MX23RW : Thursday, October 31 23:39:14| >> :120:5214:5214:

Rasmus Ankersen: 'Balance important to Brentford'

Brentford co-director of football Rasmus Ankersen believes that the Bees must find the "right balance" between statistical analysis and coach's intuition this season.

New Brentford co-director of football Rasmus Ankersen has stressed the importance of balancing the club's new reliance on statistics with more traditional coaching methods.

The Bees are taking a revolutionary approach to football with their 'moneyball' use of statistical analysis to both recruit players and make in-match decisions.

Ankersen, from Denmark, revealed at a press conference today that statistics would play a big role for Brentford going forward, including in-game texts to new head coach Marinus Dijkhuizen advising him on what objectives should be set out for the second half.

Ankersen said that identifying hard-to-find "inefficiencies" was a big part of the club's new approach.

"For us, it's not just about statistics, but what you do with the statistics," Ankersen told reporters.

"We think it's important that you have objective analysis as well as a coach's intuition. When we talk about statistics, it's often been misunderstood. We just think there has to be the right balance."

Brentford finished fifth in the Championship last season under Mark Warburton, who left the club after their playoff semi-final defeat to Middlesbrough as he didn't agree with the direction that owner Matthew Benham wanted to take.

ID:226468: cacheID:226468:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:2494:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Marinus Dijkhuizen looks on during the Dutch Eredivisie match between S.B.V. Excelsior Rotterdam and Ajax Amsterdam held at the Woudestein Stadium on December 21, 2014
Read Next:
Dijkhuizen becomes Brentford head coach
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Manchester CityMan City97202091123
2Liverpool97111751222
3Arsenal95311710718
4Aston Villa95311611518
5Chelsea95221911817
6Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton94411612416
7Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest9441117416
8Tottenham HotspurSpurs94141810813
9Brentford94141818013
10Fulham93331212012
11Bournemouth93331111012
12Newcastle UnitedNewcastle9333910-112
13West Ham UnitedWest Ham93241316-311
14Manchester UnitedMan Utd9324811-311
15Leicester CityLeicester92341317-49
16Everton92341016-69
17Crystal Palace9135611-56
18Ipswich TownIpswich9045920-114
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves90271225-132
20Southampton9018619-131


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!