Lewis Ferguson- In-Depth Analysis

Lewis Ferguson was a standout figure in an underwhelming Aberdeen outfit last season. Despite his youthfulness, aged only 21 (at the time of writing), his style of play is assured and mature.

Lewis was employed predominantly as a central midfielder under Derek McInnes: playing there 34 times in 41 appearances, in a plethora of systems ranging from 3–5–2 to 4–1–4–1 and almost everything in-between.

Throughout the season, there was a clear problem in the Dons overall game: their goalscoring as a team, converting less times than relegated Kilmarnock and netting only twice more than Lewis’ former club: Hamilton whom finished at the rock bottom of the table. Hence, Lewis’ nine goals from a midfield role were massively valuable, scoring 6/6 penalties . His tally makes up 25% of the total goals scored by Aberdeen, subsequently ending as the club’s top scorer in the Scottish Premiership , the runner-up netting only 3. Ferguson averaged 1.7 shots/game, which portrays his inclination to get forward.

Ferguson’s attacking prowess is accompanied by technical ability. Particularly, passing. Lewis has an average pass success percentage of 78, this places him as Aberdeen’s second most accurate passer* and places him comfortably in the most accurate 25% of passers in the league. Furthermore, he contributes 0.9 key passes/game, the fourth best figure at the club*, only beaten by two wingers and a fellow central midfielder which is a clear indicator of a creativity even in a withdrawn role.

Lewis is only 5'9, therefore is at a disadvantage aerially. Nonetheless, he wins 2.2 aerial duels per game. This places him comfortbaly in the best third aerially in the league. An impressive feat considering his limitations. Historically, Ferguson has been a threat from corners, his excellent positioning( commonly at the backpost), has resulted in goals-a-plenty, as well as acrobatic ‘bicycle kicks’ against Livingston and Burnley.

An underrated sector of Ferguson’s game is his composure and decision making. He is dispossessed less than once a game, and makes over 1 interception a game, this is hugely important to the way that Aberdeen play as 43% of their game is played in the middle third. Moreover, He is fouled 2.8 times a game, the league’s highest number*, this number is even more impressive when coupled with the fact that Lewis only attempts 0.7 dribbles per game. This suggests a calmness on the ball and shows that opposition consider him a ‘danger-man’.

To this point, there is no glaring weaknesses in Lewis’ game. He is a well rounded player, with good; shooting, set peices, passing, defending, positioning and on-ball ability. This comes to a halt when examining his discipline. He fouls the most times per game in the league-2.2. He had the 4th worst discipline in the league last season, accumulating 8 yellow cards and 1 red card. Hence, Lewis picks up a card roughly every 8 fouls, which suggests he is clever about when, where and how he goes about fouling, nonetheless if Lewis wants to secure a move to a more talented league, with more talented players, his discipline must improve, although this should improve as he ages.

In summary, I think that Lewis Ferguson is a clever and talented footballer. He has the skillset to have a successful career and should only get better with time. Aberdeen will do very well to hold on to Ferguson for much longer, although I worry that due to the ever-growing rift between the economy of the Scottish and English game, Aberdeen won’t get the fee that such a talent warrants, although they should receive a fee, however small due to Ferguson being under contract at Pittodrie until 2024.

One Ferguson at Aberdeen didn't do too badly! Sir Alex Ferguson.

Thank you for reading,

Max.

• *Minimum 1000 minutes played