Don Goodman compared West Brom youngster Nathan Ferguson to Manchester United’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka as the Baggies drew 1-1 with Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday.
Ferguson, 18, has impressed at West Brom this season, playing in six of the club’s seven Championship fixtures and winning the man of the match award for his performance against Nottingham Forest, when he assisted one of the goals.
The England youth international also did well against Fulham this weekend, with ex-West Brom forward Goodman comparing the teenager to Man United’s £50million summer signing Wan-Bissaka.
“That’s why I compare him to Wan-Bissaka,” said Goodman during commentary on Sky Sports Football [12:45pm].
“These lads, they get back with the pace to get tackles in.”
Complete full-back display v Fulham
Ferguson was terrific against Fulham.
It is hard to believe that the teenager has only made six senior appearances in his career after such a composed display in the draw at Craven Cottage.
According to stats by WhoScored, Ferguson completed two dribbles against the Cottagers – no other player who started for West Brom completed more.
Ferguson also attempted five and won five tackles throughout the 90 minutes and no other player on the pitch made more.
West Brom fans should be very excited about what the future holds for this young full-back because so far, the signs have been extremely promising.
TIF Tactics – Ferguson v Wan-Bissaka
Wan-Bissaka cost Manchester United a lot of money in the summer transfer window when they signed him from Crystal Palace and the stats suggest that he has had a strong start to life at Old Trafford.
However when compared to Ferguson, the West Brom teenager does look to be doing a lot better than the United ace when having to fulfill his defensive duties.
WhoScored shows that while Wan-Bisakka has completed way more tackles per league appearance than Ferguson, the Baggies teenager has averaged as many interceptions and more clearances than the ex-Palace right-back.
Ferguson has also been dribbled past on fewer occasions than Wan-Bissaka with only being beaten 0.8 times per league match being a strong indication that he is using his pace to stop attacking players from getting past him.
Ferguson definitely has some way to go before being able to match Wan-Bisakka but at the moment, it is fair to say that Goodman makes a good point by comparing the two young English full-backs who are impressing in the early stages of the new season.