Rangers: Philippe Clement must hook Cyriel Dessers at half-time v Benfica, he’s not good enough
Philippe Clement must look at substituting striker Cyriel Dessers for Rangers if they want to claim a win over Benfica in Lisbon.
The Gers took an early lead thanks to midfielder Tom Lawrence’s header, but the Portuguese giants were largely dominant throughout the first-half and forced Jack Butland into a number of saves.
A large reason for their continued domination was the performance of Nigerian striker Dessers, who really struggled to lead the line on his own with limited service and possession.
Time for Kemar Roofe to get a chance?
Rangers have got a host of attacking injuries right now with all of Abdallah Sima, Danilo, Rabbi Matondo, Kieran Dowell, Todd Cantwell and Oscar Cortes unavailable to the manager.
But he does still have options on the substitutes bench for this game that could come in and make an impact to help the Glasgow club come away with a result that not many expected them to be able to claim.
However if they’re not able to sustain some pressure of their own by keeping the ball in attack, then it’s not sustainable to expect a positive result if they are just inviting pressure.
Kemar Roofe has struggled for regular game time this season but it was his goal in the group stage that earned Rangers top spot to set this game up, and now that he is fit again he could be the answer.
If Dessers isn’t going to do what he’s in the squad for, then he needs to be shown that he is replaceable and there are options that can take his spot.
In an overall good team performance so far, Dessers hasn’t been good enough and Clement must act.
In other Rangers news, FA chief rages at “waste of time” Ibrox transfer amid “unfair” manager treatment.
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