When Sandviken Kvinner was renamed Brann Kvinner in 2022, it led to immediate success on the field, with both the Toppserien title and the Norwegian Women’s Cup being secured that year. 2023 may not have been as bountiful a campaign for the Bergen-based club, with them currently sitting fourth in the league and already out of the Cup. However, it has still been a positive one for them, especially when remembering the disruption they have faced due to a coaching change partway through it.
Whilst there are still four matchweeks and potentially a Champions League group stage to think about shortly, there is also a need now to start looking ahead to next season, with the club laying some strong foundations during the second half of the season under former Manchester United Women assistant Martin Ho and looking to build on them when 2024 comes around.
With that in mind, this tactical analysis will take a closer look at his in-game philosophy, breaking down the simple attacking and defensive tactics that he has introduced since moving to Norway and showing why they could be a team to watch as his tenure goes on. The analysis will also highlight which players have shown themselves to be vital to his game plan and where his ideas have been influenced by his time in the WSL.
Build-up play
As any coach will state when discussing how their teams are set up, building phases of play and ensuring that possession is not conceded cheaply is always a vital aspect of any game plan. It is evident when looking at Brann Kvinner’s performances that Ho believes in his side, keeping things smooth and efficient and not introducing too many complicated ideas.
This is most evident when watching the Norwegian side transfer the ball around the pitch, with their primary mantra always being to show patience whenever they have the ball in promising areas and never to force the issue when it is unnecessary to do so, and this is one of the reasons that they have tended to control games and have averaged 58.11% possession as the top flight season has gone on.
However, tactics and coaching can only get teams so far when it comes to this because making the right decisions and knowing when to be direct and when to not take the risk comes down in no small part to individual player intelligence.
Fortunately for Ho, this has not been a problem so far, with it clear that his team understands when to play forwards, be conservative, and make another pass. This situation demonstrated that perfectly as the ball was originally on the nearside of the field. Still, it was shifted towards the far side because no gap was deemed significant enough for the ball to be sent into.
It may seem to some that this slows play down and prevents momentum from being built up, and there is some truth in that. However, it also manipulates the opposing side into moving out of position. It opens up a little more space than was previously available, which is what teams who incorporate this into their style of play are continually looking for. In this case, the additional pass made the difference as Avaldsnes Kvinner, who are managed by Liverpool men’s legend John Arne Riise, started to lose the rigid shape that had previously been there, and only a poor touch from Australia striker Larissa Crummer once Ingrid Stenevik’s pass had found her prevented this from turning into a shot on goal.
However, whilst early deliveries from central areas have been a common feature of Brann’s build-up play, it has been even more prevalent to see them use the wings and bring their wide forwards and wing-backs into the game as much as possible. This has been especially noticeable when looking at how involved left wing-back Marit Bratberg Lund has been in the final third, with her assisting eight goals as the 2023 season has gone on. More often than not, those in the middle will look wide as a first port of call whenever the ball comes to them to see if they can find a teammate in those channels.
However, when they do, it is essential to note that they rarely send the ball directly into their path, as that involves risk, and so is something Ho is keen to avoid. Therefore, it is more common to see others form links between the ball and the intended target, just as Rakel Engesvik has done here once Justine Kvaleng Kielland turns and looks towards where Bratberg Lund is, and that is one reason that they have an impressive 80.9% passing accuracy for the season so far.
Brann’s constant desire to use the wings when building attacking phases should not surprise those watching them, with it being something that Manchester United have been synonymous with ever since incumbent head coach Marc Skinner arrived at the club from NWSL side Orlando Pride. His tactics have always relied on the wide attackers to create chances in the middle and test their opponents. There is little doubt that Leah Galton and Spain international Lucía García have become significant attacking outlets at the club due to this.
It is clearly something that Ho admired, and it is why he, too, wants his Brann team to play as expansively as possible; it is so far working for them in that they are creating plenty of chances from the wings and are making themselves challenging to defend against as a result.
However, it is essential to note that making the shorter passing sequences required to find those players does rely on the player in the middle having the composure to connect the play in the right way, and there is no doubt that Engesvik has that when watching her play. During Brann’s matches, she rarely has a fixed role in the side, instead tending to roam around and pass the ball from many different field areas. This graphic indicates how many passes she has made and the variety of positions she has taken.
In the previous situation, that was key in allowing the ball to find Bratberg Lund, and the fact that her delivery turned into a goal for former Reading Women winger Amalie Eikeland showed how little details like Engesvik’s free-flowing role can make the difference and so need to remain if Brann are to keep improving under Ho’s stewardship.
It is not only in the final third that Brann show patience on the ball, though, with there also being occasions when they have had it further back and have demonstrated the same qualities. In this case, defender Nora Eide Lie has possession inside her own half and is looking to launch an attack, and it is clear that Stenevik is open on the near side of the pitch and is in the perfect place to receive the ball and to play it forward.
However, rather than making the pass immediately, Lie opts to retain the ball for a fraction of a second longer than some in her position might have, hoping that Lyn Damer might be tempted to move towards her to win the ball in a dangerous position. It is a risky decision to take, but it ultimately pays off, with Jenny Kristine Røsholm Olsen taking the bait and edging forward to close her down. and it is at that point that Lie releases the ball and finds Stenevik.
It might look like nothing, but the critical point here is that, much like the way that they took an extra pass when further up the field, they are showing patience when they have possession and are not rushing things when there is no need for them to do so. The fact that it happens this far back and inside the final third indicates just how much it is ingrained into their on-field mentality.
Positional rotations
Another thing that is really noticeable about Brann Kvinner’s play under Ho is the positional rotations that are instigated around the field, with many players looking to move into alternative areas of the pitch as they try to make themselves as difficult and unpredictable to play against as possible.
These are very common to see in the wide channels, with the wing-backs and wide forwards constantly working together to create spaces for each other and to keep opponents guessing as to which of them will hold their position and which will drive infield. In this case, Eikeland saw that former West Ham United Women defender Cecilie Redisch Kvamme was looking to do the latter and so made a forward run that took Lyn duo Trine Skjelstad Jensen and Emilie Raaum Closs out of her path.
Having two players who can operate this way and continually rotate is always beneficial for a team set up to attack, as it means that they will always have ways to create chances and to offer additional support to those in the middle. The fact that it works just as well with traditional full-backs as well as with wing-backs, as Barcelona Femení have demonstrated over the years, is also important to note, with it meaning that Ho can continually encourage his players to keep alternating their roles even if he is forced at a later date to change to a back four from his favoured back five setup.
Another way in which Brann have made a success of positional rotations is in the forward line, with it clear that Crummer is not always the central striker and that there have been times when she has needed to drift towards the wings to get on the ball, as has happened here.
However, the key thing to note here is that Brann as a team have not let the space become unoccupied, with Bratberg Lund in a more central area and making a run forward to cover for Crummer, ensuring that there is still a central attacking option available should the team require one. On this occasion, they did, with Crummer under pressure and needing to move the ball out of her vicinity to prevent Avaldsnes from retaking it, and Bratberg Lund was in the perfect place to turn her cross into a goal (one of nine that she has scored this season).
In short, both players were not in their usual positions and yet the overall balance of the side was not disturbed; having that interchangeability will please Ho and will again give him something to play with as he looks towards what is likely to be an extended European season and towards the 2024 Toppserien campaign.
When looking at how they rotate in the central areas, the key player to focus on is again Engesvik, with her passing range and accuracy already mentioned in the scout report, but her movement and ability to create decoys just as vital to Brann’s attacking play. In this case, she can see how Kvaleng Kielland has possession and is looking to progress the ball once again up the pitch, but there are several Lyn players in her way, so any chance of her finding Eikeland inside the goal area is slim.
To assist her teammate, Engesvik drifts towards the edge of the goal area as if to give the impression that she will again offer a link between the two players, which Lyn fall for as they commit all three of Jensen, Julie Aune Jorde and Selma Ørstavik Hernes to closing her down and taking her out of the game.
However, by doing so, they leave only Maria Fink in a realistic position to challenge for the ball once it comes into the goal area, giving Eikeland a better chance of winning the duel and of getting a shot away at goal, and that was what Engesvik wanted here. Even though the ball is eventually sent high over the crossbar by Bratberg Lund, the fact that the opportunity came about at all is down to her clever positioning and intelligence, and it is not the first time that she has helped to break an opposing side down in this way.
It also shows another tactical element that has been modelled on Ho’s time at Manchester United, with Skinner’s predecessor Casey Stoney (now in charge of newly crowned NWSL regular season champions San Diego Wave) tending to use England’s Ella Toone as a playmaker in a similar way and tasking her with being a pivot and a central focus when they were on the attack. Whilst that has not been the case as often under Skinner, it demonstrates again how Ho is using the full extent of his experiences at the WSL club to shape his own tactical philosophy.
Defensive stability
The attacking side of things might be impressive in the way that Brann Kvinner have set things up and have made themselves a difficult side to keep out, but their defensive play has been just as good, with them yet to concede a goal since Ho arrived and showing time and time again how winning matches and succeeding in football is only possible if the work without the ball is executed just as well as that done with it.
As referenced earlier in the analysis, Brann have favoured wing-backs this season, with their main formations being a 5-4-1 (used in 49% of their games) and a 3-4-3 (used in 20% of their games). When they have the ball, the advantages of this have already been examined in great detail. Still, there are also clear positives to look at when they don’t have it, with one being that it gives them an extra player in the back line and allows them to mix up how they stop opposing attacks.
To explain, this situation shows how Stabæk Kvinner’s Philippines forward, Meryll Serrano, has taken the ball into Brann’s half and is looking to move into an area from which she can shoot at goal. However, she has seen her attack end prematurely due to Stenevik moving out of line and closing her down, and this would typically mean leaving a gap open behind, which could be exploited. Brann, though, is able to transition into a back four shape and ensure that the area where she was is not left open, leading to this setup.
As a result, they have the advantage as Stabæk are now forced to move the ball across the field and to result to more predictable measures, with Serrano passing to Mathilde Kruse Schultz Madsen and then moving on towards Fanny Lång (out of shot). By ensuring that they turn to this passing sequence, the defenders can give themselves an excellent opportunity to win the ball back at the earliest available opportunity, which is done here when Kvamme intercepts the pass towards Lång.
This ability to switch between a back five and a back four and end attacks early is a crucial component in Brann’s play and is something they have relied on during Ho’s time at the club. There is no doubt that their work on the training ground to practice the simultaneous press and positional adjustments has worked to keep opponents out.
To maintain the success that they have had with it, though, he will need to keep Stenevik at the club during the close season because she is the lynchpin that keeps everything together for them inside their own half. Her importance to the team is shown clearly here, with Arna-Bjørnar Kvinner making their way up the field and Vilde Vedeler looking to send the ball into the middle, with Sigrid Kristina Reidun Aas waiting to receive it inside the goal area.
However, this is recognised by Stenevik, and she stays tight to the Arna-Bjørnar forward here; as a result, ensuring that, should the ball come into the middle, she can be in the right place at the right time to clear the danger. Her intelligence is further indicated by how she takes a small step towards Aas when Veleder connects with the ball, which instantly limits the space the attacker has to control the ball in and puts her at a considerable disadvantage.
Even though the cross is blocked and no shot comes from this opportunity, details like this show what she adds to the Brann defensive effort, and there is little doubt that they always stand a better chance of keeping opponents out when she is on the field.
Having a back three is also a positive whenever the team are counterattacking as well, with Åsane Damer intercepting the ball and going on the counterattack here, instantly putting Brann under pressure.
This would be problematic for any side with a back four, as they would likely have just two players in a position to slow the attack down due to the full-backs pushing forward to offer support higher up the field.
However, with a back three, Brann can again turn to their hybrid defensive style to ensure that they stay organised but also decrease the speed of Norun Skjeldal’s run here. With Stenevik not available to perform the pressing role, Finland defender Joanna Tynnilä steps in and has the same impact, with her forcing Skjeldal into passing the ball forwards here rather than continuing her run, and that then enables Marthine Østenstad to run behind and to end the threat.
Again, with a back four, a move like this would not have been impossible to instigate but would have certainly been much more complicated. The coordinated approach to executing it that Brann demonstrated here is why they have been successful in 70% of their defensive duels and have yet to concede a goal under their new head coach.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this tactical analysis has looked in detail at Brann Kvinner’s style of play under Martin Ho, breaking down their attacking and defensive play with him at the helm and showing why his principles of play have given them confidence and the ability to keep things simple but effective both with and without the ball.
It should be pointed out that, whilst his record at the club so far is almost flawless, he has yet to face one of the top sides in the league. The fact that their four remaining games in the current Toppserien season see them meet Rosenborg Kvinner and LSK Kvinner at home on either side of trips to Vålerenga Damer and Lyn means that this next run of fixtures will be where fans and the media will really see if his ideas work when it comes to Brann’s hopes of regaining their place at the summit next time around.
They shouldn’t be worried about facing them, though, with this analysis showing that they have the tactics to win and that they are a difficult team to score against when everything comes together, and that will give them encouragement that they can pick up some points in those games and have something to build on once they are completed.
They also have the small matter of a potential Champions League group stage campaign to think about, too, should they seal their progress on Wednesday night at home to Glasgow City (they lead 4-0 from the first leg at Petershill Park), and that too will benefit them and allow them to test themselves against some of Europe’s best and to see if they really do have what it takes to fight for silverware when 2024 gets underway.
All in all, whilst the Ho tenure is still in its infancy, there are plenty of reasons to be happy about their prospects, and it will be worth watching to see how they continue to grow and develop over the next year and beyond.
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