One of the biggest disappointments from the league cup final was the performance of Malik Tillman but, rather than being the cause of our blunt attacking display, the 20-year old’s lack of impact was symptomatic of a midfield that failed to turn up and tactics that did little to get the most out of, arguably, our player of the season.
Instead of building play through Tillman we were bypassing him or playing the ball directly up to him to win headers and we all know that isn’t what he is good at – get him 1v1 in and around the box and that is where he causes problems but he just didn’t get the chance.
With nine goals and five assists already in his debut season though, we have seen more than enough to be content that £5million would be money well spent on a player with so much more potential with former Sky Sports reporter Pete O’Rourke telling GiveMeSport that it is a deal that makes a lot of sense:
“I think Rangers would like to make this signing permanent. Michael Beale’s a big fan of Tillman, and he’s been a shining light for Rangers since his arrival on loan from Bayern Munich.
“They’ve got this option to buy for a reasonable fee, and I think he’d be a good signing. He’s a young player who I think will only get better and better as well, so for Rangers, it’d be a bit of a no-brainer to try and make this deal permanent.”
Given how young Tillman is, I think it would be a massive mistake not to sign him. He has an athletic frame, is superb technically and is good in the air, he will only get fitter and stronger as he matures and his decision making will become more refined.
The fee is a lot of money for us but, if we want to catch Celtic, we can’t keep gambling or hoping that the next new face through the door can match Tillman’s output. More importantly though, the manager has to set us up in a way that doesn’t negate the skillset of one of our best players – if that was a mistake, not making the deal permanent would be just as bad.
I don`t know what game you were watching but Tillman was worse than a man short on Sunday. He didn`t get much of the ball because he didn`t work hard enough to find space and when he did get it he was easily pushed aside by guys a lot smaller than him. His flicks and wee passes weren`t coming off so he chucked it .It was Tavernier who was constantly getting high ball hoofed out to him on the right wing and he coped brilliantly with every one.If Tillman was a Bassey or Aribo both of whom we got for free then he would be worth developing but not at £5miilion .At that price he needs to be the finished article for us .