Youssef Chermiti may just have saved his Rangers career with a stellar display at Parkhead amid Youssef Chermiti’s redemption.
From the most maligned player at Ibrox in living memory, the Portuguese striker bagged a double in a critical match at Glasgow’s east end. That brace was worth his weight in gold.
But let’s look deeper – what were the metrics of Chermiti’s afternoon?
Passing
Well, when we look at his passing, it was apparently horrible. Let’s get that straight out of the way. Around half of his passes went to a team mate – 56%, but this has a caveat.
No match is like the Old Firm or has strikers as pressured – 56% for a striker in this match is not dreadful. Johnny Kenny was only slightly better at 61% for the home side.
The metrics which matter for Chermiti were shots, goals, and duels. As we know the Portuguese managed two shots – both were goals. That’s perfection in this fixture.
Duels
But the duels were a big deal – he won half his duels, both ground and air, and that means he showed major fortitude in holding the ball up as a target man.
He won 14 of his 30 duels, and that’s a fine return in this fixture.
This means Chermiti may just have exploded onto the Rangers scene as an able target man who can hold the ball up under immense pressure.
There’s one more metric which also matters. Chermiti had 47 touches, and only wasted 5 of them.
47
This means of all 47 times he had the ball, he was only done 5 times for possession.
That’s more evidence for hold up play.
In one single 90 minutes, Chermiti has completely changed his own personal landscape at Ibrox.
From the most hated and derided player under Danny Rohl and indeed Russell Martin, the hitman may just have achieved the biggest redemption in living memory.
If he continues this form into Aberdeen, Chermiti might just have pulled off the biggest turnaround we can ever remember.
Thelwell
Maybe, finally we are seeing why Kevin Thelwell put his reputation on the block over this boy. And despite his losing his job over it and other things, he may feel some vindication now.
We will see how Chermiti does over the next month. Is it Youssef Chermiti’s redemption?
We sincerely hope we do not find ourselves seeing fans saying ‘ahhh, back to the same old Chermiti’.