The departure of Calvin Bassey remains a bit of a ‘topic’ among Rangers fans, not so much a regular source of conversation but an aspect of reflection given where our defence was, and where it is now.
It’s also telling that Bassey has absolutely failed in Holland, struggling terribly with the upgrade in league, with his weaknesses, which he got away with in the Scottish Premiership and even sometimes in the Europa League, being painfully exposed and subjecting him to a torrent of regular criticism and abuse.
In short, the move didn’t work out for him, and he’s not doing overly great.
Naturally, it would cost far too much to bring him back, it’s a complete non-starter. It’s also not a move we believe Michael Beale would be terribly interested in anyway, because Bassey is absolutely not the kind of defender he likes.
Former Danish international Kenneth Perez is the latest one to take a shot at Bassey, and his criticism also explains why Beale won’t go near even on loan:
“We don’t actually have to name it and show it every time (Bassey miscues). It is a repetitive story with him: it is very, very, very difficult on the ball. Sometimes it’s even touching when you’re watching. I really have the feeling that every time that round thing rolls towards him he thinks: ‘oh f***, what am I going to do with that thing again’ I do agree with what Schreuder said: ‘It will never be a Frank de Boer, but maybe a Davinson Sánchez. If you want to make him a Sánchez, then you have to put him in the centre. He has power and speed, but on the ball it’s really just abysmal. It doesn’t get any better, of course, because he will also get a bit of the fact that he is the joke. His friend on the other side of the field (Sanchez), who is just as bad, is not there for a while. So then all the attention is on Bassey. Then he takes an action a few times that completely fails. It’s just touching honestly. I think you can only benefit from him in the centre of the back, but 26 million euros is a lot of money. The only thing is: he can’t help it that he has cost so much. He can’t help it that someone said ‘You know what, it seems like a nice amount to pay for him’.”
Perez is right, Bassey is quick and he’s strong, but that is all he has to his game. On the ball he’s absolutely terrible, and the MOTM stuff in the Europa League final seemed to highlight that he corrected his errors well, rather than the fact he made them in the first place. And Beale loves defenders who can ballplay. Which Bassey can’t.
He is an elephant on the ball, and while he got away with that totally at Ibrox, and even in Europe, in a high-quality league like Holland up against world class teams nearly every week, Bassey is finding himself out of his depth.
At least, in the way he’s being used – it’s just cost the guy who signed him, Shroeder, his job, after Ajax’s atrocious Champions League campaign, much of which was on Bassey as well.
As Perez says, if you want to get the best out of him, he needs a ballplayer next to him while he does the human cannonball stuff like Niko Katic used to. Don’t give him the ball, it’s a hot potato to him.
But for the Rangers fans who ‘knew’ this kid was going places, well, it’s not gone that way. He doesn’t have talent, he’s just a big strong fast guy who can stop people by sheer force. The finesse of defending is a bit beyond him.
And for Rangers to get £23M for him was a job very well done indeed.
🤣sounds like hes back to what he was when he first joined us MINCE
funny old game the fitba
WATP🇬🇧
Absolute crap of a writeup. Personal, poor analysis and very low.
Thanks for the Monday giggle Toyo 🙂
So Bassey was man of the match in a European Final but according to Ibrox Noise he’s “out his depth”, “an elephant on the ball” etc etc.
Keep these articles coming guys. They are comedy gold.
Wasn’t man of the match at all, that went to Kevin Trapp. But if lying your backside off makes you feel better, so be it.
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