Youssef Chermiti surely out of chances at Rangers after dreadful stats emerge in draw vs Braga
Youssef Chermiti wasted yet another golden opportunity to prove himself to the Ibrox faithful in Rangers’ 1-1 draw to Braga in the Europa League on Thursday.
James Tavernier’s penalty was cancelled out by Gabri Martinez’s second-half strike, and Rangers now need a miracle if they want to avoid crashing out of the Europa League group stage.
Chermiti joined Rangers for £10million from Everton on 1 September, with the move being pushed through by former sporting director Kevin Thelwell.
Bojan Miovski has also struggled for Rangers, and it’s clear that there is a huge issue when it comes to scoring goals at the moment.
Rangers’ draw to Braga highlighted Chermiti’s most glaring issue, which is his inability to dribble with the ball at his feet, as well as simply scoring.
Youssef Chermiti fails to complete a successful dribble vs Braga
Thelwell’s expensive gamble hasn’t paid off, and the stats are highlighting a growing feeling that the 21-year-old may never be good enough to lead the line for the Bears.
Against Braga, Chermiti looked devoid of any confidence, and he failed to get into the game before eventually being taken off in the 89th minute for Oliver Antman.
According to Sofascore, Chermiti won 12.5 per cent of his ground duels (1/8) and completed zero out of four successful dribbles.
| Stat | Youssef Chermiti |
| Minutes played | 89 |
| Pass accuracy | 11/21 (52%) |
| Ground duels won | 1/8 (12.5%) |
| Shots | 3 |
| Touches | 39 |
It’s easy to keep blaming Thelwell for Chermiti’s move, although it gets to a point where you wonder how much the player really wants to excel.
Having a striker who can’t perform one successful dribble in a match that could define the fate of your European campaign is criminal.
It must be said he is promising in the air, winning five of his seven aerial duels on Thursday, but he offered hardly anything else in what was another disappointing evening for the Bears.
It’s a tricky situation for Rohl, who doesn’t have many good options at his disposal, but Chermiti is surely not the answer to their goalscoring woes.
Youssef Chermiti can’t continue to be afforded chances by Danny Rohl
Russell Martin’s disastrous reign in charge saw many players underperform, but Rohl’s revival has highlighted some who simply aren’t good enough, regardless of the manager at the helm.
Miovski’s issues are taking some pressure off Chermiti, but he will always be judged by his price tag at Ibrox, and his lack of quality was once again brutally exposed.
In the Scottish Premiership this season, Chermiti has only had 104 touches in his seven appearances, and it’s clear that he often plays on the periphery of games.
As Rangers’ second-most expensive player of all time, that is clearly not good enough, and Thursday’s performance might have been the one that confirms to Rohl and every Gers fan watching that Chermiti could go down as the club’s worst signing of all time.
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