Kieran Dowell position has become a trending search on Google after Rangers confirmed the 25-year-old’s arrival at Ibrox.
Michael Beale has already secured his first signing of what is expected to be a busy summer for Rangers in terms of recruitment.
So, where is Kieran Dowell‘s best position? Let’s take a look…
Kieran Dowell position
Well, Rangers have labelled Dowell as an attacking midfielder in their announcement of his arrival.
However, let’s scratch beneath the surface and go into specific details.
Beale tends to use a 4-3-1-2 formation at Rangers, as seen in Wednesday’s 2-2 draw against Hearts.
Therefore – with Todd Cantwell occupying that lone No.10 role – we think Dowell would be best used in one of the deeper central midfield areas, taking the position of either John Lundstram or Glen Kamara alongside Nicolas Raskin.
In Wednesday’s draw against Hearts, it was evident that Lundstram and Raskin prefer to cut inside on their stronger right foot whenever they found themselves on the left of midfield, which often cut off passing lanes down the left channel.
Against any side with a manager worth his salt, that could make Rangers easy to nullify.
Therefore, Dowell – a natural left footer – would help bring balance to Beale’s side if he started on the left of a midfield three.
In truth, the Rangers new boy will most likely replace Kamara, who tends to delay the passes out wide to the left flank, whereas Dowell has previously proven himself to be someone who releases the ball quickly.
In terms of squad dynamics, Ridvan Yilmaz loves to overlap down the left and bomb past the opposition right-back, although a right-footed midfield would struggle to play the right pass to meet his runs.
However, Dowell should be able to delicately curl passes in behind defences for the Turkey international, making Rangers harder to read and ultimately, giving Beale’s side more strings to their bow.
On the other side of the pitch, James Tavernier is also someone who likes to get forward, and Beale seems to instruct his midfielders to find the Englishman with huge switches of play.
Having Dowell on the left of midfield opens up that option naturally without the need to cut inside, which should help the attack flow more fluidly.
Hopefully, Dowell has a similar impact to his old Norwich teammate Cantwell when he eventually makes his debut for Rangers – if he can replicate the £1.5m man’s displays, Beale will surely be overjoyed with his free transfer.