Ryan Naderi’s maiden league strike against Dundee United has slightly changed the picture for the German forward. Signed, of course, from low level German football, the £5M hitman was a big financial gamble for Danny Rohl. Two goals against hapless Queen’s Park really were not evidence that the money was well spent. While most fans praised his hard work, his movement and his general attitude, he lacked goals. To this date, seven or eight weeks down the line of his signing, we cannot exactly say that three goals, two against Queen’s Park, has changed the picture entirely, but it is a better sign because it offers a little bit of confidence to a boy who had previously been unable to score in Scotland’s top flight.
A Turning Point Performance
However, a more telling prospect about that goal and his performance is it has widely been regarded as his best. He produced his best afternoon as a Rangers player, which has been a bit of a time coming, but it is what we need from a striker. This is not to say that a poaching number nine is definitely the answer, but what we do know is a big call was made in the starting line up, and that was not the fact that we started with Ryan Naderi, it was the fact that he started up on his own.
Chermiti Questioned
Naderi had previously been promoted by Rangers fans as potentially being a good foil for Youssef Chermiti, Chermiti playing as something of a 10 behind him, with Naderi being the finisher in front. This performance proved that that is not the case. Chermiti has not shone as a Rangers striker. Those three weird aberrations aside, Chermiti has been an absolute disaster of a signing. Those three bizarre matches in which somehow he produced a level he has never before or since shown, indicated that Chermiti is not a consistent and delivering striker at all. He does not even seem to be that effective as a hold up man. His assist level is pretty low for the season. He is strong and he is capable, but he is not overly composed and he certainly will not score goals.
A Lone Striker Emerges
Naderi did all his work against United on his own. Of course, he was supplied by the wingers and by Moore, but nevertheless, despite Aasgaard providing that assist, which was not initially meant entirely to be an assist, Naderi really was his own man. Now, we do not see the hold up target strongman that we need from a number 11, which is of course the ideal position for a target man. The number 9 is the Ally McCoist. The number 10 is your playmaker behind him, your second striker. And of course, the 11 is the pure up front target man of the likes of Daniel Cousin.
Ally McCoist mould
Naderi fits much more into the Ally McCoist area, albeit he is a heck of a lot taller. Think Tore Andre Flo. He can finish because he has got himself good movement and definitely reads the lines well. Naderi gets into a lot of good positions, but scoring had been eluding him. But in all fairness, his strike against United in itself was opportunistic and came from the goalkeeper spilling. But nevertheless, that is the job of a striker, to mop up those kinds of mistakes. To be in the right position to exploit those moments.
But the big telling factor, as we said, is that there was no Chermiti supporting him in these endeavours. The fact is that Naderi’s best performance was with no Chrmiti on the pitch. What do we do with that? Does that mean Chermiti is redundant? It means, fundamentally, that Chermiti has not shown as a Rangers striker at all, which we know, and he is surely expendable this summer. But he could have some uses as a kind of 10 playmaker, but that Naderi showed his best when playing on his own suggests that he could, in actual fact, flourish in that position if set up right. Ryan Naderi’s maiden league goal helped. But of course, it is still early days.