Evan Ferguson F Roma (loan from Brighton) b.2004

[Eirambler]

Didn't start the Europa League game midweek and doesn't start today either. So, in other words, he's been dropped.

[irishfan86]

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.

[Eirambler]

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.

[tetsujin1979]

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

[pineapple stu]

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.

[irishfan86]

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.

[passinginterest]

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.

[pineapple stu]

Starting against Lille in the Europa League shortly

[SkStu]

Theyve just gone a goal behind early on. Might be a good thing for him in terms of how the game unfolds.

[pixiehead]

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.

[SkStu]

Theyve just gone a goal behind early on. Might be a good thing for him in terms of how the game unfolds.

...or not.

[Eirambler]

Back to Brighton in January at this rate?

[pineapple stu]

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

[Razors left peg]

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

[SkStu]

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.

[irishfan86]

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.