Belgian First Division A 2021/22: An early look at Club Brugge under Alfred Schreuder – tactical analysis

After 2.5 years in charge of Club Brugge and back-to-back Belgian Pro League titles, Philippe Clement left the club in early January to replace the former Bayern Munich manager Niko Kovac, who was sacked by AS Monaco. There were many names linked to replace the departed Belgian, with Club Brugge deciding on Alfred Schreuder as their new manager. Schreuder previously managed both FC Twente in the Eredivisie and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga, as well as being Erik ten Hag’s assistant at Ajax and Ronald Koeman’s assistant at FC Barcelona.

Through his first four matches in charge Schreuder is unbeaten (2W and 2D), but his side still sit nine points behind runaway leaders Union Saint-Gilloise. With that being said, Schreuder has started to slowly implement his philosophy on the side, with this tactical analysis looking at some of those tactics.

Quick and incisive build-up play  

Under Philippe Clement, Club Brugge utilised a back four system, normally deploying a 4-2-3-1. There has been a total switch in systems with the introduction of Schreuder as head coach, with the former Hoffenheim boss instead utilising a 3-5-2 formation. This allows Club Brugge to overload and dominate the midfield areas, as well as do some different things during the build-up phase. The following examples will show some of these build-up phases in action and illustrate the tactics that Schreuder is looking to implement into his new side.

This build-up phase pictured above comes from Schreuder’s first match in charge against Sint-Truiden. With the back three in possession, Vormer drops from his central midfield position to create a 4v3 numerical advantage for Club while they are building out from the back. Vormer dropping keeps the Sint-Truiden attackers honest, with none of them looking to leave that central midfield area to allow Vormer to gain possession. This means that both wing-backs are unoccupied and therefore free as passing options. However, Mechele receives the ball and instead plays it to Charles De Ketelaere, who drops into midfield from his forward position. This frees up Mats Rits to make a run in behind, which Ketelaere looks for, but unfortunately fails to find. Though in this instance no scoring chance resulted, this quick build-up and movement allowed Club Brugge to play the ball into the box with only three passes (Mechele-De Ketelaere-Rits (failed)).