Ibrox View: Rangers star has surely seen the error of his ways after clash v Leverkusen
RANGERS OPINION
As unfortunate and worrying as it may be, Rangers will surely take this current suspension to Scottish footballing action as an opportunity to launch an inquest into what’s gone wrong during the second half of this season.
After looking like genuine title contenders before Christmas, the Gers have stuttered significantly since, and now find themselves 13 points behind Celtic at the summit of the Premiership table.
But while it would be unfair and shortsighted to blame just one player for their collapse in recent times, there can be no denying that the form of centre-back Connor Goldson has been patchy.
In fact, Ibrox View has already examined how his tendency to dillydally on the ball has damaged the Gers since the turn of the year, focussing in particular on his error against Hamilton at the beginning of March.
Since that costly mistake, however, it would appear that the 28-year-old has learned his lesson.
In his last outing against Bayer Leverkusen, for example, Goldson gave the ball away just four times, including two incidents in his own half, as per Wyscout.
Those numbers are vast improvements on the 11 dispossessions, with six in his own half, that he registered against the Accies.
But even the two times that he did give the ball away against Leverkusen were, in a sense, excusable.
In the example below, for instance, he only loses the ball after winning a header in his own six yard box from a corner.
While you could argue that he should be getting greater distance on his clearance, at least this isn’t an example of him hesitating for far too long in possession.
Even the second example, when Goldson gets his foot to the ball, is actually a fantastic piece of defending.
On the stretch and running towards his own goal, you can hardly blame him for losing possession when he’s having to act so drastically.
Instead, it’s worth praising his impressive reading of the game to cut off the trouble at its source.
All in all, it’s a massive improvement on the horror show we saw against Hamilton, as illustrated below, with each blue dot representing one instance of him losing possession.
Hopefully this shows us that Goldson has turned a corner, and has seen the error of his dangerously wasteful ways.
In other Rangers news, Report – Gers in line for major financial boost amid drastic new Ibrox plans.