Brentford FC v Wigan FC - Tactical Preview
Griffin Park 3.00pm - 04/07/20
The announcement of Wigan going into administration has rocked the EFL. Having only a month ago been taken over by new owners, the fact that this can happen, and be allowed to happen to a club so quickly after changing hands should send shivers down the spine of the rest of the league.
With an all consuming event hanging over the club, it feels somewhat crass to talk about their game tactics with the detail we normally would. Which is a shame because Wigan are good. Really good.
Administration and its pending complications must have an effect on players. It can’t help clarity of thought or a players temperament going into a game, so we hope for a positive and swift outcome and that the EFL finally get a grip on the mess that is football club ownership.
With this preview we’ll pick out some overarching stylistic points from their recent fixtures and previous matches.
Without Cook’s side looking at a 12 point deduction, who knows where a favourable run-in could have taken Wigan sitting on 50 points with 18 to play for. You can’t escape from the feeling that Cook has been completely shafted and the makings of a good side are going to be punished through off field dealings. On a nine game unbeaten streak, he must be furious, as he has established an effective system both in and out of possession.
It’s not stupid to talk about Wigan’s 4231, along with Brentford as currently two of the leagues most effective teams.
From January onwards we’ve seen ex-Bee Lewis Macleod’s minutes completely dry up which has coincided with an upturn in form and performance. Central midfielders Williams and Morsy supported by Lee Evans and more recently Dowell have gone toe to toe with most of the division's central setups .
It took a Wigan red card for Brentford to break through up at the DW stadium and run away 3-0 victors in a harsh scoreline that flattered the Bees.
Looking back at Wigan’s fixtures and video we’ve only seen Cook deviate considerably away from his 4231 shape against Leeds, where he looked to outnumber Bielsa’s side in the defensive third.
We explained the reasons why coaches do this in our Reading Preview and how it can have mixed or confusing results. The result that day was a Wigan 1-0 away win although the underlying performance and complete lack of control must have set off alarm bells. Cook persevered with the system for part of the next game v Preston and has not gone back to it since, trusting his players to be better in possession and do more off the ball work in midfield and further up the pitch.
The Wigan boss was at Griffin Park to watch the recent fixture against West Brom and he would have seen first hand how difficult it is, with the balance from defence to attack, to decide where you try to stop and outnumber this Brentford side.
We recently watched Wigan patiently dismantle Blackburn, shrinking Tony Mowbray's side to a deep wide crossing unit. Rovers managed to get regularly 3 v 2s centrally opening up triangle options within the middle third but found no way through the combative Morsy and Williams, instead, they ended up being funnelled wide to Bennett, playing left back but heavily right footed. He would never test Byrne for pace on the outside as he was reluctant to expose his weaker left side. Cutting back on his right foot he frequently tossed slow high balls towards Sam Gallagher to attack at the back post without causing too much of a threat.
Brentford will pose a different threat here as Benrahma will look to combine dribbling out wide wing play with his inside second striker positions to receive the ball.
During build up, Wigan are impressive. Right back Byrne with the movement and speed of left back Robinson pull as wide and push as high as they can when the ball is in the back line. They split similarly to how Thomas Frank has Brentford’s full backs position themselves. Playing the ball across the back line is comfortable and done with a purpose. The aim against Blackburn wasn’t to retain possession for possessions sake, it was to hunt for forward gaps out wide and carry the ball to the final third if there was the slightest delay in Blackburn forwards or midfielders moving deeper, left or right to cover space.
In the clip above we see Robinson on the halfway line about to move into the space ahead, giving Morsy options to find him long meeting his pass or halt and take it short to feet. Gallagher , in the wide right forward position, has no idea where he is or what is behind him, leaving Wigan one pass from a wide 2v1 against Nyambe.
Morsy or WIlliams will take it in turn to drop deep and spread the ball wide and then offer themselves further forward or back if there are no gaps. They avoid going long to Moore, instead, the ball is patiently worked wide so that Lowe and Pilkington can test fullbacks or wingers. Centre Backs will step onto the ball and travel into midfield creating more numbers and looking for passes if there is no pressure placed upon them. Wingers will swap depending on success and look for low cut backs rather than deep crosses. Williams and Morsy are also very comfortable breaking forward into gaps with the ball at their feet. Strong runners, they can go beyond midfield and into the wide channels as the wingers tuck inside. There’s a good balance to this Wigan team, with echoes of how Brentford have been constructed. Inverted wingers join in well with a hard working central striker, Moore, all able to rotate positions. Where they differ is a number 10, in recent games Dowell, given the job of making up a central midfield body out of possession but also allowed to affect the game withdrawn from Moore as well as adding a body in the box.
They do gamble being outnumbered in midfield when playing a side with a recognised midfield three, but they have the confidence and work rate to compete.
Defensively, we see them shrink into a 451 shape fairly quickly. The double pivot remains close together in front of the back four and fullbacks Byrne and Robinson are joined by their alternating wingers to double up against wide attacks.
Stoke were given a lesson in possession football in their last outing. The Potters looked uncomfortable on the ball under any kind of pressure and for long periods right from the start of the game, the patience and expansive positioning of Wigan’s back four and two midfielders in front enabled the Latics to feel like home side. Again we saw Kipre stepping comfortably into midfield and beyond Morsy, giving his midfielder an option as the ball was moved from left to right.
A ball forward to Lowe above, who has tucked into the half space position, is easily completed and the kind of pass Ezri Konsa was making for Brentford last year. These are good principles embedded into them by Cook as Wigan float into the final third.
Cleaning up the second balls and dominant in open play phases, without any huge errors or major switch offs at set pieces, Stoke were made to look impotent.
Brentford are a considerably better side than Stoke. Retaining the ball and moving it quickly into dangerous positions will test them in more ways than that of the threat posed by Blackburn and Stoke recently.
But observing Cook and his side against West Brom twice this year, an unjust defeat to Brentford at the DW and a tactical shift that somehow got a result against Leeds, we see a team that is highly competitive against both ball playing and non-ball playing sides.
We await the lineups to see if the Wigan boss blinks and alters his shape to prevent Brentford winning their fifth Championship fixture in a row.