Thomas Frank’s offensive playing philosophy is based on a 4-3-3 set-up. Brentford has a methodical, patient approach to the action-building phase with plenty of combo play and the interchangeability of positions in the game of traingles. They dictate the pace of the match, but rarely change it. There are very few perpendicular passes or plays that skip the line.
They look for space to play by building a positional attack from defenders. There they usually descend into the half-space and supported by side defenders, take the opponent’s pressure on themselves, quickly moving the game into free zones.
The key to creating goal actions are the offensive wingers. When reading a Brentford game, the opponent most often defends himself with highly active pressing. This gives the Bees wingers more space to act on the flanks.
Conversely when wide play is impossible, setting 4-3-3 leaves enough options to play in the middle of the pitch. This is the effectiveness of their forward, who (regardless of the variant of the action) always finds a space to break free.
