West Ham misfit and Everton target extends barren run to 11 games for 2025

By Alessandro Schiavone at Stade de Luxembourg

Luxembourg 0-0 Republic of Ireland

Evan Ferguson's calendar year has gone from bad to worse as his barren run has now hit the 11-game bar.

Ireland's no.9 failed to make an impact in yesterday's 0-0 draw against Luxembourg.

Trudging passively for large parts of the first period, the only time he drew the attention of the over 6,000 supporters was when he broke a dangerous Luxembourg counter-attack with a tactical foul on defender Dirk Carlson. However the casualty, which earned him a booking, epitomized that despite his confidence crisis with the ball and in the box he can still make a difference out of possession.

After failing to repay ex-Brighton & Hove Albion chief Graham Potter's faith in his brief four-month spell at West Ham, Ferguson's confidence looks shot.

To his defence he's had to battle some serious ankle injuries over the years which explain why he donned the Hammers jersey for a total of only 151 minutes.

Not enough to make an impact as he's now linked with David Moyes, who has always had a soft spot for him, to fill the void left by Dominic Calvert-Lewin at Everton.

But with the red-hot Beto in the form of his life, there are no guarantees he can get his promising career back on track at the brand new Hill Dickinson Stadium.

By and large one of Ireland's biggest talent in years, what the young striker needs right now is a club where he can play on a weekly basis and score goals.

Because the sooner he ends his 11-game goal drought the earlier he'll restore his boy wonder reputation.

And at 20 Ferguson has plenty of time to live up to his stellar billing.

Yet if he won't succeed in getting back on track under Moyes, who has revived a dead-man-walking like Beto in Liverpool, he's definitely in the wrong job.