The beauty of Hamza Igamane is not just in the goals he scores. Rangers’ new-found centre-forward offers a lot more than that.
Speaking after the Moroccan scored twice in a coming-of-age display in that 4-1 trouncing of Nice, Philippe Clement hailed Igamane’s work out of possession as much as he did his two well-taken finishes.
Hamza Igamane, Clement said, was key to winning the duels and breaking Nice’s high-press.
The £1.7 million summer signing from RAF Rabat, meanwhile, has a habit of dropping deep, using his wonderful close control and intelligent passing range to allow the midfielders and wingers to run in beyond.
Only Vaclav Cerny, Nedim Bajrami and captain James Tavernier average more ‘key passes’ per game in the Europa League than Igamane. There are, meanwhile, similarities between the role he plays under Clement and the one Sam Lammers plays at FC Twente.
Discarded by Rangers after he struggled to adapt to the physicality and pace of Scottish football, Lammers returned to the Eredivisie to the tune of £2.5 million back in July.
And while Igamane’s presence is bringing more out of his Rangers teammates – Cerny, Danilo and the revitalised Ianis Hagi all striking up an excellent understanding with the youngster – Lammers has been credited with helping Twente teammate Sem Steijn ascend to the top of the Golden Boot rankings in the Netherlands.
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Lammers has come in for criticism at times after netting only six goals in the Eredivisie for Twente.
But his ability to drag defenders out of possession, coupled with Steijn’s trademark driving runs from deep into the penalty area, is proving to be a recipe for success.
“Steijn is on course to become the first midfielder to win the Eredivisie top scorer title since Jari Litmanen in 1993/94,” reporter Pieter Zwart writes in Voetbal International.
“The last time Twente delivered the most highest-scoring player was even further back in time; Dick van Dijk in the 1968/69 season.”
There is a place in the history books awaiting Steijn, then, if he can maintain his current form. Boasting a Steven Gerrard or Paul Scholes-esque tendency to find pockets of space in the box before rifling home, Steijn is currently one goal ahead of PSV’s Ricardo Pepi with 11 from 13 Eredivisie starts.
Steijn, the son of former Ajax manager Maurice, was already one of the best goalscoring midfielders in the league. But Zwart puts his transformation from semi-regular goalscorer to bonafide Golden Boot contender down to the influence of Lammers in the final third.
“The arrival of Sam Lammers is a piece of the puzzle that helps Steijn to be more effective,” Zwart adds. “The new striker of Twente likes to participate in the positional game by dropping deep.
“That creates gaps that Steijn can dive into with his intelligent runs.”
Eredivisie experts still want more from Sam Lammers
This is not to say Lammers’ permanent return to Dutch football has been greeted with universal acclaim, however.
Leon Ten Voorde, a reporter who specialises in all things FC Twente, still feels that a tally of six goals from 15 starts is a very underwhelming return.
“There is quite a bit to criticise about Lammers,” Ten Voorde said on the De Ballen Verstand podcast. “I sometimes think; ‘Come on, you can do so much more!’. When Lammers was bought in the summer, everyone was wildly enthusiastic.”
“Of course, everyone is full of praise for Sem Steijn. But suppose Steijn is out for a few weeks, who will score the goals at FC Twente? Lammers is on six, but after that…”
