As the manager turned to his bench and beckoned over Ianis Hagi with half an hour remaining on Thursday night, one can only assume that the instructions bestowed to the Rangers playmaker were the something like Romanian translation of; ‘Go and win us the game, lad’.
Ianis Hagi did not manage that. Romania were held to a dull 0-0 stalemate by the minnows of Belarus. But a desperately poor performance away from home should not, however, be levelled at the Deportivo Alaves loanee alone.
According to Romania legend Ilie Dumitrescu, the die was cast when coach Edi Iordanescu opted to introduce the Rangers-owned Hagi on the left-wing, rather than in his preferred ‘number ten’ role.
“Tell me a game where Ianis Hagi did something remarkable from the left lane!” an irate Dumitrescu argues (Pro Sport). “He only performs when he plays on the right or behind the striker, as a number 10.”
Rangers’ Ianis Hagi blamed for Romania failure
Iordanescu’s so-called tactical blunders, though, were not enough to save Hagi from some rather harsh words in the local press.
Hagi, to borrow Pro Sport’s expression, produced a ‘miserable performance’ off the bench in Belarus.
And, in comments which he would row back on a few hours later, former Romania winger Silviu Ilie certainly didn’t hold his tongue in a brutal social media put-down. Ianis, he argues, continues to float upon the raft created for him by his legendary father’s reputation, rather than survive on his own qualities.
“If he wasn’t Hagi’s child, he wouldn’t even play in the fourth division!” Ilie wrote on Facebook before apologising.
Struggling for club and country
Nonetheless, if Hagi was hoping that the international break would provide respite from his troubles at club level – Rangers’ £3 million forgotten man is yet to make his mark in Spain – then he was very much mistaken.
The 2022/23 campaign was a miserable one for Hagi. Beset with injury and misfortune. But, while at least he is back on the pitch again, 2023/24 is not proving to be much happier.
