Ibrox View: Rangers must be wary of sizeable Kai Havertz threat v Bayer Leverkusen
There’s no two ways about it, Rangers face an uphill task in their Europa League clash against Bayer Leverkusen on Thursday evening.
Steven Gerrard’s find themselves 3-1 down as they travel to Germany, and know that they must score at least three goals of their own to counteract the away goals they conceded at Ibrox.
With that in mind, it’s absolutely vital that they don’t concede any more, but stopping that from happening is easier said than done.
And the main reason for that is because of Kai Havertz.
The 21-year-old hit 17 goals and nine assists in all competitions from midfield last season, and has been so impressive that he is being heavily linked to Chelsea and has an asking price of £90 million.
His quality is obvious too.
Last season, for instance, his pass completion rate was 11.2% higher than Ianis Hagi’s, while his total action success rate was 9.4% higher and he had a superior shot accuracy as well, as per Wyscout.
And Rangers witnessed exactly how dangerous he was when the two sides faced back in March.
Not only did he score from the penalty spot, but he also registered a pass completion rate of 91%.
The main standout here is the range of his Havertz’s distribution.
These aren’t just simple five yard passes – although he can clearly play those too.
These are passes that change the point and emphasis of an attack, forcing defences to constantly readjust and adapt to his vision of how the game should be played.
Take the example above.
Havertz runs onto a throw-in to meet it first time and strike a sublime pass out to the opposite wing.
The pace with which he reacts catches the Gers out, but the most interesting thing about it is what it does to their shape.
As well as pulling James Tavernier out of position, six other Rangers players are forced to turn and cover ground to get across the pitch.
All of that movement naturally leads to some disjoining, and as can be seen below opens up a fairly spacious triangle between Gerrard’s midfield three.
In turn, that gives Leverkusen’s players the luxury of being able to drop deep to receive possession if they want to, or in another instance, would have afforded them the space to allow the midfield to drift further forward.
And it all comes from just one pass.
In short, Havertz has the ability and the vision to create havoc in a split second.
He is a danger man, and that is why Rangers’ hopes of staging an unlikely comeback rest largely on stopping him from playing his natural game tonight.
In other Rangers news, Darren Fletcher has backed this Gers talent for big season in 20/21 after impressive showing v Aberdeen.