It was Evan Ferguson doing Evan Ferguson things.
Equalising for Brighton & Hove Albion away to Nottingham Forest with a right-footed shot placed into the net from the edge of the penalty area that lifted his tally to 12 goals in his first 32 Premier League games. And doubling the lead against Wolverhampton Wanderers from just inside the box with another clinical right-foot finish.
Ferguson on the scoresheet, his stock in trade — except those two goals were 11 months apart.
Between the end of November 2023, in a 3-2 win at Forest, and October 26 this year, in a 2-2 home draw with Wolves, Ferguson stopped scoring. He failed to find the target in 33 club appearances, 19 of them in the league.
So, what are the reasons behind such an extensive drought for the now 20-year-old Republic of Ireland international praised by Alan Shearer and Didier Deschamps when he was scoring for fun?
Injuries disrupting Ferguson’s rhythm
After Ferguson scored a hat-trick in a 3-1 home win against Newcastle in September last year, the Premier League’s record goalscorer Shearer wrote for The Athletic: “Left foot, right foot, headers, pace, aggression, intuition; there is no obvious weakness to his game, which is only going to get better and better. He has the lot.”
Having become only the fourth 18-year-old to score three in a single Premier League game, Ferguson also caught the attention of France manager Deschamps. Speaking before his men beat the Irish 2-0 in a Euro 2024 qualifier in Paris a few days later, Deschamps said: “He has so many attacking qualities and he is going to be a very efficient player, who will get better.”
Two months later, in that match against Forest, Ferguson took his tally at the start of the 2023-24 season to six league goals in 12 games, shortly after signing a new six-year contract with no release clause, which replaced a five-year deal he’d put pen to paper on just seven months earlier.
That indicated how highly Ferguson was, and is, rated by Brighton, having scored 10 goals in 25 matches across all competitions in his 2022-23 breakthrough season. They included becoming the second-youngest Premier League player (after Federico Macheda of Manchester United in 2009) to score in consecutive Premier League appearances, in games against Arsenal and Everton.
And yet, in that season, the seeds were sown for Ferguson’s downturn in fortunes during the following one. A patellar tendon knee issue and a back injury were short-term inconveniences. An ankle injury away to Chelsea in the April, sustained when trying to convert a cross, had longer-term consequences.
Despite strength and conditioning work, Ferguson continued to be troubled by that ankle. He ended up having ligament surgery on the joint, ruling him out for six months — until this September.
A battle for game time
Head coach Roberto De Zerbi rotated his Brighton team last season in an attempt to cope with eight extra matches on the schedule as a result of the club qualifying for Europe for the first time in their history (they would go on to make the Europa League’s round of 16).
Competition for places up front increased, with the signings of Joao Pedro from Watford for £30million, a club record for Brighton at the time, and Ansu Fati, drafted in on a season-long loan from Barcelona.
Ferguson was a victim of the frequent changes to the line-up while his ankle problem was managed. He hasn’t started successive matches since the beginning of December last year, denying him the rhythm of playing regularly and being able to reach peak physical condition by doing so. A source close to Ferguson, granted anonymity to protect relationships, said: “Last season, you just write off.”
Coaching changes
Ferguson has played under three different head coaches at Brighton: Fabian Hurzeler since the summer, De Zerbi for most of the previous two seasons and Graham Potter, the man who gave him his Premier League debut in February 2022.
Broadly speaking, the styles of all three are similar — progressive football, played out from the back — but with different demands of intensity out of possession for the forwards and different requirements for the team’s No 9. De Zerbi wanted more in-possession involvement, dropping deep into pockets to link the play, whereas under Potter it was more about channel runs and stretching the play.
Now, Ferguson is adjusting again with Hurzeler in charge. The German, speaking before giving him his first start since March in the 3-2 Carabao Cup win at home against Wolves in September, said of Ferguson: “He doesn’t have to show me what he can do, because I already know his potential. I’ve seen a lot of games in the past for Brighton.
“He is a great finisher in the box. He has the whole package for a striker, so for me it’s important that he integrates in our style of play, that he follows our principles. He doesn’t have to prove anything to me. He should do his work on the pitch: in possession, out of possession. He should help the team and then he will have a great impact on our game, for sure.”
Elevated to the league starting line-up on his 20th birthday away to Newcastle on October 19, Ferguson didn’t take a single shot at goal before being substituted after an hour of Brighton’s 1-0 win. Hurzeler was happier with his work rate in that one than his ball retention.
“Evan is in great shape, to be honest: mentally and also physically,” Hurzeler said. “The game wasn’t that easy for him but I like how he defended. How he worked for the team was impressive. That’s a very positive point and that’s also what I give him as feedback.
“Of course, in possession, I think the players know they can be better but I judge them by the things they can influence; how he reacts when we lose the ball and how he supports his team-mates defensively. He showed a really good performance and now it’s also up to us to give him the right advice, to give him the right training sessions and to give him the right ball touches on the pitch to improve him.
“We have to get the confidence back after his long injury and then I’m sure that he will be back to his best shape and even better soon.”
Those remarks were prophetic. Back on the bench for the next game at home to Wolves a week later, Ferguson ended his goal famine within 12 minutes of his introduction deep into the second half.
What does the future hold?
Getting regular game time is going to be a challenge for Ferguson under Hurzeler. Joao Pedro returned from an ankle injury just before this current international break, and scored in Brighton’s 2-1 comeback win against champions Manchester City.
The presence of club-record £40million summer signing Georginio Rutter makes nailing down a place even harder, although the Frenchman is a No 10 (or right winger), rather than direct competition for Ferguson. Danny Welbeck is another matter. The former Manchester United, Arsenal and England forward is in the form of his career, with six goals in the 11 league games so far.
An understanding is developing between those two — Rutter set up goals for Welbeck in three games in succession in October, against Tottenham, Newcastle and Wolves.
Ferguson will hopefully benefit from the know-how of former Brighton goalscoring hero Bobby Zamora. As well as being an ambassador for the club, Zamora has also become a part-time striker consultant.
Brighton see Ferguson, who started and scored the goal in Ireland’s 1-0 Nations League win over Finland last week and then played over an hour in Sunday’s 5-0 loss against England, as a long-term investment. His camp believe he will thrive again once he returns to full match fitness and sharpness — the more minutes he gets, the sooner he will flourish.
Shearer’s conclusion to that piece for The Athletic last year rings as true now as it did when Ferguson was scoring freely:
“Ferguson is a special talent, one that needs to be nurtured. He’s at the right club at the right time but, as far as the future goes, he can be anything he wants to be.”
(Top photo: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
