Cyriel has jersey for Europe but maybe not final
Philippe Clement has a massive decision to make over who starts as the main striker in what iss a crucial week for Rangers.
For me it has to be Cyriel Dessers against Real Betis on Thursday - but that doesn’t necessarily mean he will be the man to take on Aberdeen in Sunday’s League Cup Final.
Dessers got an important goal g in yesterday’s win over Dundee and should take huge confidence from that.
But he gets my nod for Thursday T more through default because b Danilo is injured and the th noises are that Kemar
Roofe is not yet ready to play significant minutes.
Dessers has to get his head round ro the fact he has that jersey and now this gives him the chance to nail a cup final slot.
It could be a massive opportunity o for him.
I’ve seen it suggested that Abdallah A Sima could be given the th main striker role. His goal return re of 13 from 26 games so far fa is very good considering he’s h playing on the left.
But Sima at No.9? I don’t like that th thought process. The Brighton man is currently playing in the position where he is most effective. He’s not a focal fo point, there’s not a lot of build-up or hold-up involved in his role. If he was No.9 that would w be an area of the game that th needs to be improved.
But what we have seen s from him is a real willingness to run in behind defenders, d use his pace and power. We’ve seen his hunger to get in the box and score goals.
His goal at Tynecastle showed he has that capability to run beyond the striker, see the space coming off the left flank and make that diagonal run.
That’s where he is best served, penetrating a backline when a ball is put in front of him.
And 13 goals is very good. Why change that?
Compare that to Ryan Kent in the same position. A big thing against Ryan was his numbers – goals and assists. You can’t throw that against Sima.
I would be sticking with him there and going with Dessers or Roofe through the middle against Betis and Aberdeen.
If Dessers doesn’t produce the goods in Seville on
Thursday then it could be time to unleash Roofe at Hampden.
When I played as the main striker in a 4-3-3 I always had good players supporting me, whether that be midfielders like Steven Davis or Barry Ferguson or wider players such as Steven Naismith or Nacho Novo.
That’s what Rangers need,
players to run behind an opposition backline. Sima does it. They need someone to do it from the No.10 or 8 position too.
It’s up to Todd Cantwell not to just always go looking for the ball but look for it through the line – because that’s the hardest run in the game to match. You’re forcing defenders to make decisions and you’re freeing up space for your colleagues.
Rangers need more cohesion in the forward areas and that’s the difference still between them and Celtic. That’s the next stage for Clement.
But every time he gets the right players in the right positions someone gets injured. It must be infuriating.
Before then he just needs to find a way to come through a massive week with Europa League progress and the first piece of silverware in the bag. The cup final HAS to be won. Lifting trophies has to become the norm again. Before that comes a big game in Spain which, to be honest, should be more academic than it is.
Rangers have an opportunity to top the group with a win. That’s got to be the aim and if they can do that, superb.
But they’ve made it hard by drawing with Aris Limassol after losing to them in Cyprus.
The noises pre-Aris a fortnight ago were, ‘Oh we’ve got European football after Christmas’. It was almost like that was acceptable.
Rangers should be qualifying in the top two of that group. Particularly after beating the best team in the opening game. If they finish third I’d view it as a poor campaign.
Had they taken care of business against Aris last week they could have rested a few players on Thursday with a cup final just three days later. Now they don’t have that luxury.
If Dessers doesn’t produce the goods in Seville then it could be time to let Roofe loose