Football is rarely black and white, despite polarising narratives dominating football discourse. A player is either good or bad with no room in-between. More often than not, the reality is a confusing grey area that changes week to week, suiting one narrative before contrasting it later.

This leads us, of course, to Rangers’ striking situation. Cyriel Dessers started the season well with five goals and two assists, a goal contribution every 90 minutes, before another ineffectual performance against Celtic and 65 minutes at Tannadice on Sunday that largely passed him by. And yet, in a sample size which is too small to shout about, his 0.74 goals/90 is the third-best in the league of those who’ve played over 300 minutes. If able to score around the rate of last season - 0.59 goals/90 - the Nigerian should break the 20-goal barrier for a second year running. Last season in all competitions, Dessers managed 22.

We know what Dessers is and we know what he is not after a year at Ibrox. The guarantee of goals throughout a campaign will feature a similar level of frustration in other moments. Dessers is probably not a striker for all occasions, he’s only become Rangers’ over the course of 2024 because of the lack of a competitor - up until now.

Dessers has scored five goals this season (Image: Alan Harvey - SNS Group) Hamza Igamane replaced Dessers for the final half-hour of Rangers’ 1-0 win against Dundee United with the 21-year-old Moroccan making just his second appearance since a summer transfer. And, while some of the reactions to that 30-minute cameo tell more of the invention up top Rangers fans have been starved of for so long and not just than the merits of Igamane’s efforts alone, he looks good. Inventive, strong and most importantly for Rangers, and maybe just Dessers, a little different.

It’s easy to forget that for all of Dessers’ improvement under Philippe Clement, the Belgian manager’s first-choice striker was initially Danilo when the Brazilian was fit last November. For most of his tenure, Clement simply hasn’t had the luxury of a rotation option up top. Injuries to Abdallah Sima and the consistent unavailability of Kemar Roofe left Dessers as a sole striking option with Danilo sidelined and loanee Fabio Silva largely covering on the left wing from March onwards. Not only has that demanded a lot of the No.9 physically, but it’s also prevented Clement from using a striker with different qualities - like Danilo or Igamane.

Igamane’s efforts from the bench on Sunday were a perfect example of what he brings in comparison to the man he represented - and why in games of a certain nature, Rangers will be better fared with the Moroccan up top.

Dessers has explained previously that he’s a striker who is better “facing goal” as opposed to operating with his back to goal. “I’m a striker who is maybe not the most beautiful for the eye, or the most clean striker. But I think it’s easy with me as a striker to see what’s not there. But as I am in life I love to look at what is there and what you get out of me,” he reasoned in April.

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That’s not to say that the 29-year-old cannot play the odd effective flick or link play at points when his side dominates territory. After all, it was his pass around the corner that paved the way for Tom Lawrence to score the winning goal in Dundee. Dessers is also a hard worker and intelligent presser, but lacks the speed over short distances Clement’s press arguably requires, especially when Lawrence is picked at No.10.

Watch Dessers’ goals from last season and you’ll see a forward who is at his best moving away from the ball, not towards it. Relying on sharp movement to escape the attention of defenders. However, when Rangers need a striker to bring them up the pitch, gain territory or hold the ball up, Dessers’ limitations become visible. 

Take a look at the visitors’ pass network against United, charting the average position from where passes were made. While the configuration of Clement’s 11 was more 4-3-3 than 4-2-3-1, a usual feature when playing against a back five, the central striker can still become isolated if play is stretched and the wingers track their full-backs.

Rangers' pass network vs Dundee United (Image: StatsBomb) As Pep Guardiola’s assistant Juanma Lillo says, “The faster the ball goes up the park, the faster it comes back”. Too often when Clement’s side doesn’t have an extra man in build-up or a hold-up option to go over the press effectively, as seen most recently in the 3-0 Old Firm defeat, their control of matches can disappear if second balls aren’t won.

That was exacerbated on Sunday as Dundee United’s press grew more aggressive and the control Rangers had demonstrated early on the ball eroded away. The away side had completed 108 successful passes in the opposition’s half after 20 minutes at Tannadice and managed a fewer 92 in the remaining 70 minutes. They required a solution to go over the press and access the opposition half - something Igamane immediately provided.

In the 20 minutes before his second-half substitution, Clement’s side had fashioned a mere 0.04xG. In the final thirty, that number stood at 0.41 with Igamane responsible for the creation of each chance he did not himself attempt.

Straight away the substitute provided a more comfortable option to link play. Dropping into the space behind the Dundee United midfield and constantly moving away from the centre-back pairing of Declan Gallagher and Ross Graham.

With a real propensity to control the ball on his chest and a low centre of gravity to dominate duels, when the ball went into the vicinity of Igamane he was rarely beaten. Winning six of nine duels and getting the better of Gallagher in the air on more than one occasion.

The below GIF offers a practical example. United are outnumbering Rangers around their own box and Jack Butland opts to go long with no avenues through the pitch. Igamane doesn’t win the duel but nor does he lose it, before picking up the ball, turning and creating a chance at the edge of the box.

The forward’s most impressive moment saw him twist, turn and chest a lofted pass as if it had come from his nearest teammate, not half-a-pitch away. Again, Igamane’s movement away from the defence into the vacant space offered Rangers a route beyond pressure that could quickly materialise into an attack, with the forward delaying for Lawrence to join him before sliding in a perfectly weighted pass.

This effort from Nedim Bajrami on the edge of the area was made possible by Igamane cheating a long throw and marauding forward, attracting four markers in the process to free up his teammate.

“Hamza, like I said, when we signed him, it's a big talent. We had to do it now because if it had been one year later, we could never afford that kind of players,” Clement reasoned after the game.

“He's coming straight out of a Moroccan competition, Moroccan culture. Everything is new for him. He was also injured when he came. So it took time to get him more fit. And that's what we're going to do the next weeks and the next months, to give him opportunities to grow as a young player. But you see already a lot of good basic qualities.”

For as promising as Igamane looked off the bench this weekend, the fact he is a different type of striker is what stands out. One who wants to move towards the ball and access the space ahead of a defence, who can take the ball on his chest and turn a dangerous pressing moment for Dundee United into the concession of a dangerous attack within seconds. 

Give it a couple of weeks and Dessers will be on the goal trail again. This writer would be surprised if his wait for a domestic strike stretches much beyond September. That’s what his record at Rangers shows so far, but that shouldn't gloss over weaknesses. Perhaps fewer minutes in games that don’t suit Dessers' style will be best for all parties, as Igamane’s era at Rangers begins.