Why Brentford should recall Marcus Forss from his loan spell

Brentford have endured somewhat of a hit and miss start to their Championship campaign thus far, with the Bees languishing 17th in the standings after managing only three victories from their first eleven league fixtures.

Thomas Frank’ side have managed to accumulate only 12 points out of a possible 33 in the Championship and it hardly requires a professional analyst to figure out as to where things have gone so horribly wrong for a team that has been known to play an attractive brand of football.

The Bees have only managed to find the net on 9 occasions in 11 outings, which is the second-worst scoring record in the entire division after newly-promoted Barnsley, who are currently in the drop zone.

Plus, going by the fact that Ollie Watkins has scored 7 out of those 9 goals in the Championship for the West London outfit, one cannot help but wonder as to what kind of an impact the other attackers in the team have had thus far.

Not much, to be honest, and the departure of Neal Maupay to Brighton in the summer has left Brentford short of quality cover in front of goal. Entrusted with the responsibility of spearheading the attack, Watkins has already exceeded expectations in his new role but that apparently hasn’t been enough to guarantee three points every week.

The Bees racked up an impressive tally of 73 goals in the Championship the last term, with Maupay being the top-scorer with 25, but the drastic difference in the club’s scoring record this term is indicative of their travails in the absence of the prolific Frenchman.

Apart from his obvious goalscoring prowess, Brentford have also missed Maupay’s excellent all-round game in the final third, given that Watkins is not a natural No.9.

Watkins, though adept at running the channels and getting in behind the defenders, lacks the ability to hold on to the ball with his back to goal in order to bring the wide attackers and the midfielders into the game.

Consequently, there has been a kind of disparity between the forward line and those operating behind them in the middle of the park, with the Bees lacking that much-needed cohesion in the final third.

The absence of a powerful and instinctive centre-forward has forced Thomas Frank to be a bit too one-dimensional in his approach and Brentford need to sort out their attacking problems at the earliest if they are really serious about securing a respectable finish.

With Maupay no longer in the frame and summer recruits Joel Valencia and Niko Karelis failing to make any impact whatsoever, Brentford might have to dip into the transfer market for a new striker in January.

However, the Bees have a talented young centre-forward by the name of Marcus Forss, who is currently working wonders on his loan spell at AFC Wimbledon in League One and recalling the 20-year-old in January could save the club millions of pounds in the transfer market.

Marcus Forss, who put pen to paper on a new four-year deal at Griffin Park in the summer before going out on loan to Wimbledon in a bid to further his development with more regular minutes, has made a blistering start to his life in the third-tier, scoring 7 goals in 6 league fixtures thus far.

The Finnish U21 international scored with a stunning 25-yard curling strike in the 3-1 victory over Bristol Rovers and followed it up with a weak foot volley against Rochdale before netting his first career hat-trick to propel Wimbledon to an emphatic 4-1 victory over Southend United last week.

Standing at 6ft with a strong and powerful frame, Marcus Forss has clearly illustrated his clinical finishing attributes with both feet and head, whilst also impressing with his ability to hold the ball and link up with his teammates in front of goal.

Blessed with a wonderful eye for goal from distance, Forss is also an instinctive centre-forward who has a general nous for getting into the right positions inside the box in order to put away chances.

The 20-year-old seems to have all the qualities in his repertoire that Brentford have lacked in the final third thus far this term and recalling him in January would definitely go a long way towards helping Frank solve a nagging issue in a key area of the pitch.

The youngster is not yet the finished article but he has already proven that he is too good to be honing his skills in League One, averaging more than a goal per game, and the Bees should look at him as someone who could possibly be moulded into their next prolific goalscorer after Maupay.

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All in all, Brentford should seriously consider bringing Marcus Forss back to the club in January, as he could help them improve immensely in the final third in the latter half of the campaign.