If new Rangers manager Philippe Clement had tuned into Romania’s Euro qualifier against Andorra on Sunday evening, he’d have been offered an early example of how to go about rebuilding Ianis Hagi’s Ibrox career once the playmaker returns from a loan spell at Deportivo Alaves.
For Romania legend Ilie Dumitrescu, it is no coincidence that Ianis Hagi was far more effective against Andorra than three days earlier in Belarus.
The Rangers-owned playmaker produced a ‘miserable performance’ wide on the right on Thursday. But, reverting to his favoured number ten role on Sunday, Hagi was a man reborn.
Not content with scoring his first international goal since August 2021, Hagi then won a penalty for Romania’s third of the night before setting up Florinel Coman with a neat cut-back. One goal, one assist, and a penalty won. Could this be the display which jump-starts Hagi’s stalling career?
Rangers’ Ianis Hagi back in form
“I am very happy for the trio in the midfield. They have assumed the role of leaders. I mean Razvan Marin, and (Nicolae) Stanciu. But especially Ianis Hagi, who, for me, was the man of the match,” Dumitrescu tells DigiSport, the La Liga loanee earning the highest rating (8.8) of any Romania player via stats website Sofa Score.
“He was put in the position where he gives the best performance, behind the striker, between the lines.”
“I liked all the players. They pushed the game every minute. This is what we lacked against Belarus. Even in the 80th minute we were attacking,” adds Adrian Ilie, Romania’s Player of the Year in 1998 (GSP).
“I have the impression that two players must play permanently; Ianis Hagi and Nicolae Stanciu.”
‘Man of the Match’
In Philippe Clement, Rangers have handed the reigns to a coach who prides himself upon front-foot, high-intensity, ‘dominant’ football. His Genk and Club Brugge teams monopolising possession and grinding the opposition down with their relentless attacking approach.
Rangers’ array of misfiring forwards should be enticed by the prospect of the 49-year-old lighting a fire under an underachieving squad. Hagi, meanwhile, is only one of those who should only benefit from Clement’s fluid, free-flowing appointment.
And, should Hagi return to Ibrox when his Alaves spell ends in 2024, Clement could do worse than to take a leaf out of the Romania playbook and deploy this most mercurial talent in the position he calls his own.
If this international break has taught us anything, it’s that ‘Hagi the winger’ and ‘Hagi the number ten’ are two very different prospects.
