With Ivan Toney banned until January, Brentford will be without their talismanic striker for the first half of the season.
Losing Ivan Toney for so long is undeniably a huge blow for Brentford, but Thomas Frank is determined to find a way for his side to thrive in the forward’s absence.
The Danish coach has plenty of quality attacking options still at his disposal, but he knows it will be a tough task for his side to get the goals they’ll need without Toney leading the line. As quoted by the Daily Mail, Frank says, “we lost a key player – potentially our best player – how can we replace him? Impossible. But we will give it a go…We’re not panicking. We’re not running out to get a striker in, to try to replace Ivan, because we think we’ve done our work well and we have the replacement inside as well.”
Toney scored 20 Premier League goals last season, firing the Bees to an impressive 9th-place finish. Only England captain Harry Kane and Golden Boot-winner Erling Haaland were more prolific in the top flight of English football. Toney is more than just a poacher for Brentford too, his hold up play and technical ability allow him to drag his team up the pitch and generate chances.
Brentford need a new hero
There will be huge pressure on the likes of Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa, who bagged 16 league goals between them last season. They will need to spring a major surprise and become even more prolific this time around. New arrival Kevin Schade will need to hit the ground running. Frank will also be looking for 22-year-old Keane Lewis-Potter to step up.
The choice to seek an internal solution to deal with Toney’s ban is an admirable one, and fiscally responsible. However, it could easily backfire if the Bees consistently struggle for goals in the first half of the season.
The club will be aiming to build on the success they achieved last season. That will be a huge task without Toney to call upon. However, Frank’s faith in his existing squad should give them a fresh boost of confidence heading into the new campaign.
There is a huge opportunity at the Getch Community Stadium this season for a new hero to emerge.