Borussia Dortmunds Danish forward Jacob Bruun Larsen has made a silent but substantial impact this season. At only 20 years old, hes managed to establish himself in Dortmunds starting line-up without the same hype and fan-fare as Chelsea-bound Christian Pulisic and Jadon Sancho.
With 13 appearances and 836 Bundesliga minutes under his belt, the Danes performances have contributed heavily to Dortmunds efficiency in attack. Dortmund are now set for the business end of the Bundesliga title race. Hell continue to play a key role that could make or break their season, as our tactical analysis will show using statistics.
Background
Bruun Larsen was born on 19 September 1998 in Denmark. He began his youth career at Lyngby Boldklub before transferring to Borussia Dortmund in 2015. The following year, the talented youngster was chosen to represent his country at the Rio Olympics. They reached the quarter-finals but were eventually defeated 2-0 by Nigeria.
His progress was rewarded with a contract extension in early 2017 while he continued his development in Dortmunds youth academy. In January 2018, he was loaned to Stuttgart, getting his first taste of Bundesliga experience before returning during the summer. Upon his return, he was selected for Dortmunds pre-season squad and was also made a permanent member of the senior side for the upcoming 2018/19 season.
Bruun Larsens role and strengths within Lucien Favres tactical set-up
Bruun Larsen can be described as a quick, sharp and effective forward. Lucien Favres patient possession-based play requires exactly that type of forward because of the direct attacking transitions that follow the slow build-up. The simplicity of his game is what makes him such a valuable asset, especially as he continues to develop at the club. This is perhaps another reason why hes started ahead of new signing Marius Wolf and Christian Pulisic for most parts of the season.
Firstly, hes really exceptional at escaping pressure from his markers. This allows him to make himself available for passes from deep. He acts as an attacking outlet in two different situations. Firstly, when Dortmund face high pressure, and secondly, when they face a low-pressure defensive block.
When teams press high during Dortmunds build-up, this leaves space in advanced areas for them to exploit. This is where the best opportunities for direct attacking transitions are. Here, Larsen will usually be positioned high up the field, towards the wing, before anticipating a pass and dropping deep to offer himself as a pass option.
From here he can combine with the nearest players around him. Mostly its when Dortmund use an up-back-through pattern to progress. Hell usually lay the ball off to one of the holding midfielders, or combine with one of the forwards around him. This is usually Marco Reus, who plays nearest to him as a central attacking midfielder. More often than not, this will be after using a clever double-movement to free himself.
Against low-pressure defensive blocks, Larsens off-the-ball movement becomes even more crucial. The team task in this situation is to disorganise the opponent and create space in behind the midfield line or to create space on the wings. Larsen excels in the area as he is a very strong runner, with good acceleration and high agility.
He has an excellent work-rate which sees him making vertical and diagonal runs to stretch the opposition defence, knowing that he wont receive a pass most of the time. In these types of situations he is more of a space creator. Against high-pressing teams his role revolves around exploiting the gaps that open naturally when the opponents connections arent as tight as they should be.
Speed, dribbling and finishing
Bruun Larsen is a fantastic counter-attacking weapon tha
Subscribe To TFA To Unlock All Posts - Free 7 Day Trial
Try TFA Free For 7 Days
Gain access to all of TFA's premium contents.More than 12,000+ articles.
