Here are the three main takeaways from Rangers' 4-2 win over Hearts on Sunday. Cr: SNS Group.placeholder image
Here are the three main takeaways from Rangers' 4-2 win over Hearts on Sunday. Cr: SNS Group. | SNS Group
Everton sold Youssef Chermiti to Rangers after two troublesome years, a decision that might haunt them now.
It is impossible to get everything right in the transfer market but it is looking increasingly likely that Everton cut their losses a bit too quickly with one youngster.
After firing a hat-trick to pull Rangers to within two points of Hearts at the top of an incredible Scottish Premiership table, Youssef Chermiti has followed up his Old Firm heroics by suggesting that he could lead his new team to the most unlikely of titles having been some 13 points behind at one stage. At 21 years old and with his first consistent run of games since he was at Sporting Lisbon, the Portugal youth international is finally showing what he is capable of.
Youssef Chermiti was being primed to be Everton’s main man
Dan Micchiche worked closely with Chermiti at Finch Farm and believes that circumstance and bad luck conspired against the 6ft 4inch tall striker who is now starting to show everyone what he is capable of.
He told The Daily Record: “He wanted to work and learn. He’s a very polite boy and very humble. He had a lot of potential, which was the key to Rangers getting him. I think they’re reaping the rewards now for all the work he put in.
“I’m not surprised that he hasn’t let criticism affect him. Look at where he’s come from. He arrived at Everton from Sporting Lisbon so he’s played in big games. At Everton, it’s not an easy club to play for or work for. It’s a passionate club in a passionate city so you must have something about you at 19 to train with Premier League players every day and play against Goodison Park.
“When I was working with him, he was playing in first-team games. He played well against Brentford at home and I remember him coming on at Luton in a really physical game and dealing with it. So he’s always had a strong temperament. He’s had a few injuries as well that he’s had to cope with.”
What has been the difference with Chermiti
Chermiti, despite his slow goalscoring start, hasn’t actually missed many chances for Rangers. In fact, with an xG of just 5.2, his 7 goals show that he is overperforming in terms of opportunities to score. Micchiche knows exactly why Danny Rohl is now starting to get more out of the £8m summer signing who Kevin Thelwell is convinced could be a star, even if he is one of the reasons why he lost his job at Ibrox: “The key with Youssef is to play to his strengths. If you look at a big lad like Peter Crouch when he played - even though he was tall, his strength wasn’t necessarily in the air.
“Youssef is the same. He’s good with the ball at his feet and can get on to things in behind. You can easily make him look like a bad player if you ask him to do things he’s not capable of. But the Rangers manager is clearly now getting the best out of him.”
“The plan at Everton was for Youssef to be the club’s number one striker, their first choice. There was a clear plan in place and it might have happened if Kevin was still there. The strategy obviously went in a different direction.” With hindsight, Chermiti could easily have replicated the sort of output that Barry has this season and, potentially, bettered it given that he was already settled at the club, saving themselves £35m in the process.
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