It appears that Rangers manager Danny Rohl has finally found a proper and useful deployment of Djeidi Gassama. The former Sheffield Wednesday winger has been a bit of a controversial one at Ibrox, showing glimpses of talent but also frustrating fans with some poor decision making and a general selfishness. He definitely has pace, but he has lacked quality and at times has frustrated fans hugely with some of his endeavours. When his name has appeared on the starting XI, it has generally been greeted with groans, and more often than not, he has wasted a chance and looked subpar, to say the least.
A frustrating presence in the starting XI
However, something that has clearly stood out for the majority of the season that he has been at Ibrox has been his impact as a sub. Djeidi Gassama is an impact sub, and Danny Rohl has been using him in that role more often than not. In this particular role, he gets either the second half or a portion of the second half to come on and deliver the impact. The classic impact sub in football, for those of a certain generation, was Chelsea’s Tore Andre Flo. Of course, later a Rangers player, but at Chelsea he was all about being an impact sub. The kind of striker who would come on later on in the game and find a goal. Of course, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Manchester United was very similar to that as well. He would come on later on in the game to try to turn things around.
Playing for the team
This is the very pinnacle of a player who plays for the team. They come on when they are needed and they do a job. Gassama is starting to be that at Rangers. We are not quite sure we would totally call him a team player yet because, as we see, he can be very selfish with the head down far too much, like former Ranger Rabbi Matondo.
Signs of real impact
But as an impact sub when he is trying to impress, Gassama can contribute something. On arrival against United, he had purpose, pace and caused real menace at the back. He looked a lot sharper and a lot more energetic than normal. And this is the role that he should have. Gassama should only if ever start sparingly because he will have a lack of finesse and purpose from the beginning. But Djeidi Gassama as an impact sub is a perfect way to use him. This is what Rohl seems to have found with the boy, and let us hope he sticks with it.