How Hein Vanhaezebrouck’s Tactics Have Guided KAA Gent To The Verge Of The Championship Playoffs And Into A European Quarter-Final – Tactical Analysis

With only a few match weeks to go, the Belgian Pro League table shows Hein Vanhaezebrouck’s KAA Gent side in fourth place, above current champions Club Brugge.

The club is also in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa Conference League, where it will face Premier League side West Ham United.

Gent have also been an entertaining side to watch this season.

The club is the third-highest scorer in the Belgian top flight, boasting a rather prolific attacking trio of Gift Orban, Hugo Cuypers, and Hyeon-seok Hong.

They have also become solid defensively as the season has progressed, which has contributed to their current occupying the last championship playoff position.

This tactical analysis will

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Hein Vanhaezebrouck Preferred formations

Since returning to Gent for his second spell in charge, Hein Vanhaezebrouck’s coaching style has preferred to set his side up in some variation of a back three formation, usually a 3-4-1-2, as the image above shows.

However, this formation will alter slightly throughout the match, becoming a wider 3-4-3 or a 3-5-2, with the #10 dropping deeper into midfield.

Vanhaezebrouck has proven to be rather flexible tactically, with these formational switches throughout the course of the match showing he is able to adjust if something changes from the opposition.

These formations also allow Gent to play more fluid attacking football.

The wide midfielders are very attack-minded, though they will drop back to help in defensive moments.

The use of a 3-4-1-2 also allows Vanhaezebrouck to use his three most impactful attacking players this season (Orban, Cuypers, and Hong) simultaneously.

The three form a great attacking partnership and contribute to a large number of Gent’s goals this season.

In the following sections of this tactical analysis, we will examine a couple of Vanhaezebrouck’s tactical philosophies that have led to the Belgian side’s success this season.

Quick one-touch attacking movements and emphasis on vertical play

One thing that Hein Vanhaezebrouck’s Gent side has done to relative success this season is use quick one-touch attacking movements to get through opposition defences quickly, as well as prioritise playing the ball vertically in these moments.

The wide midfielders will push high and wide when Gent are building up play from the back, allowing them to stretch the opposition’s back line or receive the ball in space to drive forward and send balls in from the wide channels.

In the central areas, the ball is looking to be passed the first time, which allows Gent to quickly carve through opposition defences and progress the ball into the final third at speed.

The image above shows Gent’s progressive passes this season, with the ones highlighted in pink entering the penalty area.

As the graphic illustrates, under Hein Vanhaezebrouck’s style of play, Gent constantly looks to play the ball vertically, rarely wanting to play sideways or backward when in possession.

In fact, Gent have completed the most progressive passes in the Belgian top flight this season, with 2,657.

They also have the highest number of progressive passes completed per 90 minutes, with 77.11.

The image above shows the typical shape that Gent have when they are in possession in the attacking half of the pitch.

As previously mentioned, the wing backs act much more like wide midfielders, with them pushing up onto the last line and looking to stretch the opposition’s defence.

The shape will occasionally become a 2-3-5, with one of Gent’s outside centre-backs pushing into midfield to become an outlet pass to play wide and escape the pressure centrally at times.

An example of this is shown above; however, the ensuing pass is not played into the space in the wide channel.

Though it does not happen in this particular phase of play, if the ball were to be played out to this progressing centre-back, Gent likely would have had an overload situation in the wide channel.

The defender would have been able to drive forward with possession and, depending on what the Union Saint-Gilloise defence did, create a 2v1 or 3v2 overload.

This example still manages to illustrate Vanhaezebrouck’s intention when his side is in possession: prioritising playing vertically and progressing the ball into the attacking third.

The image above shows an attacking phase of play from Gent’s recent match against KAS Eupen.

As mentioned, Gent looks to play vertically quickly, looking to utilise one-touch passing to progress the ball into the final third as quickly as possible.

This is exactly what happened in this phase pictured above.

This is the first part of the attacking move, with the ball reaching Hugo Cuypers with his back to goal after a deflected pass off an Eupen defender finds him.

He takes one touch and is able to play it to the progressing South Korea U23 international Hyun-seok Hong.

The Gent players are also able to move into the attacking half quickly, which helps to facilitate this type of attacking style by offering multiple options for the player in possession to find quickly.

In this example, Malick Fofana is making a run beyond Hong in the wide channel, club captain Sven Kums is making a run centrally, and AC Milan and Napoli transfer target Gift Orban is on the shoulder of the last defender looking for a ball to be played over the top.

The image above shows the ensuing pass that Hong chooses to play to keep progressing with the ball.

The ball is played over the top towards the run of Orban, who is 1v1 against the opposition centre-back, with the Eupen fullback caught out of position in a more advanced area.

This allows the Nigerian striker to make the run off the blind shoulder of the defender, with him able to latch onto Hong’s pass sent into the space behind the defence.

After a couple of touches, he is able to get a shot off at a tight angle, which is saved by the goalkeeper.

This gives Gent a corner less than thirty seconds into the match.

Another thing to note is that Hong’s pass was played with his first touch. This quick, incisive ball movement allowed Gent to catch the Eupen defenders out.

This type of quick, vertical ball progression allows Hein Vanhaezebrouck’s side to create chances often during matches, leading to their current status as the third-highest scorers in the Belgian Pro League.

The data visualization graphic above on Gent’s progressive passes highlighted that a large number of them originated from wide channels.

The image above shows an example of this quick ball progression that leads to it being circulated out wide.

In this attacking phase of play above, the ball is played centrally to Orban, who plays the ball first time back to Julien de Sart.

The other Gent attackers, Cuypers and Hong, slide towards this channel, which allows Gent to overload the opposition’s defence and force it to slide.

As a result, when de Sart receives possession, he is able to turn and play a switch of field ball to the onrushing Fofana, who is unmarked on the far side.

The following image above shows the resulting ball that is played to Fofana on the opposite side.

The wingback was allowed plenty of time and space to take the ball down and progress into the penalty box, as the opposition defenders shifted to prevent Gent’s overload.

Gent’s attacking trio is then able to progress into the penalty box and become options for a cross from Fofana.

The attackers are able to layer their runs well, with Cuypers running towards the front post, Orban running centrally, and Hong making a run towards the back post area to attempt to latch onto an overhit cross.

This layering of runs allows Gent to have attackers in all the areas of the penalty box, enabling them to be more likely to latch onto the cross in one of these zones.

In this example, the ensuing cross from Fofana is overhit, with it being retrieved just before it goes out for a throw-in.

While this attacking phase does not result in a chance, it once again illustrates the way Hein Vanhaezebrouck wants his Gent side to attack.

This quick and incisive attacking style allows Gent to catch opposition defences out, whether by playing the ball vertically in the central channels or creating chances through the wing backs out wide.

Emphasis on counter-pressing and defending from the front when the ball is played backwards

When looking at Gent from a defensive perspective, it is hard to look past their ability to counter-press and defend from the front.

Opposition sides find it difficult to build up from the back against them, but it is more dangerous when they look to put their backs to the forwards when in possession and play backwards.

This initiates the forwards’ press, with Hugo Cuypers, Gift Orban, and Hyun-seok Hong being very capable on this side of the game.

The data viz graphic above shows

one of the highest totals of any Belgian side.

This also goes along with their 380 high regains and 141 dangerous recoveries.

This highlights Gent’s success when they are able to put pressure on opposition defenders.

They are often successful at either winning back possession or forcing a defender into an errant pass.

The image above shows

to almost force the opposition goalkeeper into an error.

In the phase of play above, the ball is played backwards from the fullback into the feet of the goalkeeper.

Orban is able to close the goalkeeper down quickly, which forces him to take a touch forward before picking a passing option.

Other than playing the ball long, the only realistic option is the player dropping into the space in the penalty box, with Hong following close behind.

Hugo Cuypers does well to angle his run to prevent the goalkeeper from escaping the pressure by playing the option out wide.

As a result, the ball is played to the defender, dropping into the penalty box, with all three Gent forwards closing down the defender.

Unfortunately, what should have become a turnover and an excellent chance of scoring for the Belgian side, the defender was able to turn away from the pressure and dribble out of the Gent press.

While in this instance it did not work, this strategy of baiting passes from the opposition backline has led to many turnovers in advanced areas for Gent to pounce on.

The image above shows another example of the Gent counter-press activating once the opposition turns its back on the attack to play backwards.

In the phase of play above, the defender putting his back to the forward line triggers the Gent press, with Orban placing pressure on the centre-back from behind.

Cuypers’s movement cuts off the passing lane back to the goalkeeper, eliminating the pass-back as a potential option.

Noticing that the only realistic option is to play centrally, the rest of the Gent side pushed up to put pressure on the opposition, forcing a potential opportunity for a turnover in an advanced area.

When it comes to the defensive side of the game for Gent under Hein Vanhaezebrouck, the Belgian manager wants his side to be aggressive when possession is lost in advanced areas, with Gent looking to win possession back quickly and aggressively to create goal-scoring chances on transitional moments.

Conclusion

As this tactical analysis has shown, Gent has once again become a potential title challenger under Hein Vanhaezebrouck’s tutelage.

The Belgian side is on the verge of a return to the title playoffs and is still in the hunt for a European trophy.

They face West Ham in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa Conference League.

While it is unlikely they will win either competition, they will likely be an intriguing side to watch for the rest of this season.