Cyriel Dessers Can Silence His Critics in Old Firm Title Decider at Ibrox
Since joining Rangers in July 2023, Cyriel Dessers’ time in Glasgow has been a rollercoaster to say the least. The striker divides opinion amongst the Rangers faithful with many believing that he could become a capable striker, and others who say that he isn’t good enough to lead the line at Ibrox.
Regardless of the split opinion on the Nigerian international, he has the opportunity to prove his doubters wrong against Celtic this Sunday in what could be a key title decider. Dessers has scored 16 goals with seven assists in all competitions this season. However, his performances in his first season in Scotland haven’t been all that easy on the eye to watch.
The 28-year-old has the tendency to over-think too much when he’s in front of goal, taking too many touches with the ball, losing possession or missing a chance that any striker worth the salt should be slotting away.
There have been questions surrounding Dessers and if he can handle the pressure of playing in big games, with his only standout performance coming against Real Betis in the iconic 3-2 victory away from home, where Dessers scored a delightful goal. That is the frustrating part about Dessers is that the ability is clearly there, but he hasn’t shown it enough this season.
Speaking after Rangers’ 3-1 victory over Hibs, Philippe Clement has demanded more from his striker and that he needs to start offering more to the team in other areas of the pitch, he said: “Impressed is not the right word with Cyriel. It’s normal, what he can do. And I think there’s still quite some margin to make with him.
“He’s working hard on that. For me, it’s not just the striker who has to score goals. They need to do other things for the team. Then they’ll get situations to score goals. It’s more important to have a team where everyone can score. That’s much more difficult to stop.
“If you have a team where one guy is scoring all the goals, they stop him, and the story is finished. We score from everywhere, the strikers, the wingers, the midfielders, the full-backs and centre-backs. Only Jack Butland doesn’t score goals in this team. I want to see football like that because it’s difficult to stop.”
The former Genk player struggled in his last two Old Firm outings, failing to cause Brendan Rodgers’ men any clear-cut problems, with his link-up and hold-up play leaving much to be desired. Make no mistake about it: Clement will be expecting Dessers to deliver a good performance against Celtic, and the critics will only continue to get louder for the forward if he fails to do so. Dessers can become a Rangers hero if he helps the Ibrox club regain the title from Celtic this season.
By: Scott Bradley / @ScottBradleyX
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Getty Images