TWO OF Ireland’s most impressive Premier League performers, Evan Ferguson and Chiedozie Ogbene, are set to meet when Luton Town host Brighton this evening.
With that in mind and as the season is just past its halfway point, we’ve decided to make a broad assessment below of how Ireland’s players in England’s top flight are performing thus far.
N.B. The main list below encompasses players who have made 10 or more Premier League appearances this season
Chiedozie Ogbene – 8/10
Arguably Ireland’s standout performer so far this season. Ogbene has made 19 Premier League appearances, scoring once.
Any questions about how he would handle the transition from playing Championship football with Rotherham have been swiftly answered.
His team may be struggling in 18th place, but the former Limerick player can be happy from an individual perspective — he has already won Luton’s Player of the Month award for August/September and October.
The 26-year-old has had a couple of injury issues and was used mainly from the bench in December but has made quite an impression overall.
Nathan Collins – 7/10
Some eyebrows were raised when Collins joined Brentford in the summer for a club-record €27 million, having made a €24 million move to Wolves the previous season and endured a difficult time at Molineux, losing his starting XI spot in the second half of the season.
Yet the 22-year-old has settled in well at his new club. He has appeared in 16 out of 20 matches for a side currently 14th in the table.
He had one horror show just after Christmas in the 4-1 loss against Wolves. “I told him it will never be worse than this,” manager Thomas Frank told reporters afterwards.
Yet that was an anomaly, with the Leixlip native generally enjoying a decent start to life with the Bees.
Evan Ferguson – 7/10
If you were to base this assessment on Ferguson’s first part of the season, you would give him a 9/10 whereas the last couple of weeks might be closer to a six or five.
His hat-trick against Newcastle last September was arguably up there with the best Irish performances in Premier League history.
However, the Meath native is still only 19, so it’s natural to expect a level of inconsistency at such a young age, thereby partly explaining why he has not scored in his last 11 appearances (although only six of those were starts).
For such a young player whose body is still developing, fatigue could also be a factor. Including Ireland matches, he has played 29 times in all competitions this season, which probably also explains why Roberto De Zerbi has used him from the bench more often than not of late.
Still, the positives far outweigh the negatives. He has six Premier League goals this season, which is as many as Bukayo Saka, Julián Álvarez and Bernardo Silva, and more than Marcus Rashford, Rasmus Højlund, Luis Diaz and Gabriel Jesus among several other high-profile names.
Dara O’Shea – 7/10
The 24-year-old defender spoke on Ireland duty about having a difficult time earlier in the season when he was left out of Burnley’s matchday squad on a couple of occasions but has recovered well since then.
The team has struggled in general — they are currently second from bottom and have the second-worst defensive record in the top flight with 42 goals conceded.
However, O’Shea has done reasonably well under the circumstances, featuring in 17 of their 21 matches, and starting all but one.
Josh Cullen – 6/10
The 27-year-old was more or less an ever-present for Burnley last season when they won promotion from the Championship and penned a contract extension with the club in August.
However, unsurprisingly, life in the Premier League has proved more testing for the former West Ham youngster.
Cullen has featured in just over half (12) of Burnley’s 21 matches so far.
He featured regularly at the beginning of the campaign, but as it became increasingly clear the Clarets were facing a relegation battle (if that wasn’t already obvious from the outset), the Ireland international lost his status as an automatic starter.
He featured 10 times in the top flight between August and October but has made just one start since then.
Nonetheless, the fact that he completed 90 minutes in Burnley’s most recent Premier League game — a 1-1 draw with Luton Town — indicates he could be set for another regular run in the starting XI for Vincent Kompany’s team.
Matt Doherty – 5/10
After being released by Tottenham last season and having a disastrous six-month spell at Atletico Madrid, Doherty opted to return to the club where he made his name in the summer.
Yet it has been far from plain sailing for the Dubliner.
15 Premier League appearances looks like a decent haul, but less so when you consider that only two of those have been starts.
The 32-year-old did complete 90 minutes in the recent 0-0 draw with Brighton, but he may have to settle for a place on the bench again soon, with rival wing-back Rayan Ait-Nouri returning from Africa Cup of Nations duty after Algeria were knocked out of the competition.
With Festy Ebosele playing regularly in Serie A for Udinese, Doherty will likely need to secure a regular starting spot at Molineux or elsewhere to retain his place in the Ireland team.
Best of the rest?
Six other Irish players have picked up Premier League minutes this season.
John Egan has played six matches for struggling Sheffield United but remains unavailable with a long-term Achilles tendon injury that required surgery. He last played in the 2-0 loss at West Ham back in September.
Seamus Coleman has also had significant problems with injury. The 35-year-old has made just three top-flight appearances but completed 90 minutes in the recent 0-0 draw with Aston Villa and could play a vital role for Sean Dyche’s relegation-threatened side in the second half of the campaign.
Caoimhin Kelleher remains second choice to Alisson at Liverpool but did appear twice for the Reds while the Brazilian was injured in December, deputising in the 4-3 win against Fulham and the 2-0 defeat of Sheffield United.
Michael Obafemi missed the early months of the campaign through injury and subsequently made two cameo appearances off the bench for Burnley against Arsenal and Sheffield United before recently completing a much-needed loan move to Championship side Millwall.
Promising 19-year-old defender Alex Murphy appeared once late on in Newcastle’s 4-1 defeat of Chelsea last November, but the former Galway player is unlikely to get significant game times for the Magpies’ senior team this campaign.
And finally, Andrew Omobamidele made his Premier League debut for Nottingham Forest recently on the back of a big-money move from Norwich on Deadline Day of the summer transfer window. The 21-year-old will be disappointed with the lack of game time so far and may need to be patient again with some first-choice players set to return from Africa Cup of Nations duty.
Meanwhile, it would not be a major surprise to see 18-year-old defender Sam Curtis get some Premier League minutes in the coming months, after he recently completed a move to Sheffield United following an impressive stint and regular senior football at St Patrick’s Athletic.
There are a couple of players out in the cold — Harry Arter, Darren Randolph and Jeff Hendrick are unlikely to play for their respective clubs again, with the latter currently on loan at Sheffield Wednesday having been deemed surplus to requirements at Newcastle.
Tottenham pair Troy Parrott and Josh Keeley have been impressing on loan at Dutch side Excelsior and Barnet respectively, while Brighton’s Andrew Moran has made 31 appearances in all competitions this season, having made the temporary move to Blackburn at the beginning of the campaign.
Obafemi’s fellow Irish striker at Burnley Dara Costelloe recently joined Scottish Premiership side Dundee on loan, having spent the first half of the season at St Johnstone.
Mark Travers had been doing well and playing regularly in the Championship with Stoke City before being recalled by Bournemouth as cover and he has had to be content with just two cup appearances since last playing for the Potters on 25 October.
Cherries teammate Gavin Kilkenny will surely be determined to get a move this month, having made just one substitute FA Cup appearance this season, and reports yesterday suggested he is set to sign on loan for League One side Fleetwood Town.
Another promising central midfielder, Joe Hodge, will similarly be eager for a change of environment having failed to build on his six Premier League appearances for Wolves last season, with the 21-year-old having to settle for just two appearances in the cup this term.
One young midfielder who is enjoying plenty of game time is Luton’s Louie Watson, who has made 25 appearances in all competitions on loan at League One side Charlton.
Crystal Palace also have loaned a trio of Irish youngsters out elsewhere — Sean Grehan (Carlisle), Killian Phillips (Aberdeen) and Tayo Adaramola (RWD Molenbeek).
The likes of Sean Moore at West Ham, in addition to Brighton duo, Mark O’Mahony and Leigh Kavanagh, may be keen to follow suit before this month’s transfer deadline.
