Mads Bech Sørensen

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Mads Bech Sørensen
Personal information
Full name Mads Bech Sørensen[1]
Date of birth (1999-01-07) 7 January 1999 (age 23)
Place of birth Horsens, Denmark[2]
Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)[3]
Position(s) Central defender
Club information
Current team
 Brentford
Number 29
Youth career
0000–2011 Østbirk IF
2011–2015 AC Horsens
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2017 AC Horsens 20 (1)
2017– Brentford 42 (2)
2020 → AFC Wimbledon (loan) 9 (0)
National team‡
2016–2017 Denmark U18 7 (1)
2017–2018 Denmark U19 13 (0)
2019– Denmark U21 9 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13:00, 24 December 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11:10, 8 June 2021 (UTC)

Mads Bech Sørensen (born 7 January 1999), sometimes known as Mads Bech,[4] is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a central defender for Premier League club Brentford. Sørensen began his career in his native Denmark with AC Horsens and has been capped by Denmark at youth level.

Club career[]

AC Horsens[]

A defender,[5] Sørensen began his youth career with Østbirk IF as a juvenile,[6] before transferring to the academy at AC Horsens in 2011.[7] After progressing through the youth ranks, he won his maiden call into the first team squad for a 1. division match versus HB Køge on 3 May 2015.[8] At age 16 years, three months and 26 days, Sørensen became Horsens' youngest-ever player when he started in the 1–1 draw and he remained on the pitch until being substituted for Malthe Boesen (the player who had previously held the record) after 75 minutes.[9] He made five further appearances during the remainder of the 2014–15 season and signed a new two-year contract on 9 June 2015.[8][10]

Over the course of the 2015–16 and 2016–17 seasons, Sørensen continued to make a handful of appearances a season, mostly as a substitute, even after Horsens' promotion to the Superliga in 2016.[8] After signing a new three-year contract in May 2016, Sørensen made 10 appearances during the 2016–17 season and scored his first senior goal with a consolation in a 3–1 DBU Pokalen last-16 defeat to AGF Aarhus on 15 March 2017.[11] Sørensen appeared in Horsens' opening three matches of the 2017–18 season and scoring the first league goal of his career in a 4–1 victory over Lyngby on 23 July 2017.[8] Despite that excellent start to the season, he departed the club on 31 July,[5] just two days after his final appearance for the club.[8] In just over two years as a first team player at the CASA Arena, Sørensen made 25 appearances and scored two goals.[8] While a Horsens player, Sørensen filled the roles of left back, central defender, left midfield and emerged as a throw-in specialist,[5] after receiving coaching from Thomas Grønnemark.[12]

Brentford[]

2017–2019[]

On 31 July 2017, Sørensen moved to England to join the B team at Championship club Brentford on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee.[5] Injuries to first team central defenders John Egan, Andreas Bjelland and Chris Mepham saw Sørensen feature as an unused substitute on five occasions during the 2017–18 season.[8] He battled with homesickness during the season and adjusting to life in London, but received support on the field from Danish teammate Andreas Bjelland and off it from the club's sleep coach.[13] Sørensen was promoted into the first team squad for the 2018–19 season and made his debut for the club with a start in an EFL Cup first round match versus Southend United on 14 August 2018,[14][15] but he was substituted with a dead leg after half an hour of the 4–2 victory.[16] After returning to fitness, a knee injury suffered in October kept him out of action for 2+1⁄2 months.[17] A season-ending injury suffered by central defender Yoann Barbet in late March 2019 allowed Sørensen to break into the starting lineup and he finished the 2018–19 season with 10 appearances.[15][18]

2019–20[]

A medial collateral ligament injury suffered prior to Brentford's first friendly of the 2019–20 pre-season kept Sørensen out until late September 2019.[6][19][20] He resumed his involvement with the first team squad in November 2019 and made two appearances before signing a new 3+1⁄2-year contract in January 2020.[21][22] Down the pecking order,[23] Sørensen departed on loan for the remainder of the season on 9 January 2020.[21] The COVID-19 pandemic led to his early return from the loan,[24] but he was ineligible to play during the remainder of the 2019–20 season,[25] which ended with defeat in the 2020 Championship play-off Final.[26]

2020–21[]

After beginning the 2020–21 season making exclusively EFL Cup appearances,[27] by November 2020, injury and illness suffered by central defenders Pontus Jansson and new signing Charlie Goode respectively allowed Sørensen to break into the league lineup alongside Ethan Pinnock.[8][28][29][30] He started all but one match of Brentford's run to the EFL Cup semi-finals and became the first team's throw-in specialist,[27][31] after having received further coaching from Thomas Grønnemark during the 2017–18 season and extending the length of his throws to 40.8 metres (134 ft).[12] On 24 January 2021, Sørensen scored his first Brentford goal with the opener in a 3–1 FA Cup fourth round defeat to Leicester City.[27] Injury to left back Rico Henry in February 2021 saw Sørensen deployed in the position until head coach Thomas Frank switched to a 3-5-2 formation in mid-April,[32][33][34] at which time he dropped out of the starting lineup.[8] Sørensen's breakthrough season was ended prematurely by injury in May 2021,[35][36] by which time he had made 39 appearances and scored three goals.[27] In his absence, Brentford gained promotion to the Premier League after a successful playoff campaign.[36]

2021–present[]

Sørensen returned fit for Brentford's 2021–22 pre-season, but he suffered a medial knee injury on his second appearance of the regular season, during a 3–1 EFL Cup second round win over Forest Green Rovers on 24 August 2021.[37] He returned to the matchday squad in late November and had to wait until 22 December to make his comeback,[38] with a start in a 2–0 EFL Cup quarter-final defeat to Chelsea.[8]

AFC Wimbledon (loan)[]

On 9 January 2020, Sørensen joined League One club AFC Wimbledon on loan until the end of the 2019–20 season.[21] Prior to the season being ended early, he made 9 appearances and helped the Dons to avoid relegation to League Two.[22][24]

International career[]

Sørensen won his maiden call into the Denmark U18 squad in September 2016 and made 7 appearances during the 2016–17 season,[4] captaining the team and scoring once in a 4–2 friendly victory over Belarus U18 on 18 October.[39] He was promoted into the U19 squad in January 2017 and made two appearances during the remainder of the 2016–17 season.[4] In mid-August 2017, Sørensen was named as captain of the Denmark U19 squad for the 2017 Four Nations Tournament,[40] in which he made two appearances.[4] Sørensen appeared in six of the 10 matches during the U21 team's successful 2021 European U21 Championship qualifying campaign and he was named in the squad for the tournament finals.[35] He started each of Denmark's group matches and scored in a 2–0 win over Iceland U21 on 28 March 2021.[4] Injury saw Sørensen replaced in the squad for the knockout stages,[36] though his group stage performances were such that he was named in the Squad of the Tournament.[41]

Personal life[]

Sørensen began his sporting career as a handball player, before switching to football.[6] He is an Arsenal supporter.[6]

Career statistics[]

As of match played 22 December 2021
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
AC Horsens 2014–15[8] 1. division 6 0 0 0 — — 6 0
2015–16[8] 5 0 1 0 — — 6 0
2016–17[8] Danish Superliga 6 0 3 1 — 1[a] 0 10 1
2017–18[42] 3 1 — — — 3 1
Total 20 1 4 1 — 1 0 25 2
Brentford 2017–18[42] Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
2018–19[15] 8 0 1 0 1 0 — 10 0
2019–20[22] 1 0 1 0 0 0 — 2 0
2020–21[27] 32 2 2 1 5 0 0 0 39 3
2021–22[43] Premier League 1 0 0 0 2 0 — 3 0
Total 42 2 4 1 8 0 0 0 54 3
AFC Wimbledon (loan) 2019–20[22] League One 9 0 — — — 9 0
Career total 71 3 8 2 8 0 1 0 88 5
  1. ^ Appearance in Danish Superliga relegation play-offs

Honours[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Club list of registered players: As at 19th May 2018: Brentford" (PDF). English Football League. p. 8. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  2. ^ Mads Bech Sørensen at Soccerbase
  3. ^ "Mads Bech Sørensen – Defender – First Team". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e Mads Bech Sørensen at the Danish Football Association (in Danish)
  5. ^ a b c d "Mads Bech Sørensen joins Brentford B". Brentford FC. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  6. ^ a b c d Slavin, Chris. "Mads grasps his chance after making the right sporting choice". www.afcwimbledon.co.uk. Retrieved 25 October 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ "AC Horsens sælger Mads Bech til Brentford F.C." www.achorsens.dk. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Mads Bech Sørensen at Soccerway. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  9. ^ "Mads Bech: Tilfreds med min debut". www.achorsens.dk. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  10. ^ "AC Horsens skriver med rekorddebutant". bold.dk. 9 June 2015.
  11. ^ "Mads Bech Sørensen forlænger kontrakten for 3 år". achorsens.dk. 28 May 2016.
  12. ^ a b Bloom, Ben (20 August 2021). "The long throw is back – and Brentford have its most dangerous exponent". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  13. ^ "57: Mads Bech Sørensen om udlandsskifte, ensomhed og succes". www.spillerforeningen.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  14. ^ "Mads and Marcus promoted to First Team". Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  15. ^ a b c "Games played by Mads Bech Sørensen in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  16. ^ Mads Bech Sorensen on injury return (Interview). brentfordfc.com. 23 December 2018. Event occurs at 0:48. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  17. ^ "Watch: Mads Bech Sorensen on injury return". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  18. ^ Storer, Tom; Warlow, Robert (5 May 2019). "Yoann Barbet confirms decision over his Brentford future". footballlondon. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  19. ^ Thomas Frank on Dynamo Kyiv draw (Interview). brentfordfc.com. 13 July 2019. Event occurs at 4:41. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  20. ^ "