Brentford FC v Huddersfield Town FC - Tactical Preview
Brentford Community Stadium - 19/09/20 - Sat 3.00pm
Brentford FC v Huddersfield Town FC
19th September 3.00pm
New Head Coach Klaxon
With another season at this level secured, Huddersfield Town decided to part ways with the Cowley brothers and bring in Spaniard Carlos Corberan, plucked straight from coaching Leeds U23s under the tutelage of Marcelo Bielsa.
The Argentine is known to like tight links to his younger players, meaning there is the potential for crossover, yet in Huddersfield's quest to harness some of El Loco’s magic, how much influence or guidance Corberan can have gained from Bielsa is questionable. We should remember he is his own man, getting this role on his own merits, and a coach in his own right.
Bielsa will set the club style of play from top to bottom, Cordebran, as head of U23s, acts as an enabler of sorts to players returning from injury or on the cusp of the first team while trying to further develop youth prospects readying them for the next level.
Pre-Season began on the back foot as Huddersfield Town's friendly against Southport was postponed due to a number of positive CoronaVirus cases after a round of testing within County’s squad.
Huddersfield Town Formations in Pre-Season
4141 - 4231
Danny Ward returns having spent a few years away and has been picked up on a free transfer from Cardiff City. He played 45 minutes alongside Karlan Grant coming from wide left in the recent match against Bradford. Whether that is the last the two play on a pitch together remains to be seen and if it is to be the case it will be a shame as they suit the low block counter attacking system we saw last season as the Cowleys strived to solidify the team.
Alex Pritchard played both pre-season matches and the opener against Norwich as a second striker floating around the front line offering an option to feet for the midfielders.
Hogg and Austerfield rotated games as the deepest midfielder in front of a back 4.
As with Birmingham in pre-season, it’s difficult to assess how much of what we saw was experimental. Similarly when watching the Blues early games, Huddersfield have conceded a basic set piece headed goal - swung in left footed from right wing.
Defenders were confused by a simple pair of Rochdale run across each other's path to confuse markers and plant an almost a free header beyond the keeper.
Rochdale Goalkeeper Bazunu, on loan from parent club Manchester City, stole the show.
Here’s his pass map against Huddersfield. The front three pressing unit of Pritchard, Ward and Koroma was completely mesmerized and nullified in the end giving up due to the confidence and ability of the GK and Rochdale back line featuring 34yr old Paul McShane holding deep possession or trying to play out from the back.
Huddersfield took four points from Brentford last year adopting the game model Thomas Frank’s side hate to compete against. Sides that are happy to give up most of the ball and sit deep in a 451 or 541 counter attacking shape forcing forwards into frustration as they run out of space and ideas.
Corberan is going to learn a lot about his squad very fast. Against Bradford, Huddersfield conceded in the first minute as Richard Stearman is sucked out of the defensive line and gets rolled on half way as space opens up behind him. A cut back to the penalty spot is smashed home into the net from Mottley-Henry.
Lewis O’Brien, one of our favourite young players here, is yet to feature in the pre-season or cup game prior to the Norwich fixture on amid rumoured interest from Burnley. Brentford can only benefit from him not being in the side.
Playing to the left of a midfield 3, he, alongside Grant, turns the left side of the field into a battle zone. He can intercept and press with intelligence as well as move the ball into forward areas with a dangerous left foot. Without O’Brien and Grant, Pritchard, Ward and Koroma can have the best intentions but neither can provide each other a bounce pass or stability on the ball in the final 3rd. Recording the league's lowest expected goals number on the opening weekend against Norwich, Huddersfield struggled at home and looked like the away side for much of the game.
Not reflected in goals until 80+ minutes, Norwich were superior and their numerical supremacy in all three thirds was obvious.
Farke’s team are regularly seen to build up with a back 3 which was pressed by Koromo at CF and Pritchard who played as an advanced midfielder. It didn’t work, as the Canaries easily bypassed this line into midfield through the positioning of Skipp dropping closer to the back line for through Max Aaron’s pushing high and wide on the right wing or coming short to feet.
Huddersfield had no answer to McLean, Cantwell, Pukki and Hernandez rotations as Hogg, Pritchard and Jackson looked confused, torn between the new pressing the ball and man marking system Corberan is developing versus controlling the space on the edge of the box as under the cowleys in a 541 block.
It’s early days for Huddersfield as the coach tries to implement new ideas on a group of players that had to quickly find a way to not lose matches to prevent them going down.
Transitioning this kind of team to a ball playing unit takes time and all we have seen to drive this style is moving Alex Pritchard from the wing to play centrally off a striker or false 9 and the asking of aging Hogg, Stearman and Schindler to play more on the front foot.
Brentford, too, lost their opening match of the season 1-0 in what has become a predictable outcome against The Blues. It doesn’t matter who is in charge be it Karanka or Clotet, Birmingham are an opponent Brentford do not enjoy playing against.
Much of this comes back to the unfortunate inability to convert chances, Mbeumo the guiltiest this time around. The below is only a single game’s worth of data and does not carry forward into more games without finding the back of the next.
The fact chances are being created is always the real positive but Sergi Canos starting games in place of Benrahma, as he did at the front end of last season, is not a short or long term answer. Progressive runs and travelling with the ball over long distances suit his style far more than being on the end of good chances or being the main creator in a side that needs to start faster than it is used to. Watford and Norwich look like they have the potential power to put big points totals together, whereas Bournemouth have the attacking talent to make up for their defensive weaknesses.
As with Jeanvier taking too long to play himself out of the side and the problem eventually sorting itself out with Pinnock taking his rightful place as the team's best defender, Brentford seem to have a similar problem with Canos, patiently waiting for him to prove he is unselectable from the start as the main wide forward.
Thomas Frank needs to find his best functioning starting 11 until wide reinforcements join and the window closes. Fosu, for now, and potentially throughout the rest of the season features in the best team as Benrahma sits on the potential outgoing list.
Predicted line-ups below