match thread (image) [FT] Rangers 3 (Tavernier 11 pen; Morelos 15; Balogun 51) - 0 Crvena zvezda

[Sutton_blows_goats 5,329]

Forgot to give big Balogun a special mention. Thought he was good last night defensively and holding a good offside line and the goal just topped off a good performance.

 

Its hard for players who have been injured to give everything sometimes. Mentally they might hold back slightly. None of that last night from Leon. Felt he put it all on the line last night.

[compo 7,030]

[compo 7,030]

Last night's scorecard paid a derisory 70/1 ,saying that I hope some of you might be going to collect today .

[Gonzo79 15,292]

How far have we come in four years!?

 

From losing to some team we've never heard of to stuffing Dortmund, Red Star Belgrade et al.

 

I need to pinch myself.

[Nevermind 159]

I don't want to pick on Aribo because we're clearly playing him in the hope he can spark a piece of brilliance despite him being knackered. Kamara looked like he was trying to force his way into the game last night by nipping in here and there. 

I was pretty sure it was going to be a decent night when the Red Star player tried to shoulder Morelos off the ball and found himself bouncing about 6 feet away from him. They came with a physical mentality and Morelos loves nothing better. They got schooled last night in the fine art of the Buff. 

Something I've noticed about Jack is that teams in Europe highly respect him. The amount of time and space he gets on the ball is testament to how much of a Tiger he is. Players know not to tangle with him. 

Tav was simply outstanding, the way he was played last night was very Warburton. He was darting inside and moving around into multiple positions much like how Lee Wallace used to do. Morelos towards the last 20 minutes of the game took up the Prso position where he drifted around the corner of the box and corner flag allowing Tav to slide and cause havok to their marking system. The Morelos/ Tav combo was just too fluid for them. It reminded me of the Tav/Waghorn combo.  

Hopefully this is GVB admitting Tav is an out and out asset in attack and shouldn't be shackled. 

Bassey to me is nowhere near polished or finished but he is effective. He keeps it simple and sometimes thats all it takes. He put pressure on the backline late on by trying to keep that ball in but that is just down to his desire. Something he'll learn to control with age. 

All in all, we are a competent Europa league side. We're not without our flaws obviously, if we didn't have said flaws we'd be champions league not Europa. 

The away tie will be a dog fight and the players need to stand up to it. 

ps, GVB dispatching Lundtrum as a sweeper is just genius. He's not stupid or stubborn, he's watching and judging, always.