It was the sparring sessions with McGregor, clearly.Quote:
Originally Posted by Eirambler
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It was the sparring sessions with McGregor, clearly.Quote:
Originally Posted by Eirambler
McGregor might have shared some of his steroids too looking at Fergusons arms!Quote:
Originally Posted by SkStu
Don't even joke about that. I'm hoping for a big season for Ferguson, not a lengthy ban for his B sample smelling of Laphroaig.
Ferg is in from the start against Bologna.
Lively start from him anyway. Roma dominating possession. Had a chance on 10 minutes that he should have buried - hit it straight at the keeper.
Solid debut for him. Lead the line very well. Probably should have scored, but definitely should have had an assist. 70 minutes in very hot weather will bring his fitness along too. Enjoyable watch
It was decent, a very strong opening 20, a bit quieter after that. Should have been played in just after half time by Wesley when he would have been clean through. A small involvement in the Roma goal, recycling possession in the build up. Worked hard throughout - hopefully did enough to keep his place.
Will be an interesting call between him and Parrott for the September games, assuming it's one or the other to start.
He'll benefit from playing with a fit Dybala. Was really good after coming on. Dovbyk looked slow and lumbering in comparison to Ferguson
Won Roma's player of the match. I think it's based on social media likes. They might need to revisit that approach to avoid him winning it most weeks...
Reaction in the gazzetta thinks he's already overtaken Dovbyk
https://www.gazzetta.it/calcio/fanta...erarchie.shtml
My Italian is going to come on in spades this season.
If I'm reading that translation correctly, it's saying that they're looking to offload Dovbyk - they might want to consider Evan's injury record before they make a final decision on that one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tetsujin1979
The line about 10 months since he's played more than 70 minutes stood out (though think he may have for Ireland). That was a league cup game when he was getting a couple of minutes at the end of premier league matches (maybe). Has been 18months nearly with minimal football. Just have to hope he gets a decent run at it from here.
Starts again tonight against Pisa. Would be great if he could score his first Roma goal, but the main thing is that he doesn't get injured.
Assist for Ferguson. Hes been brilliant with his back to goal all game and it lead to goal
No goal, but a good assist and no obvious signs of an injury - I'll take that.
I’ve seen a noticeable improvement in his body position back to goal and his hold up play. No goals in the first two league matches but he’s contributing in other ways and that’s great to see. He was basically a finisher only at Brighton and seems to have come into this season a bit more well rounded.
His first touch with his back to goal is already considerably better than Idah's. Often Idah's first touch puts his own centre backs under pressure!
LOl, are you saying that Idah's first touch is a back-pass ?Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
Andy / Andrew Cole has the first touch control of an out of control oil-super-tanker, he still managed to score a lot of goals mind !
Four matches, no goals. But he’s part of a winning team and seems to be contributing beyond goals which was the biggest criticism of him during his time at Brighton and early days with us — when he was all goals and not much else.
As long as he keeps getting minutes and Roma keeps winning, I guess it’s all good but would be nice if he scored soon.
Didn't start the Europa League game midweek and doesn't start today either. So, in other words, he's been dropped.
Came off the bench and contributed in the buildup to Roma’s second goal.
Dovbyk started and scored, before Ferguson replaced him on hour mark. Gasperini likes to start one of Dovbyk or Ferguson then sub at 60 min mark so I assume Ferguson will continue to get minutes in some capacity but would be nice for him to get off the mark.
Gasperini was reported to be ready to let Dovbyk go a month ago, so not ideal that he's now being preferred to start over Ferguson.
Highlights are here, second goal is at 1:02. Ferguson involved, passes in the box to the player who gets lucky with a shot, or possibly a pass, that rebounds to Soulé to finish
Given how badly the West Ham loan went - and indeed the last 18 months have gone - I was never really expecting him to walk into the Roma starting line-up. That he seems to be doing ok there is an improvement on last year at least. A goal would be nice though.
It’s an interesting situation. His hold up play is improving, he’s helping others score. It’s not as if he’s missing loads of chances. Matches I’ve seen watched have been tight, Roma often facing opponents playing a low block.
New challenge for Ferguson and he’s looked okay contributing to team wins without being exceptional.
Would be nice to see him scoring, but it's been a solid start. Getting good minutes but his load is being well managed. I still think there's a lot of questions to be answered at both club and international level about how many minutes he played when he was clearly struggling with injuries as a very young man. Those injuries, at a critical time, for a player who was still growing and filling out, really set him back. I wouldn't be too concerned as long as he keeps getting 30 minutes off the bench and intermittent starts for another few months. Hopefully once he starts scoring and really proves his resilience he'll be starting more in the new year.
Starting against Lille in the Europa League shortly
Theyve just gone a goal behind early on. Might be a good thing for him in terms of how the game unfolds.
Only turned it on and saw him fail to connect with a 1/2 chance near post. Replaced shortly afterwards.
His replacement shortly after had a penalty saved.... But got to retake it for keeper off his line. But the keeper saved it again..... But they called it back again. This time they gave the penalty to another player.... Who had his penalty saved.
...or not.Quote:
Originally Posted by SkStu
Back to Brighton in January at this rate?
Main consolation I guess is he's not exactly being outdone by his teammates. 7 goals in 7 games is pretty paltry for a side up at the top of the table
Havent seen last couple of weeks from him, but he was playing well in first few games. I still have hope he'll be ok there
Agreed. Also, his Irish form shows that he is a top young player. He just needs a Parrott-type run at club level (not even to that extent) to get back on reputation.
Been watching Roma regularly. They really don’t create many chances, but Ferguson isn’t doing himself any favours either. He really needs to work on his first touch under pressure and learn how to shield the ball better.
He has matches where he looks like a proper target man but often Roma just pass it around the outside, hit hopeful but poor quality balls into the area and hope for the best. At times it feels like his teammates don’t want to pass to him which is a worry.
Roma are doing well in the league and Ferguson continues to play —I’ll just keep repeating that to myself like everything is OK.
I had the same feeling watching him last season. I'd like to believe he's just getting in good positions and his team mates just don't see it.Quote:
Originally Posted by irishfan86
I think we all need to remember it took 2-3 years for Troy to reach his early promise. I've no doubt Evan will come good. In theory we could have Troy in his prime and Evan finally finding his feet in time for the. 2028 qualifiers. Something to be hopeful about
For anyone who is feeling concern that perhaps Ferguson is falling short of our hopes for him, I just wanted to note that if he scores one goal in the remaining qualifiers, he will hit eight international goals at a younger age than Robbie Keane.
Didn't know that. Puts a bit of perspective on it. And in a much weaker team too.
Robbie had scored three times as many goals at club level by age 21 though (53 v 17)