Middlesbrough's summer transfer business may prompt a popular position change for Marcus Forss
Michael Carrick will soon see his Middlesbrough options increase as players begin to return from injuries in the weeks ahead.
One major boost was announced ahead of Saturday's return to action against Preston North End, with the Boro boss revealing that Marcus Forss is back in training. In what is already a squad full of attacking talent, the Finn's return will offer Boro another quality option, while giving Carrick some tough selection decisions.
The Boro boss is relishing such challenges and insists every player has a role to play over the course of what is always a long Championship campaign. How Forss is used this season will be an intriguing one after a summer transfer window that saw Boro particularly strengthen their attacking ranks.
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Signed from Brentford two years ago, Forss only had a brief spell under Carrick playing in his more natural centre-forward role. It proved a bit of stop-gap for the then-new Boro boss, who switched Forss to the right-wing following the arrival of Cameron Archer.
He proved a hit in the new role. He ended that first season with 11 goals, profiting from his off-ball movement as he made intelligent runs from the wide area to get into goalscoring positions by catching defences by surprise. His natural finishing ability gave Boro a bonus in attack, to complement the lively Archer and Chuba Akpom, at a time when everything he touched turned to gold.
Last season proved a lot more difficult for Forss though. With injuries massively impacting his season, he only managed 12 league starts throughout the whole campaign. Only further strengthening the frustration for both him and fans was the fact that he still managed seven goals, in a show of his quality and potential importance to Boro if he could just stay fit.
It's that significance that means Boro won't rush him back as he returns to training for the first time since he limped off in March against Blackburn Rovers with a hamstring injury. That one ended his campaign early, and then caused him to miss the first phase of this one.
“He’s been out for a good period of time, so he won’t be close to being in the match-day group just yet," Carrick said after delivering the good news of his latest step to a return in full. "That’s a bit of time away yet, I think [returning to the match-day squad].
"He needs a bit of training a getting up to speed, to feel confident in himself as well. That’s a little bit further on. But it’s great that he’s training with us and that he’s back with us, but I wouldn’t expect him to be back with us on a match-day at least for another couple of weeks."
Since his switch to the right under Carrick, Forss' place in the Boro team has been debated once, and debated some more. Particularly last season, with his best period of form coming at a time that both strikers Josh Coburn and Emmanuel Latte Lath were out through injury, the calls to play Forss in his more natural position grew louder.
The trouble for Carrick in that period around the new year is that Isaiah Jones was also out injured, and while Carrick had alternative options in Morgan Rogers and Sam Greenwood to play at centre-forward, he didn't feel he had anyone who could play the right wing role as he wanted.
That changed this summer, however, and brings into question, whether Forss' return could see him move back to his more natural striker role at times. As well as the fit-again Jones - whose mixed start to the season has seen him win two penalties for Boro while also frustrating with the quality of his end-product, Boro have also added Micah Hamilton and Ben Doak to their squad.
In the case of both young wide men, their best career showings to date have come from the right flank - though Hamilton is versatile enough to play anywhere across the forward line, and has so far been used from the left when he has played. When asked about awaiting-debutant Doak, however, Carrick made clear that the Scotland international was best from the right.
He also mentioned Forss within the group of players who can play there, and by no means should it be taken that Forss will play one position and one position alone for Boro. One element of Boro's recruitment in recent windows, particularly with attacking signings, is the desire to find versatile players. Almost all can operate comfortably in multiple forward positions.
Forss fits into that bracket and will by no means be pigeonholed by Carrick. He'll be used where the Boro boss feels he can best impact each individual game. But in assessing the make-up and balance of the squad, as well as reflecting on how players have been used in the early parts of the season, there are strong hints that Forss could end up playing more as a centre-forward this season.
His first task, of course, will be regaining his fitness and sharpness. To get a place in the team as a striker, Forss would have to try and displace Emmanuel Latte Lath. Boro have also signed Tommy Conway this summer, though it's interesting that, even at Cardiff when Latte Lath missed out due to deadline day drama, Conway still occupied the number ten role that he's so far played at Boro, with Delano Burgzorg the striker.
Again, that's a sign of the versatile options that Carrick has, and the capabilities to assess an upcoming opponent and make selection decisions based on his analysis of potential weaknesses to exploit. But as many would fairly argue that Forss is one of, if not the best finisher at the club, it's hard not to assess the squad and potential gaps and feel there's a Latte Lath competition/alternative sized space that Forss might be perfect for.