Janelt and Eriksen been utilised in possession and Frank outplaying Tuchel in pressing and transitions

“They showed a top character, they were still disciplined, pressed high, won the ball high, score”. These were Thomas Frank’s words when he was asked after the game about his team’s reaction after Rudiger’s goal. So let’s break down what happened in this historical game for the Bees.

Tuchel started the game with back four and wingers (4-3-3), contrary to what he did when he first met Frank (3-5-2). Meanwhile Frank started with his default 3-5-2, however he’s been playing with 4-3-3 system for the last 4 games before Stamford Bridge’s clash.

How using Raya created space and time for either Eriksen or Ajer in build up ?

Chelsea’s pressing scheme was as follow: man oriented in midfield (Kante with Eriksen, Mount with Norgaard, Loftus with Janelt), while Havertz presses with a curved run on the CB with the ball which is Jansson in this case, while Werner marks Ajer(20).

The problem here was that the task of each player from Chelsea was clear, Werner can stay forever with Ajer giving him no space nor time to receive and the 3 midfielders are marked.

But when Thomas Frank used Raya(1) in build up, the following happened:

Havertz had to press Raya with the same curled run (cover shadowing Pinnock) which made Jansson free, so Werner had a question to answer; should he press Jansson or stay with Ajer? while Roerslev(30) was staying up the pitch pinning Alonso(3) avoiding him from jumping to press Ajer(20). So what happened was that Raya utilising his abilities in playing with feet delivered the ball to Ajer who had this time the space to progress with the ball.

After then Tuchel asked the CM close from Ajer to jump to press him leaving Eriksen behind him. It helped stopping Brentford from surpassing Chelsea’s pressing scheme, however when Brentford succeeded to deliver it to Eriksen he got space that no team would love to give to a player like Eriksen. He tended to either dribble with the ball forward or plays direct diagonal pass to one of the wingbacks.

Brentford’s pressing scheme and how Tuchel tried to overcome it

This phase was a bit complex this game and different than their scheme at Home. Mbeumo presses Thiago Silva, Toney presses with curved run on the player with the ball (Mendy in this case). What was different this game is that Janelt(CM) was marking Azpilicueta(RB), meanwhile at the weak side Roerslev(RWB) was marking Alonso(LB).

Tuchel in this phase asked Azpi to get deeper attracting Janelt, while Mount drops off, but surprisingly Pinnock was with him whenever he drops into this area.

Mount kept dropping off but widely hugging sideline, and then Havertz drops off in the created space to receive the ball. However Jansson was on time most of the time and made him uncomfortable every time the ball’s been delivered to him. However when Lukaku was introduced in the last 25 minutes, this plan worked better since it was easier for him to protect and absorb the ball then switch the play.

Brentford pressing was efficient for most of the game, however Tuchel benefited from using 4-3-3 this time; pinning Brentford’s wingback with a winger(Werner) which gives space for Alonso to progress with the ball forward.

Janelt and Mbeumo in transitions and Toney’s crucial role

Th 4 goals scored in this game define Brentford’s football clearer than any previous game this season (two from set pieces, two from transitions). Checking data from The Analyst you will find out that Brentford after 31 games played are the third quickest team progressing with the ball upfield.

Due to Janelt’s role without the ball, he was very effective in attacking transitions due to his position whenever Brentford regained possession especially in middle or final third.

In the above screenshot you can notice Toney dropping off to give a lay-off pass after dragging Thiago Silva out of position.

Then Norgaard without any hesitance passed the ball into the space behind Thiago Silva, knowing that Mbuemo will be there surely. So Azpi had to get narrower pressing Mbeumo which simply gave Janelt the space that he was put in this area in rest offence for.

Even in the first goal which came from indirect free kick (played by Raya), Toney did the same thing, dragging Thiago out of position then passing it behind to Mbeumo who made the usual diagonal run, while Janelt escaped from Loftus’ vigilance smoothly to find himself in a 1v1 situation against Mendy.

Direct football isn’t the type of football that I favour, however the brilliance of how it is well planned even with the chaos and randomness in it from this team amuses me.