Is It Time To Talk About Igor Thiago?

Little over four months ago, Igor Thiago was starting up front for Brazil in their World Cup opener against Morocco off the back of a 25 goal season with Brentford in which he was named in the PFA Team of the Season and finished with 22 Premier League goals, a tally beaten only by Manchester City's Erling Haaland. 

It would've been hard then to imagine a situation where, just seven games into the new Premier League season, Thiago's place in the side is being called into question by some sections of the Brentford fanbase.  

For the 25-year-old, his passion has been unwavering, consistently continuing to wear his heart on his sleeve and work his socks off for the badge, still showing the same hunger and desire that saw him very quickly become a fan favourite in West London.

However, the ruthless, free scoring form that he enjoyed last season appears to have faded, with Brentford's number nine so far struggling to find his clinical touch in front of goal. 

It is important to remember that nearly every striker goes through the odd tough run of form, and whilst he has not looked at his best, Thiago has still notched up two goals for the Bees this season, opening his account off the bench in a 6-1 win away to Birmingham City in the Carabao Cup, and netting his first Premier League goal of the season in the 3-0 win over Chelsea, a goal which prompted a celebration of pure ecstasy for the Brazilian, taking his shirt off and hugging the home fans in delight. 

The concern, however, for many Bees fans is that this tough run of form is one that can perhaps be argued to have started long before the start of the current season. 

Thiago began 2026 in emphatic fashion, scoring a hat trick away to Everton and a brace at home to Sunderland as Brentford secured back to back wins to take them into fifth place in the Premier League in the first week of January. In the nine months since then, the striker has scored 10 goals for Brentford and two for Brazil, for whom he made his debut in March in a friendly against France. 

The slightly worrying statistic is that in that just over nine month period Thiago has started 24 Premier League games, scoring seven goals, with only four of those not coming from the penalty spot. 

In defence of Thiago, there have been numerous games in that run where he simply lacked the service from teammates to stand a good chance at getting on the scoresheet, such as the recent draw at Aston Villa in which he was only able to record one shot across 90 minutes which was only really a half chance from a low cross. 

However, there are certain fixtures in which there has been a clear drop off in sharpness finishing wise compared to the first half of last season. Some misses, such as the one from the penalty spot in the 3-0 win against Tottenham Hotspur in August, have thankfully not proved important, but there are a selection of games in which the striker's finishing could be argued to have been costly. 

An away 2-1 loss at Old Trafford in late April for example featured an array of opportunities for Thiago in the first half to equalise with the scores at 1-0. As it was, Brentford failed to make their pressure count, and instead conceded on the counter attack to go 2-0 down and eventually suffer a damaging defeat in regard to their European aspirations, in a season which they would eventually miss out on UEFA Europa League qualification by a singular point and UEFA Conference League qualification by a matter of goal difference. 

Brentford's last outing, a 2-1 defeat to Liverpool, saw Thiago fail to make clean contact from close range on a superb Jaidon Anthony cross that should've seen the Bees net a dramatic equaliser despite being a man down at the time.

The question is: Is this run of form enough to warrant any sort of conversation surrounding Thiago's place in the side? 

Signed in the summer, Thiago's main competition at this stage would appear to be 34-year-old Callum Wilson, a veteran striker just five goals away from joining the Premier League's 100 club, a milestone the Englishman has previously admitted as something he is targeting in his maiden season in West London. 

Formerly of both AFC Bournemouth and Newcastle United, Wilson joined Brentford off the back of a season with West Ham United in which he scored seven goals in 32 Premier League games, despite making just 11 starts.

Wilson is yet to start a Premier League game for Brentford but has not failed to show his quality when given minutes in the Carabao Cup, scoring in away wins at both Reading and Birmingham City.

As a former England striker and a man with 95 Premier League goals, there is, to some extent, a discussion to be had as to whether or not Wilson's quality in front of goal could warrant an opportunity in place of Thiago. 

Regardless of selection choices, a switch from Thiago to Wilson up top could be an enforced one soon regardless, with Thiago currently having picked up four yellow cards in the Premier League so far this season, with a potential fifth meaning Thiago would have to serve a one game ban as a result of Premier League rules.

Thiago has registered 3.69xG in the Premier League this season with six big chances missed, a clear underperformance in the level of finishing many would expect from Brentford's main man up top, failing to convert chances that some fans are arguing Wilson could have taken. 

Despite an underwhelming performance level finishing wise, encouragement can be taken from the fact that Thiago is still getting on the end of these chances. His xG registered makes it crystal clear that it is not a lack of effort, nor inadequate movement that is responsible for Thiago's struggles in front of goal so far this season, and solely a struggle with finishing, something that will likely be rectified once he grows in confidence. 

What has perhaps not been helpful to Thiago is a FIFA World Cup campaign in which he was unfairly scapegoated, to a large extent, in the early stages by a nation which refused to place criticism on some of its more established players, in what was a largely ageing squad, prior to its elimination from the tournament at the hands of Norway.

Thiago received a lot of criticism from some sections of the Brazilian press and social media for his performance in Brazil's World Cup opener against Morocco, in which he was substituted 62 minutes into a 1-1 draw. He did not feature again in the tournament after that. 

Brazil were eliminated in the Round of 16 after a 2-1 defeat to Norway, with many of the big names the Brazilian public refused to accept could possibly not play ahead of a Brentford striker being ironically nullified by a Norway defence which included Brentford's Kristoffer Ajer.

Having grown up dreaming of playing for Brazil, a disappointing World Cup campaign and the criticism received by some of the fans he will have been so desperate to impress will no doubt have hurt the confidence of Thiago as he returned to Brentford for the new season.

The form of those around him, such as Kevin Schade, has ensured that Brentford's results, for the most part, are still strong without a reliance on Thiago to get on the scoresheet, a reliance there was arguably a little too much of in the run in last season.

Prior to the defeat to Liverpool, head coach Keith Andrews was keen to emphasise the importance of having numerous different goalscoring threats within the team: "It's nice that we have so many chipping in [with goals]. We wanted to put more onus on being able to score from different areas of the pitch in different ways for sure."

Although it is goals many come to expect from a striker of Thiago's quality, what must not be underestimated is the value he brings to the team outside of goalscoring. Despite things not going his way in front of goal this season, Thiago's link up play has been a definite improvement from last season, and has been important in helping get the best out of the likes of Kevin Schade, who have excelled in attack for the Bees so far this campaign. 

Thiago registered his first assist of the season in the defeat to Liverpool with a moment of quality that helped encapsulate his overall value to the Brentford side, dropping deep to pick up the ball himself rather than waiting for someone else to deliver a ball into the box and delivering an excellent cross which Keane Lewis-Potter headed home superbly to give the Bees a 1-0 lead in a game which, had they not seen a red card awarded to Yehor Yarmoliuk just before half time, they could very well have won to keep them in the UEFA Champions League qualification places. 

Throughout the season, Keith Andrews has been defiant in his defence of Thiago, firmly stating on numerous occasions that he is not worried about the lack of goals, determined to praise the Brazilian's overall performance levels and insisting that he has not let a lack of goals get to him mentally. 

In his post-match press conference after the defeat to Liverpool, Andrews said: "I think he's fine, I don't sense anything around his demeanour when he's in training - the calmness that he has in front of goal. He's a marked man for obvious reasons; he's getting some really close attention from the opposition players.”

“Thiago being Thiago, he wants to score more goals. I think that's only natural, but his overall performances I think have been really, really good, so I'm not really worried.”

The view of Andrews and those within the club is evidently that they believe Thiago will come good again sooner rather than later in front of goal, placing total trust in their number nine. 

Brentford's next two Premier League fixtures are a trip to Hull City and a home clash with Nottingham Forest, both of which, subject to no yellow card against Hull, Thiago will be expected to start and have the opportunity to rediscover his goalscoring touch. Meanwhile, sandwiched between those two games is a Carabao Cup trip to Sunderland, in which Callum Wilson will likely have the opportunity to start and plead his case to Keith Andrews for increased Premier League minutes...