Christian Eriksen’s departure gives Thomas Frank another opportunity to experiment

Despite only spending five months in the red and white of Brentford, there can be little doubt that Christian Eriksen had a significant impact on the west London club in the second part of the 2021/22 Premier League season.

Not only did the Brentford Community Stadium provide the setting for the Danish international’s emotional return to professional football after the cardiac arrest he suffered in his nation’s opening game of Euro 2020, but Eriksen’s influence in helping Brentford comfortably avoid an immediate return to the Championship offered definitive proof that his time away from the game had not diminished his ability in any way.

In the 11 games that Eriksen played for the Bees, he scored once and collected four assists, but in terms of expected assists per 90 of Premier League players that completed a full 90 minutes at least 10 times, only Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne averaged higher than the Dane’s 0.35.

De Bruyne was also the only player to average more key passes per 90 than Eriksen’s 3.08.

The Bees had been hopeful of extending the contract of the Ajax academy graduate, but once it became clear that they would be competing with the respective glamour and financial might of Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United for his signature, the reality of attempting to keep a player who has appeared regularly in the Champions League at a club that is about to enter only it’s second season in the Premier League became clear.

Last week, Eriksen signed a three-year deal at Old Trafford, ending Thomas Frank’s hopes of continuing to build a team around his countryman to try and help Brentford avoid the issues that are so often associated with a promoted side’s second year in the top flight.

Directly replacing a player who has spent the majority of his club career competing at the top end of the league table in England, the Netherlands and Italy is likely to be near-on impossible for a club of Brentford’s current stature, but Frank has proven himself to be an innovative head coach capable of adjusting to the loss of important players in the past.

Brentford are clearly not going to be replacing Eriksen with an individual possessing the exact same statistical profile – of Premier League players, only de Bruyne and Trent Alexander-Arnold compare in terms of creative passing – but that does not mean they will not be able to find an effective solution to the problems created by Eriksen’s departure.

It could be that Eriksen’s replacement already belongs to Brentford.

Josh Dasilva only featured eight times in the Premier League last season due to both a long-standing hip injury and a red card picked up in what turned out to be Eriksen’s return to football against Newcastle United on 26 February, but his performances in the Championship in the two campaigns beforehand suggested that the former England-u21 international was ready to take the top flight by storm.

In the 2019/20 Championship campaign in which Brentford lost out in the play-off final to Fulham, Dasilva scored 10 league goals from a right-sided central midfield position, following up the next season with a further five goals before his progress was halted by injury in March 2021.

The Arsenal academy graduate has started just two matches since suffering that initial injury – one of which lasted just 11 minutes before he was sent off against Newcastle – meaning patience will be required if he is to deliver on the promise that he showed in the second tier. However, the statistics from his last full season of football suggest that he is an individual worth persisting with.

Whilst Eriksen is at his most effective when playing passes from midfield, Dasilva excelled in the 2019/20 season in terms of his ball carrying. The 23-year-old averaged 1.4 successful dribbles per game, more than double the 0.67 that Eriksen managed in a Brentford shirt, whilst also completing an impressive 1.5 key passes per 90.

It is therefore clear that Dasilva would not represent a like-for-like Eriksen replacement, but just as Ivan Toney was not a a carbon-copy of Ollie Watkins when the latter departed for Aston Villa in the summer of 2020, this does not mean the man stepping up cannot be successful in their own right.

Whilst losing Eriksen is undeniably a blow, it could be that Brentford’s incoming transfer business this summer helps to fill the void that has been created in a different way.

Whilst neither Scottish international Aaron Hickey nor club-record signing Keane Lewis-Potter are likely to be lining up in Eriksen’s role in central midfield when Brentford make the trip to Leicester City for their season opener on 7 August, Frank could use both to change the tactical shape of his team.

Before Eriksen joined the club in February, Brentford’s most used formation was a 3-5-2 that made the most of the partnership between Toney and Bryan Mbuemo in attack whilst also allowing the Bees to enjoy aerial dominance over a number of opponents as a result of having three centre-backs in defence.

However, the influence of Eriksen is perhaps best exemplified by the tactical shift his presence brought about. In seven of the 10 games that the Dane started for the Bees, Frank opted to use a back four system, only reverting to a three-man defence for matches against Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester United.

This in turn saw Brentford enjoy greater possession within games, providing Eriksen with a platform to dictate the tempo of attacks and operate as the team’s foremost playmaker.

Brentford’s new additions possibly hint that reverting to the formation that was popular in the first part of last season is a real possibility.

With Hickey being adept when operating on either the left or right side of a defence, it would make sense that he is given the right wing-back berth given the ease with which Rico Henry adapted to life in the Premier League on the left flank.

Reverting to a system that utilises wing-backs would also allow Frank to keep all three of Ethan Pinnock, Pontus Jansson and Kristoffer Ajer in the team at centre-back, and given they all impressed in their debut Premier League seasons this could be an effective way for the head coach to ensure his better players are in the team on a regular basis.

The signing of wide forward Lewis-Potter, who scored as a substitute in his first appearance for the club in a friendly against RC  Strasbourg on Tuesday, potentially suggests that Brentford are keen to stick with a formation that incorporates three attackers, as was the case at the end of last season. But it could also be the case that the new arrival from Hull City is seen as a potential partner for Toney in a two-man attack.

Given the nature of the impact that Eriksen had on Brentford last season, it is easy to forget that he ultimately featured for less than 1000 minutes for the club. His return, first to full health and then to competitive football, is an inspirational one, and the opportunity to try and restore former glory at Old Trafford appears a tantalising next chapter in his career.

But Brentford showed both in reaching the Premier League and when they were without Eriksen in the top flight that they have a head coach and a group of players that are capable of adapting to change and still being successful.

Betting against them to do similar once more would appear misguided.

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