Ibrox View: Rangers player surely took big step backwards with poor midweek display
Going into the international break, Cedric Itten looked as if he had really turned a corner for Rangers.
The 23-year-old finally opened his account with a brilliant brace for the Gers against Motherwell, and the hitman won goal of the month for his opening strike in the 5-1 mauling.
But his latest outing for his country hinted at a worrying regression from the forward.
Granted, Itten only played 32 minutes in Switzerland’s 2-1 loss to Croatia in midweek, but this was a really poor showing from the Ibrox man.
As per Wyscout, his total action success rate was just 23% – over 17% lower than his season average.
In fact, Itten managed to record just three successful actions out of his attempted 13.
And those figures really do speak as to his anonymity throughout.
The forward’s only shot on goal had an xG of just 0.03, and he failed to hit the target with it.
Truthfully, however, we would be hoping that from this position, with relatively little pressure on him, a Rangers forward would be capable of hitting the target.
Instead, Itten blazes it over the bar wildly.
The Ibrox man is a lot more than just a goalscorer though, and his physical presence is easily one of his biggest assets.
That’s why it was particularly disappointing to see him win just two of his eight duels against Croatia.
That 25% completion rate is 7% lower than his season average, and that drop-off reflects how little of an impression he made in midweek.
Far too often he was eased off the ball or had his movement anticipated during an attempted dribble.
Combine that ineffectiveness with a tally of zero duels won against Galatasaray in his last outing for Rangers, and a worrying pattern is begging to emerge.
Of course, everybody has the odd off day or two, but the concern will be that Itten has taken a big step backwards after making such promising progress.
In other Rangers news, Mauricio Pochettino left raving about this Gers star man.