Jason Jones

Thu 20 August 2020 16:01, UK

Steven Gerrard has made it very clear that he is not against the idea of trimming his Rangers squad this summer. 

The Ibrox boss spoke quite openly after his side’s 3-0 win over St. Johnstone about the prospect of selling Greg Docherty (now at Hull) and Ross McCrorie (now at Aberdeen) this summer, and it got us thinking about another player who could find himself in the same boat as that duo.

George Edmundson was a regular in Gerrard’s first-team setup last season, making 16 appearances in all competitions.

But this season he appears to have slipped down the pecking order, with Leon Balogun arriving on a free transfer and Filip Helander returning to full fitness.

With Connor Goldson and Nikola Katic already in the squad, albeit with the latter carrying a long term injury, could Edmundson’s future at Ibrox be in jeopardy?

We would like to think not.

At 22, Edmundson is still very young, especially for a centre-back, and he showed more than enough last season to suggest that he deserves more of a chance to grow and develop in Glasgow.

As per Wyscout, the defender actually registered a higher pass completion rate than Connor Goldson last term, as well as having a higher total action success rate.

Incredibly, he also won a higher percentage of his aerial duels and a higher percentage of his total duels too.

And his performance in the 1-0 win over SC Braga was a perfect example of what’s capable of.

Edmundson managed 10 interceptions in that game, as well as winning 100% of his aerial battles.

If we take a closer look at his interception map too, we can see that they were vital interventions.

Eight of them came in or around his own penalty area.

Edmundson was essentially acting as the last line of defence in a stoic performance that helped the Gers to pick up one of their biggest results of last season.

And there was one moment in particular that perfectly encapsulated how much of a solid, calm presence Edmondson is at the back.

The youngster is circled in the image above.

The first thing to notice here is that his body shape is good.

He’s heading back towards his own goal, but he has opened his shoulders out just enough to ensure that he still has a good idea of where his attacker is.

As the winger gets ready to deliver, Edmundson has done the right thing by dropping alongside Goldson to form a solid defensive line.

But he also shows enough anticipation and awareness to realise that the ball is very probably going to be played into one of the two circled areas in the image above.

And as you can see from his body shape, he is already looking to cut off the threat by getting to his man, and then ideally across the path of the pass.

That stellar reading of the game allows him to get across in plenty of time, and his tackle is both clean and strong.

It’s not the most spectacular piece of defending you’ll ever see, but it really epitomises what Edmundson is all about – good, honest, simple defending.

That kind of thing will never go out of style, and because of that Gerrard should definitely keep him around.

In other Rangers news, Ibrox Exclusive: Alex Bruce hails Rangers after ‘perfect’ start to season