Since they got promoted into the Premier League, Brentford have
confounded all expectations. Fundamental to this success has been the role of set pieces.
In fact, are Brentford the best set-piece takers in football?
Since 2021/22, Brentford have scored 30 goals over the course of two seasons.
This puts them in the top three for goals scored from set-pieces over this period,
one goal behind Liverpool and two behind Manchester City.
If you compare how many set-piece plays these three teams have taken during that period,
you’ll see that Brentford have taken the fewest set pieces with 594,
just behind Liverpool’s 598 and a long way behind Man City’s 658.
That means that Brentford have scored a goal every 19.8 set-piece plays during their time
in the Premier League, making them slightly more effective from set pieces than Manchester City,
who scored every 20.6 set-piece plays over the same period,
and slightly less efficient than Liverpool, who scored every 19.3.
Of course, Brentford would point out that their rivals at the top
of the set piece table have a natural advantage over them with some of the
most dangerous players from set piece scenarios: Erling Haaland, for instance,
or Virgil van Dijk. But Brentford’s level of output is made all the more impressive when you
compare them to the other teams promoted into the Premier League during the same timeframe.
When Brentford were promoted in 2021, they were joined in the Premier League by Watford
and Norwich. The next season, these two teams - combined - scored just over half the 16 set-piece
goals that Brentford managed, with Watford picking up 6 set piece goals to Norwich’s 3.
Of the promoted sides this season, Fulham have kept pace with Brentford,
picking up 12 goals to Brentford’s 14. But even Aleksandr Mitrovic can’t bridge the gap.
So how have Brentford managed to master set-pieces? Here are four areas:
1- Having a plan
The most important aspect is that they have an overall plan for each game. Of course,
every team will have a plan for their set-piece approach but there
is an internal coherence to Brentford’s set-pieces across the course of a match,
all carefully choreographed by Bernardo Cueva, their set-piece coach since 2020.
For example, in a recent game against Newcastle, Brentford used the same basic
structure for all of their corners in the first half, with Aaron Hickey positioned
on the byline and another player situated on the corner of the box to receive a short pass.
These players only received the ball once in a couple of very specific set-piece routines,
but the fact that each of Brentford’s corners in that half used the same shape indicates that
there was a clear plan in place across the course of the game to allow these
specific routines to be fitted in at some point. Once those routines had been used,
Brentford switched their shape at corners in the second half.
If you watch their set pieces in game-by-game blocks, it’s clear that Brentford’s approach
to them is based around a few main ideas. These ideas are usually focused on a key
weakness of the opposition. In fact, if you analyse Brentford’s opposition for a
couple of their games before they face them, these weaknesses will become apparent: it may
be that they struggle to defend certain areas or can have a vulnerability against overloads
or certain runs. Each of their set pieces in a match is designed to exploit these weaknesses.
Looking at them on a match-by-match basis,
it’s clear Brentford don’t consider set-pieces as isolated events but as
part of a series of routines that they can plan as a whole for maximum effect.
2 - Deception
A consequence of this planned approach is that Bretford have a level of deception
in their set-piece play. If there are a number of different possible routines
that can be played out of the same structure, it becomes hard for opponents to read them.
Brentford also like to employ a “swarming” technique in the box which allows them to
conceal each routine until the last minute, often causing confusion.
To do this, Brentford will put the majority of their outfield players in a very small space in
the box to make it impossible for their opponents to read what their individual
roles are. Most opponents will have a number of zonal or man-markers in their
defensive set-piece setup but Brentford make it nearly impossible to do this.
Just before the kick is taken, the Brentford players will fan out and look to create confusion,
opening up space that can be exploited and producing free players who end up unmarked.
3 - Timing
Timing is another important aspect. When they are taking set-pieces,
they make sure they are the protagonists, making sure the ball and the players end up
at the right place at the right time, meaning their opponents are always a step behind.
We’ve already mentioned Brentford’s two short passing options in the first half
against Newcastle. By playing the ball to a short passing option who then returns it,
Brentford are able to manipulate the timing of
their routines - their players know it’s going to happen but their opponents don’t.
This buys them time to move the opposition defenders out of the way or get their own
attackers into the box on a delay. All of this makes it harder to defend against.
4 - Innovation
Most importantly, because they treat set-pieces as fundamental to their play-style,
Brentford are always innovating and looking for new ways to get ahead.
In overloading the box, sometimes putting all of their remaining outfield players in there,
Brenford are going against decades-long principles of set-piece theory. But by
planning for it defensively, they’re able to find upside by getting more attackers into
dangerous areas than their opponents without leaving themselves open on the counter.
Another area where they’ve innovated is in using the corner taker as a potential threat. Look out
for corners where Brentford send the ball to the edge of the box for a clipped pass back to the
original corner-taker. This produced a goal for them against Leicester City this season.
By treating set-pieces as a fundamental aspect of football,
Brentford are probably the best set-pieces takers in football right now.
And looking at the Premier League table, the results are clear to see.