Andy Halliday urges Philippe Clement to not start ‘tiny’ Ridvan Yilmaz for Rangers in Viaplay Cup final
Andy Halliday has urged Philippe Clement to not start Ridvan Yilmaz for Rangers in the Viaplay Cup final, as he was left questioning how the Turkish defender could “be that small”.
Yilmaz started the Light Blues’ Premiership clash with Hearts and has been sharing left-back duties with Borna Barsic, but will be forced to miss the Europa League clash with Real Betis having been left out of the European squad.
While Clement will likely have to rotate his side given the quick turnaround ahead of Sunday’s (17 December) Cup final, Halliday has suggested the Turkish defender cannot start as Aberdeen will exploit his “tiny” frame.
Speaking on the Open Goal YouTube channel (12 December, 46:00) he said: “I know it’s mad right as well and I’m looking at Yilmaz and how can you be that small? How small is he? I saw him at Tynecastle and I thought, he’s tiny.
“Listen, I thought he did alright and he should have scored a couple as well. For me, for the Aberdeen game, the goal Lawrence Shankland scores at Ibrox, he sort of peels off the back of him across goal.
“Aberdeen are very direct, I think Borna Barisic for me against Aberdeen.”
How small is he?
It may have had the rest of the pundits featuring on Open Goal’s show in stitches, but Halliday is right to be stunned by Yilmaz’s frame and it does make it hard to see how the Turkish international can start for Rangers in Sunday’s cup final.
Teams have been able to exploit the defender’s lack of height at times already this season, including Shankland’s goal for Hearts that Halliday mentioned and Aberdeen’s direct style could well make it a very difficult afternoon for the full-back.
Clement will, of course, be inclined to make changes to his squad given the quick turnaround between games, but he cannot make alterations that could negatively impact the Gers’ hopes of lifting the first piece of silverware available this season.
In an ideal world, Yilmaz would have started the clash with Betis and Barisic would have featured at Hampden but that is not possible thanks to Michael Beale’s European squad selection.
Hopefully, regardless of who starts and when the Light Blues will come away from this week with the Viaplay Cup in hand and a place in the Europa League knockout stages.
In other Rangers news, Barry Ferguson and Stephen McGinn have offered their verdict on a permanent deal for Abdallah Sima