AMID ALL THE hype and the hope, not to mention the goals, Evan Ferguson has been able to impress Stephen Kenny with the efficiency of his all-round game.
The Ireland manager drafted the 18-year-old into the senior squad for the friendly doubler header with Norway and Malta last November, before he made his full Premier League debut and hit a run of form that has led to four goals in nine appearances for Brighton.
Ferguson has also been at the centre of an injury drama, when a reckless tackle from Liverpool’s Fabinho on 29 January saw him limp off with his knee protected by a brace.
No ligament or structural damage was suffered, and he was back in plenty of time to score against Stoke City in the FA Cup this week.
But such is the nature of the excitement surrounding Ferguson, the fallout from the incident with Fabinho centred on whether it would rule the teenager out of leading the line when France visit Dublin for the opening Euro 2024 qualifier at the end of this month.
Kenny’s preparations are ratcheting up and he admits the extent of Ferguson’s impact in the Premier League has been somewhat of a surprise.
“It has to a degree. We’re still learning about Evan, he’s burst onto the scene, a meteoric rise really. What Evan does is make the game looks simple, he takes the ball in, he protects it very well, he lays it off, he has good movement in the box, he has good ability to score goals with good movement and good finishing.
“He has the ability to score goals, he scores headed goals which, nowadays, forwards are not as prolific at scoring headed goals. He’s good in the air. He scores goals in the box, he’s got good intelligent movement, he doesn’t complicate it, he’s not someone dribbles at people at pace or you know he has good awareness and is a good finisher.”
Kenny continued to laud the Meath native, while also stressing the credentials of Michael Obafemi, Adam Idah, Chiedozie Ogbene and Troy Parrott, but the option of handing Ferguson a full debut in the friendly with Latvia prior to France is on the cards.
“It is possible, we just have to assess it in two weeks. A lot can happen in that time. He’s been a real positive, there is no doubt about it from emergence as quickly as he has.
“It is unusual to lead the line for one so young, a centre forward, at a Premier League club, particularly one in the top six or seven. It’s not a lot of games he’s played but you couldn’t have asked for more than he’s delivered so far,” Kenny continued.
It has been such a dramatic rise [for Ferguson] and he has really accelerated quicker than we could have expected. We’re delighted with it.
“There is good competition. I think the characteristics of the forwards now are different to two years ago, completely different characteristics and profile of player.
“Now, all of a sudden, we’ve got Adam Idah fit, Michael Obafemi played his first game last night since November. But Michael Obafemi, Adam Idah, Chiedozie Ogbene, Will Keane, on top of that on top of the players that were already there initially.
“So those type of players will be different in that we have a lot of speed in the team now. It can be important at international level. We know all those players still have improving to do, but the profile of the forwards now is different to what we had, that makes us quite a potent team.”
Kenny witnessed up close what France have to offer at the World Cup in Qatar, not to mention The Netherlands who are also in Ireland’s group.
“That was important to see that and understand the characteristics of the players live,” he reasoned. “It was actually good to see France against Tunisia because they made so many changes.
“It was good to see a lot of players that I wouldn’t have been as familiar with live, as the main performers. But to see them against Denmark, that was a great game to see.
“It was a terrific game and tactically very, very interesting for me, hugely interesting. If we could have picked a team to watch against France, I would have selected Denmark.”
The small matter of Kylian Mbappe now comes into view, Kenny delivering a brief assessment before trailing off to point out the numerous other threats the French will pose.
“Sometimes when teams have the ball, when teams think they’re doing alright against him, people were saying Matty Cash is doing well for Poland in that match getting forward. But then he scored twice in that match when they turned it over so he doesn’t have a defensive responsibility in their game plan…”
Kenny’s has no doubt been formulated. Adjustments are sure to be required given the precarious nature of player availability, and fitness.
The examples of Nathan Collins, who hasn’t featured for Wolves since being dropped after losing to Manchester City on 22 January, and Matt Doherty, now of Atletico Madrid on a short-term contract until the end of the season after leaving Tottenham Hotspur, serve as a reminder.
“We didn’t envisage Evan Ferguson coming on so quickly but neither did we envisage Nathan [Collins] not playing after emerging so quickly. Things are sometimes unpredictable because in my opinion Nathan has played well but has found himself out of the team.
“He’s been excellent for us and has played a lot of games this year. Matt’s situation was very unusual. He was in the Spurs team the previous week and he loved it there. The strong fitness regime suited him. He needs that and he had a lot of friends there.
“Then came the opportunity of joining Atletico. When you’re being given that option and someone else in your position is coming in, you grasp it. Atletico is such a brilliant club in terms of recent history and being such a big club.
“Matt getting games, he needs games and we are hoping he gets games, because he has been very good for us and he is an important player.”
The France result – and performance – will set a tone heading into the June window of qualifiers which sees Ireland travel to Greece before Gibraltar come to Dublin.
As well as a mini training camp in England for four days at the end of the Championship season, there will also be a nine-day trip to acclimatise in Turkey, with a behind-closed-doors game still in the process of being finalised.
“The big challenge now is coming out the right side of the really tight games against the top opposition, and I include Greece in that,” Kenny stressed. “That’s the big challenge for us now.”
