Mads Bidstrup is the latest Danish player to join the Brentford ranks. Initially signing for Brentford B, do not be surprised to soon see this young player knocking on the door of the first team. This brief report looks at the player’s season just gone, his strengths, and what may have brought him to the attention of Brentford FC.
Mads Bidstrup - Brentford B - 19 years
Right Footed Central Midfielder - 178cm / 5'10''
Season 19/20 for RB Leipzig U19 - German Bundesliga (U19)
610 mins
Goals - 4
xG - 1.15
Assists - 0
xA - 0.7
What systems has he recently played in?
RBLU19 started the season playing 433 and 442 systems, which after the winter break predominantly moved to a 352 system, similar in style to the first team set up. This is only a description of the starting positions as there are multiple stages of opposition play where wingbacks move into the back line to create a back 4 and midfielders push on to form a front 3 more familiar to Brentford fans. Adopting universal principles within systems from the first team all of the way down to the youth and academy sides is becoming more and more common. It is logical and best practice if you want to promote young players through the age groups.
Whether the RBL system is their 433 or 352 from the start, Bidstrup can vary positionally occupying both the right and left midfield positions with a slight favouring in selection as the left sided player in a 3 man midfield, as well as roles as the deepest central midfielder.
Strengths - Adaptability, Pressing, Tactical Discipline, Comfortable with both feet, Ball striking
There is nothing standout in terms of chance creation or punishing attacking passes, as seen in his xA numbers, Bidstrup does however recycle the ball well maintaining possession wherever he is on the pitch. He makes a large volume of passes per game and completes the majority of them, which may be an indicator of his style and how risk averse he is in his approach. There is currently a drop off when looking at his completed forward passes which will no doubt be worked on.
Out of possession, some interesting tactical positioning occurs as the right or left sided central midfielder in the RBL system has a range of duties. During deep build up, midfielders tend to stay high up the field and pick up wider positions instead of getting involved early in the phase. It is down to the wingbacks to drop in to receive the ball overloading the deeper zones and then progressing up field either to the wide waiting midfielders or centrally when within the no common 352 shape.
Because RBL play a narrow two man forward line, when the opposition have the ball during build up, the right or left central midfielders sometimes pull out of the midfield and into the forward line either side of the strikers to contribute as the first line of defence where a traditional wide forward would be. Bidtrsup comfortably and cleverly occupies these positions when needed.
Either on the left or right of the pitch, what we’ve found interesting is how wide Mads B has been playing and how much control of the ball he is giving to the side in these wide areas.
If we try to imagine how the first team players Dasilva or Jensen play to the right and left of midfield, a number of the passes they make occur when they come wide to link with wingers and fullbacks. How well Bidstrup retains the ball here could be what has flagged him up to Brentford’s watchers. In the video we’ve seen, Bidstrup has the athleticism to develop into a midfielder that both controld games but also has the ability to break into the box beyond the forwards. Already at 19, he has a good physical presence and looks more than ready for mens football.
We are impressed with how well Bidstrup backs up play. He has a good awareness of when to break away from his position to support what is going on ahead, become an easy passing option, or sensing danger and dropping his position to cover for a team mate.
Similar to the current Brentford midfield system, the three midfielders in the RBL system help them retain the ball, progress as a team and protect the back line. How they spread out as a flat 3 is similar in principle to what we are already seeing at Jersey Road.
Looking at Mads B going forwards, although he does not take many shots, when he does shoot, he strikes the ball well and has good striking ability from distance.
3 of his 4 goals this season have come from outside of the box hence such a large expected goals over performance.
Bidstrup shot map 19/20 - U19 Bundesliga
Also scoring from range with his weaker left foot this season, he does appear to possess the ability to be a greater danger around the box than he has already shown.
When the ball drops to him around the 18-20 yard area he looks decisive and comfortable, showing that he is quickly able to shift the ball to strike or hit a ball rolling to him first time. Currently, there is no shot volume to think of him as an attacking midfielder and these strikes from range are by no means his main skills from the video or data we have seen, but these are positive signs as he is likely to develop these areas as they are more likely to be called upon as a midfielder in Brentford system in England.
We’ve let this clip above start earlier so that you can see how quickly Bidstrup (No.6) reacts to the counter attacking situation to join in on the edge of the box, get the poor clearance under control and strike powerfully beyond the keeper.
As mentioned, below are selected heat maps of Bidstrup in differing formations from this season, showing how many actions he is completing out wide whether that be on the left or right.
RB Leipzig U19 3:1 Energie Cottbus U19 - 433 formation (Bidstrup left of midfield 3)
Magdeburg U19 3:1 RB Leipzig U19 - 4312 (Bidstrup left of midfield diamond)
RB Leipzig U19 3:0 Union Berlin U19 - 352 (Bidstrup right of midfield 3)
Niendorfer TSV U19 0:5 RB Leipzig U19 - 352 (Bidstrup left of midfield 3)
Weaknesses - Attacking output, heading
Playing in a side that has two strikers and wing backs, Bidstrup doesn't need to have traditional attacking output in his repertoire. Shooting volume is left to the strikers, attacking passes are played through centrally to forwards or from wing backs. Heading is ultra critical and we need to see much more video and as such it is probably unfair to mark this as a weakness although it is an area that he is no doubt not using as much as he will need to as a midfielder in England.
In summary, Brentford may have taken a shining to the 19 year old due to his midfield versatility, composure on the ball and the ability to fit into complex tactical systems. He is already asked to complete roles not traditionally associated with the position he plays and he performs them well. His ball retention ability with the touchline to impede him out wide ticks boxes and he has the ability to shoot from range, an undervalued skill as Brentford look to come up against more and more teams who approach the game with a low block.
Welcome to Brentford FC Mads Bidstrup