Steven Gerrard calls for Ibrox crowd to help Rangers skipper James Tavernier through form dip

[der Berliner 3,747]

12 hours ago, Frankie said:

Did you not watch us last season?

 

Tav was one of our best players.  Not only were his assists and goals scored stats incredibly good, his overall play was vital to the team.  His improvement defensively from his early period at the club is also fairly obvious to anyone who watches us on a week-to-week basis.

 

Of course the obvious goal conceding mistakes he's made are worthy of criticism but to suggest he's anything other than a key player for us is bizarre.

I would assume that if you go back through all the game threads of last season, you would find my remarks and comments in well over 80 % of them. Not that this should be news to you.

 

IMHO, Our and his defensive record became good mainly because of people like Jack and Kamara were better DMs than the players we utilized before, as well as us having better centre-halfs who likewise covered the areas better.

 

Did I anywhere suggest he is not a key player for us? That said, I do not buy into this "overall play being vital to the team" ... or let`s say more vital than someone elses. This season I saw nothing that makes him more vital than e.g. Barisic, or Flanagan in the European games.

[Frankie 8,570]

If someone is a key player then it goes without saying their 'overall play is vital to the team' and certainly more so than someone whose play is not. 

 

[der Berliner 3,747]

2 hours ago, Frankie said:

If someone is a key player then it goes without saying their 'overall play is vital to the team' and certainly more so than someone whose play is not. 

 

So if we have 8 to 11 key players* we have very few whose play is not that vital to the overall play ?

 

*Which we do every time Rangers take to the field, unless you can find any position whose overall play is not "vital".

[Gaffer 1,665]

There's no doubt our wingbacks are an important part of the way we play, but I don't see them as being any more important than other parts of the team.  We can use the word "key" to describe an important player in the team, or we can use it to describe a player we rely on for the win, or one we can't replace easily.  Either way, I don't think Tav has been key for us this season.  If he was key, and yet performing so poorly (as he obviously has), I'd expect more detriment in the results we've had.

 

In my opinion we only have three real key players and whose absence is sorely felt.  McGregor, Jack and Morelos are the three players who seem to make the biggest difference to our performances and results.  In my opinion the others could be changed and wouldn't have such a big impact on our results, but these three are at the moment irreplaceable.

 

I would have dropped Tav.  Gerrard obviously thinks that he's the type of player who needs to play his way into good form and that's obviously the gaffer's job to know how best to manage his players effectively.  However I can't be convinced that a Pollster in that position this season would have performed any less than Tav has.  At the very least he should have been given a chance.  It must be utterly demoralising for the others to see poor performers retain their position (and this includes Arfield).  Having said that, if they really are not good enough to step up to replace an under performing player, I'd hope Ross Wilson finds them a new club soon because they're a waste of money to us otherwise.

[Frankie 8,570]

Of course, due to his poor form, Tav hasn't been as key this season but he has been previously and will be again I'm sure once his form returns.

 

I'm all for criticising the guy where appropriate but it surprises me when people attempt to play down his excellent contribution over the piece for Rangers.  That's why he's captain, that's why Gerrard keeps him in the team and that's why it's difficult to replace him when we all know how important he can be and usually is. 

 

 

[alexscottislegend 2,328]

On 30/10/2019 at 12:18, Tannochsidebear said:

You're right, he was signed as a centre back because the ones he had already signed (Svensson) were rubbish. Ultimately Papac got moved to left back where he made the position his own, but he didnt exactly start poorly at Rangers and then come good, he was fairly solid all the way through his Rangers career.

 

Ricksen was a total bombscare as a full back, absolutely rubbish. Slightly better in midfield for half a season (when in discussions for a new contract) after 4.5 years of utter dross.

 

Dont really see the comparisons to Tav and Barasic myself, but to me while Barasic made a few mistakes and his form wasnt great from the off, I thought there was a player there from the get-go and thought talk of Halliday or Flanagan being a better option was laughable. Tav has steadily improved his defending over his time with us, but there are obviously still improvements to be made on that side of his game.

Flanagan is a natural right back and an England international actually, who can tackle. Flanagan and Barisic as our full backs? 

[ian1964 10,724]

On 30/10/2019 at 12:18, Tannochsidebear said:

I thought there was a player there from the get-go and thought talk of Halliday or Flanagan being a better option was laughable

Laughable? think you're wrong there, Flanagan & Halliday were better options at that time due to Barisic poor form, SG obviously agreed and picked Flanagan/Halliday before him and both actually played well enough to keep him out of the team. I think we all knew he was a player, but his early form was poor

[craig 5,199]

24 minutes ago, alexscottislegend said:

Flanagan is a natural right back and an England international actually, who can tackle. Flanagan and Barisic as our full backs? 

Putting Flanagan in instead of Tavernier completely changes the way we play.  Flanagan can defend, and does so well.  But he doesn't get forward into attacking areas, thus dragging opponents with him.  Tavernier does.  When Tavernier does that he also opens up the right centre of the pitch for players like Davis, Aribo, Arfield etc to exploit as Tavernier inevitably attracts more than just one opponent to try to stem the tide of either his run inside or his run outside to get a cross in.  Flanagan offers none of that and wouldn't pull opponents out of position.

 

As Frankie, I think, said - Tavernier's contribution cannot be measured by goals and assists - football these days is actually an awful lot to do with what you do OFF the ball, not on it.  Decoy runs can provide a goal, yet that player making the clever decoy run and pulling players with him won't ever get an assist for doing so as he didn't receive the ball.