Sadiq failed to impress as Rangers were beaten by Aberdeen on Sunday.
James McFadden has hammered Umar Sadiq on BBC Sportscene after the Rangers striker failed to make an impact for Steven Gerrard’s side against Aberdeen in the Scottish League Cup semi-final.
Rangers were beaten 1-0 as Derek McInnes’ side booked their place in the final against Celtic thanks to Lewis Ferguson’s 79th-minute header from close range.
The Gers dominated possession and territory and had plenty of decent chances to put the ball in the back of the net, with AS Roma loanee Sadiq boasting the best chance of the match.
He showed his quality to go past goalkeeper Joe Lewis with an excellent tough, but the Nigerian chose to go to ground rather than equalising late on for Rangers. He was booked for diving.
Scotland assistant McFadden was not impressed, also suggesting that Gerrard made a mistake in choosing to start the striker.
“He [Gerrard] was very critical of him [Sadiq] a few weeks back, saying that he would have to drastically improve if he was to get anywhere near the team. So it was a massive gamble to start him.” McFadden said.
“He didn’t really have a threat, he was running offside, he looked like he was lost. The dive was bad, try and stay on your feet and get a tap-in? But it wasn’t just Sadiq, the delivery from out wide wasn’t good enough.”
Towards the end of September, Gerrard told the Record that Sadiq must improve “an awful lot” and on Sunday’s showing, the Liverpool legend is not wrong.
Alfredo Morelos was suspended after picking up a yellow card against Ayr, while Kyle Lafferty was cup tied after playing for Hearts in the competitions – leaving Gerrard with little other option but to play the Nigerian striker.
Rangers will be looking to put the loss behind them on Wednesday night, as they play host to Steve Clarke’s Kilmarnock.
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