Beating the National League with Mid-Block Mastery: Bromley under Andy Woodman 2023/24 – tactical analysis

As the 2023/24 English football season draws to a close, we are starting to learn which teams will be joining and departing several leagues. We know Sheffield United will rejoin the Championship, Mansfield Town will play League One football next season, and Chesterfield’s title-winning campaign will see them re-enter the EFL for the 2024/25 campaign.

Joining the Spireites in League Two will be Bromley, who recently beat Solihull Moors on penalties at Wembley to earn promotion. This means the club will play in the EFL for the first time in its 133rd year. This historic victory came after two previous failed playoff campaigns in the National League, but this season, Andy Woodman’s squad was able to seal the deal.

This scout report will provide a tactical analysis of Bromley’s tactics used this season as we look to highlight just how they were able to record a third-place finish on 81 points, with the division’s best defensive record. Please note that any data included in this article going forward does include Bromley’s playoff fixtures as well as the 46 league games.

Mid-block & Counterpress

Defensive discipline is one of the key ingredients in Woodman’s tactics at Bromley, which is why they had the division’s best defensive record, conceding 49 goals pre-play-offs. His side registered an average possession of 41.9% this season – the second lowest in the National League. On top of that, they recorded the division’s lowest challenge intensity (5.2) and third-highest PPDA (13.54) – all indications of a team that likes to invite pressure deeper than the front line. Despite the data suggesting a lack of aggression, Bromley don’t like to sit deep and instead, utilise a well-structured mid-block which protects the backline nicely.

Before dissecting Bromley’s mid-block, let’s investigate their defensive territory to get a stronger sense of where they like to operate. We’ve compared their defensive territory to that of Barnet – a team who rank high for various pressing metrics as well as possession – a ball-dominant team who are aggressive off the ball. As you can see, the difference in territory is not that great, an indicator that Bromley aren’t the type to park the bus. But, as we will come to discuss, they aren’t a high-pressing team either.

This is what you can typically expect from Bromley when facing opposition possession. There are a few key points to talk about here, starting with the formation. In this game, they deployed a 5-4-1, which is clear to see in the image above. Most of the time, though, throughout the season, they’ve been known to use 3-5-2/5-3-2. The message here is that regardless of the formation, the principles often remain unchanged.