Tottenham Hotspur vs Brentford FC a battle of contrasting styles
By Aaron Coe
Meeting for the first time in league competition in over 70 years and the first time ever in the top flight, what can we expect from Tottenham vs Brentford.
They say styles make games so this match-up between the Bees and Spurs should be a good game for the fan and casual alike as the approach of each team is a contrast in styles.
The tentative versus the direct
It has been some time since we have seen Tottenham Hotspur as a free-wheeling offensive juggernaut. Maybe the team was there for a moment under Jose Mourinho but overall Spurs have not been an exceptional attacking unit in a couple of seasons.
Spurs have many of the same players that were so successful before but that assuredness with the ball is gone. Over the last year, Tottenham has wavered between uncertain and scared when in possession. Antonio Conte was certainly hired to help fix this problem, however, Spurs’ lack of idea with the ball contrasts well with Brentford’s direct play.
If you look at the two team’s passing statistics this becomes so clear. Tottenham has completed 4,831 out of 5,909 passes an 81.8% success rate. Those 4,831 successful passes have traveled 89,870 yards, of which 28,927 have been progressive or forward yards, according to fbref.com. Broken down for every one-yard forward Spurs go with the ball, they go two yards sideways. Our eyes do not deceive us, Spurs go back and forth a lot.
If you look at these same statistics with Brentford, you see if a different approach. The Bees have completed 3,839 of 5,351 passes attempted a 71.7% completion rate. On those 3,839 successful passes, Brentford has covered, 77,259 yards with the ball, of which 29.881 were progressive yards, according to fbref.com.
Besides Brentford having more progressive yards passing on far fewer completions, these numbers tell us a few things. First, Tottenham despite their woes passing is a better passing team than Brentford in terms of completion percentage. However, this is mostly because Tottenham is much more conservative in possession whereas Brentford looks to push the ball.
The average Tottenham pass is 18.6 yards and moves 5.9 yards forward. This is quite conservative compared to the Bees average pass of 20 yards, which moves 7.7 yards forward.
Nearly 23% of all Brentford passing attempts are longer than 30 yards compared to less than 17% of such passing being attempted by Tottenham. The bottom line is Brentford is direct, they want to push the ball and if they lose it, they are okay with that; which makes for some outstanding end-to-end football.