Rangers: Spanish newspaper blast Jose Cifuentes after what he did for Ecuador against Venezuela
Jose Cifuentes was ripped apart by the Ecuadorian media after the Rangers midfielder struggled yet again for his country on Thursday (16 November) against Venezuela.
The 24-year-old started the game – something he has lacked at Ibrox under new boss Philippe Clement – but could not make a telling difference in the World Cup qualifier at Estadio Monumental de Maturin.
Cifuentes was cautioned and saw a goal ruled out by VAR before being substituted in the 89th minute as Ecuador failed to strengthen their position in their South American qualifying group.
A news outlet in Ecuador, Primacias (16 November) let it rip on the 24-year-old midfielder after his disappointing performance, handing him a “5/10” rating, writing:
“Yes, it was a novelty that he worked as a hitchdriver, behind Kevin. There were actually three hookups in the field, but Kendry and Sornoza failed. For this reason, ‘Cifu’ assumed the duties of 10. He made it from average to terrible, but he did not shy away from the challenge. He was even able to score in the second half, when he smashed the ball into the goalkeeper’s hands.”
Wasted
Cifuentes would have targeted Ecuador’s double-header during this international break as a chance to showcase his talents to both Clement and the Gers fans after struggling for minutes at club level of late, not helped by an injury lay-off.
However, he may well deem this latest performance as another wasted opportunity, especially given the fact that he was handed a more advanced role.
As per SofaScore, Cifuentes did register some decent numbers, registering two key passes, successfully completing 100% of his long balls and 84% of his passes but his work off the ball left a lot to be desired winning 25% of his ground duels and 25% of his aerial duels.
If the 24-year-old is to get himself back into Clement’s plans at Ibrox, those defensive numbers simply have to improve with the Belgian favouring a high-intensity and press-heavy approach.
To make matters worse, Cifuentes has now been ruled out of Ecuador’s meeting with Chile on Tuesday (21 November) due to the yellow card he picked up in the Venezuela stalemate, which certainly now confirms this wasted opportunity.
In other Rangers news, Chris Sutton has raged about a controversial incident in the Gers’ game against Livingston.