Michael Beale will have nightmares over Kyogo ahead of Rangers v Celtic – Kris Commons
Kris Commons believes Michael Beale will be having nightmares about the threat Celtic forward Kyogo Furuhashi could pose his Rangers side before the Old Firm rivals meet in the Scottish Cup semi-final on Sunday (30 April).
The Gers fell to a bitterly disappointing 2-0 defeat against Aberdeen on Sunday (23 April) that left them 13 points off the pace at the top of the Scottish Premiership table.
The two fierce rivals lock horns at Hampden Park this weekend, and Commons, writing in his Scottish Daily Mail column, has questioned whether Beale’s defence has what it takes to keep Kyogo at bay after shipping 11 goals from four clashes against Celtic this season.
“Over in the blue corner, Michael Beale would have had an awful lot to think about on the two-and-a-half hour back down from Aberdeen last night,” he wrote (Scottish Daily Mail, The Verdict page 16).
“A 2-0 defeat, with missed chances at one end and goals conceded at the other.
“Beale will be having nightmares about the threat of Kyogo Furuhashi at Hampden and what his movement can do. Can they find a plan to stop him?
“I do wonder about this Rangers defence. So far this season, they have conceded 11 goals to Celtic over four matches.
“Beale has made them a better team, no question about that, but they have still struggled to keep their opponents at bay in the three Old Firm matches under his command.”
Tough ask
The 2-0 loss to Aberdeen wasn’t the preparation Beale would have hoped for before the simply pivotal Scottish Cup semi-final this weekend.
After losing consecutive Old Firm matches under his watch, the Englishman will be up against it to claim a result against Ange Postecoglou’s winning machine.
A big part of whether the Gers stand a chance of reaching the cup final will be the way they try to negate Kyogo’s threat.
The Japanese attacker has been a thorn in Rangers’ side this season, netting five times in his last three Old Firm matches and simply looking unplayable at times.
If Beale can mastermind a plan to halt the threat of Kyogo, it will go a long way to nicking a huge win against the fierce rivals.
Potentially adding an extra defensive-minded body in the midfield could be in store, but such a move would almost certainly limit Rangers’ attacking players, with the likes of Todd Cantwell or Malik Tillman likely to drop to the bench to accommodate such a move.
In other Rangers news, Rangers and Celtic could do battle for this striker this summer according to one pundit.