrain from this as the forward line has to be one of the smallest in the league and will be giving up many inches to Jansson and Pinnock.
Allen works hard off the ball plays off the right in a second striker - right midfielder withdrawn role but looks like their weakest player. His technical ability and athleticism as well as having a small physique cause a few issues.
Tyler Walker was signed from Nottingham Forest in the summer and Robins must be toying with how he gets Tyler’s strengths into the team without losing most of what makes the primary system work well. Discipline in team compactness from front to back and defensive organisation is reduced as Tyler joins the pitch.
Defensive Set Pieces - Coventry defend corners with every single player back. The front post is marked. Three players line up on the 6 yard box zonally and 4 players man mark and track runs. Too many chefs? Robins adopts the tactic of bringing everyone back to win the numbers game to make up for the lack of aerial height in his team.
Bristol’s second goal and the eventual winner on 82 minutes in match one was from a set piece.
The corner is an inswinger from the left towards the back post. Players circled marking zonally with an eye on Kkalas gets sucked out of his zone and to the ball. Misses flight and ball drops so low Kalas has to stoop and cushion his header downwards.
Again, a similar goal was conceded against QPR. It is Barbet this time appearing somewhat elusive at the back post.
This time we see two Coventry players contesting the same initial ball right in the middle of the goal. They make contact with the header and flick it in towards the back post and Barbet completely unmarked. He takes a touch and rifles into the roof of the net to make it 2-2 on 75 minutes.
Coventry sucking in Barnsley all that comes before them
It may surprise that Coventry are a confident ball playing team. Here, the ball comes from left back to the goalkeepers feet and he cuts through the first line of the Barnsley press with a ball between two players direct to Hamers feet.
Hamer turns and plays a simple ball inside to Mcfadzen and Coventry are away and on the attack down the right hand side. A better ball in the next phase would see Dabo away down the right hand side. Five Barnsley players are taken out of the game building up from their goalkeeper.
Barnsley tried another tactic to prevent Coventry building up from the back, this time it is the box four. Coventry then went about making a mockery of Barnsley's box.
If we think back to how Gerhard Strubers team pressed Brentford into oblivion at Griffin Park on the final day of the season to remain in the league, Coventry show an increased level of competency and calmness in possession during their deep build-up phases. Building up with three players plus a goalkeeper in their first line creates numerical superiority when teams press with either a box or three players spread out in a line across the front. It shows that with some flexibility there are ways to nullify even the best pressing outfits.
Brentford need to force Coventry to do this. Make them go long. With one of the shortest forward line in the league, this almost always results in Coventry losing the header and having to contest a second ball. Leave open an ambitious pass from goalkeeper to, in this instance, Shipley and their positive base to build from is nullified as below.
Wing Backs add good width and balance
As England Head Coach Gareth Southgate takes the imbalance of asymmetry all too literally in trying to wedge every right sided player to have ever signed a pro contract into his first eleven, Coventry Boss Mark Robins makes no such mistake with his players.
Ryan Giles has returned on loan from Wolves, this time for a full season, and along with Dabo provides the width and balance out to allow the attackers to concentrate their main attacking efforts centrally. Playing all available minutes so far, Giles is deceptively strong on his left side. He shows good athleticism moving up and down the wing well offering an attacking out ball when Coventry progress the ball on the right or through the middle. For Brentford, think Bidwell, in that he likes to get his head down and charge on the outside of a right back. Only needing a small amount of space, the right back or winger defending him can think he has him controlled or cornered but similarly to Bidwell, it’s his ability to protect the ball on his strong side and deceptively move it just about far away from his marker to enable him to find enough space to clip in left footed crosses with little or no back lift.
Don’t be surprised to see him picking up five plus assists in the league as teams playing 4231 struggle to defend against the central numbers and inevitably find him getting into 1v1s with their right back.
Assisting Godden against QPR will have made him popular at Lionel Road but less so if he, alongside Hyam, manages to keep Bryan Mbeumo and Josh Dasilva quiet when they try to operate down the Coventry left.
From a defensive aspect, the Coventry back three regularly goes narrow out of possession with wing backs pulled back turning into a back five.
Unfortunately, they did concede two set piece goals on the way to their win. Rangers are a mid tier team but what Sky Blues will find against the divisions better sides is that teams are ready to dish out stronger punishments down the wings.
When the positional balance of their wide backs is too deep and in the flat five they invite too much pressure onto their defensive third which the stronger teams will happily exploit.
Giles is still developing how he plays his position and Robins may request this deep positioning as soon as Coventry switch to a defensive phase of play, happy in the knowledge that players are set in their shape and heavily outnumber the opponent's attacking players.
Below we see Kaykay completely free after an exchange of passes between Dickie and Barbet from left to right in the backline. Due to the positional narrowness of O’Hare, Godden and Allen, the entire left and right wings can regularly be found without a Sky Blue shirt in sight. Offensively and in build up there is much to admire on both playing out and on the counter attack when the wing backs are involved but defensively Robins team can be caught far too deep and their struggles to protect the full width of the pitch with their forward line are glaring as QPR regularly progressed unchallenged.
It is hard to argue that it is not working as QPR were limited to three shots in the box and seven overall and kept quiet by Coventry in open play.
Bright-Samuel came off the wing to move into the box and found himself central to give QPR a front two as he tried to get close to Dykes but it didn't ever feel threatening or that the back five with two midfielders in front were under real pressure.
Observing Coventry in all of their games so far, there hasn't been a shift away from their own 5221 or a preoccupation with the opposition's strengths and we wouldn't be surprised to see them roll on with their own system and see where it gets them. An away match to Brentford could be seen as a free hit but something tells us O’Hare needs more discipline in his positioning long term and this time around, coming up against Brentford, who progress the ball down the wings as good as anybody could be when the young playmaker is told to stay wider. Once Dalsgaard, for instance, is offered space to run into, he has the accuracy in his passing and the advanced options to find forwards and midfielders to feet.
A quick mention for Dabo who comfortably repeats Giles’ output on the left with added experience, defensive nous and dribbling ability from the right. A big moment for one of the goals vs QPR stems from skillful wing play from Dabo. He takes three QPR players out of the game with his dribbling and low cross which sees a slight deflection move the ball into O’Hares path who has two fantastic touches to settle and fire past a helplessly glum lumley in goal. If Sergi Canos gets the nod on the left he should do all he can to find himself concentrating on his attacking game. Dabo will test Thomson and Canos athletically but due to the lack of numbers for Coventry in wide areas we expect an easier afternoon than the last time out against Preston. If Canos is pushed back and takes no advantage of the space out wide he is simply not obliging.
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Arsenal & Ben Sheaf - After last season’s successful League One loan with Doncaster, Ben Sheaf is going one better and now mixing it in the Championship.
Without a particularly imposing backline, Sheaf gives Sky Blues some much needed presence. Able to hold off pressure and spread the ball around in deep midfield areas, Sheaf will be vital in pulling right or left as Brentford look to overload and attack in the wide areas. Physical mismatches are going to occur for Coventry all over the field when playing some of the better sides in the league so getting Sheaf into the team, especially as Hamer serves the first of a three match ban, as regularly as possible makes sense.
Brentford stuttering -
Things have looked somewhat mixed for Brentford so far this season. It is early stages so too much weight should not be placed expected goals data but it is interesting to see who is dragging behind.
Fleeting moments of quality against Huddersfield and the first ten minutes against Preston have been eclipsed by difficult periods against Birmingham and Millwall. Even before Nørgaards injury forced his early departure against PNE, the prior games had signs that the team appeared stifled in attack and weaker at the back.
Injury to Henry and contract disputes with Raya and Benrahma have all led to guaranteed starters being replaced by guaranteed squad men.
Added to Jansson looking like the emotional and physical drain of two years banging away at the door that leads to promotion are catching up with him, the team’s strong defensive foundations are showing wear and tear.
Coventry have a mobile front line that won’t want to make their positioning obvious in getting tight to Jansson. Instead O’Hare will come off the flanks and try to take on the Swede, getting in quick turns and forcing him into decisions on whether or not to commit to challenges. Godden will also want to find space in the box as opposed to the wrestling match Jansson gets when he faces a striker like Mitrovic.
Preston Hangover and vital Vitaly?
At this point, we can go back and dissect the positives and negatives of individual performances against Preston but it simply boils down to Neil’s side ruthlessly exposing an unusually bad display in possession. Brentford are as clear as day missing the attacking combination of Benrahma and Rico Henry and a tactical decision that could have come but didn’t come from Thomas Frank all contributed to Preston getting their own tactics right and taking their big chances.
Switching in Nørgaard for Jensen disrupted the entire counter attack block system of 433 or 451 and it fell apart because the middle core was removed. Without a ball winner in midfield or a supporting player to position himself ready for turnovers or link midfield and defence Championship football gets very difficult.
Given Frank subbed in Jensen to hold onto possession and take charge of the game through protection of the ball, it failed where the system showed early signs of struggling. Prior to the injury Preston were already able to hold onto the ball in advanced areas.
Jensen's introduction magnified each team's strengths and weaknesses on the day. He doesn't particularly control space well out of possession or naturally track runners as his main instincts are to receive the ball on the half turn and move himself into progressive areas.
Above we see Jensen making a run ahead of Dasilva with Marcondes already in the forward line. Preston are set and ready to control this move looking to break quickly beyond the midfield line and into a huge space left between Dasilva and the defensive unit. There is no coordination with Pinnock or Jansson and the central spaces between the defence and midfield were there for the taking.
Ripping up the system on 20 minutes is saved for a certain breed of coach. In hindsight, to stem what was going on could have seen Canos dropping into RWB and a switch to a back five and a 523 shape which would have integrated Jensen to a smoother degree.
The idea that substitutions are pre-ordained and ordered no matter where the injury occurs shows a clear inflexibility in coach and a bench lacking solutions. It’s a flaw in the options available asking Jensen to undertake Nørgaard’s role like for like as it is caveated by everything that Jensen is.
During the game itself, it was Dasilva who took on much of Nørgaard’s positional responsibility, dropping deeper to try to build possessions but rotating into that type of space is different from starting there. Other players need to switch with you and it’s this understanding that goes when Norgaard leaves the field. Off the ball it was significantly clear that the Preston runners already having success were about to get a load more as they made unchecked runs beyond what was left of the Brentford midfield.
Preston from the outset overloaded the right hand side and as soon as Brentford lost their best defensive minded midfielder it became even easier for them to retain possession up and down the right wing. Crucial possession losses down the Brentford right wing were finished well and crosses and set-pieces, a previous strong area over the last twelve months were not prevented or dealt with.
Going against how Brentford have integrated players in the past, Janelt being introduced early would regain some midfield balance. Playing in a B-team friendly match against Aldershot was not the best way to see his qualities but it is minutes under the belt in a race to get match fit as Vitaly goes a greater way than Jensen and Dasilva at plugging a Nørgaard sized hole.
Coventry’s weaknesses are exposed when they are squeezed up and pressed high from re-starts and in open play. With a short frontline, pressure on the ball and man marking midfield options forces them to pump balls long or down the channels. The Sky Blues are susceptible from set-pieces, particularly those aimed towards the back post. This season has seen Brentford switch form a successful routine to the back post for a near post flicked version for variety. A return to blocking and spare man around the back (Pinnock) could be prosperous here.