Brian Brobbey teams up with Rotterdam trainer Patrick Woerst

Sunderland striker Brian Brobbey, 24, has enlisted Rotterdam specialist trainer Patrick Woerst to refine his on‑field positioning after a difficult spell at Ajax, a move that coincided with his two goals in 17 minutes against Sweden in the World Cup, where the Netherlands won 5‑1. Woerst explains his method rests on three pillars: scanning the game, positioning, and communicating with teammates. "I train from three pillars. That is scanning, positioning, and communicating," he said. Brobbey, who plays for Sunderland and the Dutch national team, follows the programme. During sessions they analyse each of Brobbey's goals, rewinding ten seconds to study the decisions leading to the strike. "Together with Brian we look at all the goals he scores and we rewind ten seconds," Woerst said. This backward review aims to identify the positional cues that precede a finish.

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Woerst highlighted that the goals versus Sweden stemmed largely from superior positioning. "Those goals were beautiful because they came largely from good positioning," he noted. Brobbey netted both strikes inside a 17‑minute spell as the Netherlands beat Sweden 5‑1. Brobbey hoped the collaboration would help him regain his place in the Dutch national team after a challenging stint at Ajax. "When we started training, the goal was to return to the Netherlands squad after a weaker period," he explained. He sees the specialist training as a way to fight back into the Oranje lineup.

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The Netherlands face Tunisia in their next World Cup group match on Friday night. That fixture will test whether the positional work translates into the upcoming game.