Brentford's attack: Archetypes, perfectly balanced
Monday Night SCOUTED breaks down the beautifully assembled Brentford front four.
- How Brentford balance their front four
- Why RB Leipzig's summer rebuild has actually worked
- What to look for when searching for a Raider wide-forward
Brentford’s balance of profiles in their frontline is pretty much perfect. I love it.
On one flank, you have former club-record signing Kevin Schade: the Raider. A minimum touch, maximum threat wide forward, a profile augmented by his elite athletic gifts. Frightening speed makes him a threat in behind and in large, open space in transition. A ginormous vertical leap makes him a viable target for diagonal switches and, more importantly, sets him him up to dunk on defenders when attacking crosses at the far post.
On the other flank, you have the current club-record signing, Dango Ouattara: the Roadrunner. A tornado of button-mashing, operating in smaller, tighter spaces. Unrelenting in his desire to commit defenders with constant, high-intensity, high-risk drives - Dango does this with and without the ball at his feet, moving him into Gamebreaker territory. It also characterises his OOP work; he's a seriously good player.
He is on a quest for effectiveness without any concern for efficiency - the most exciting blend. His decisions are made by purely asking what pass, run or carry is most dangerous, with no consideration of how difficult it might be. Every team needs at least one player with that mindset. But you need to balance it out.
