Ibrox View: Uncharacteristic damp squib from Rangers ace proves int’l experiment was a failure
Rangers starlet Nathan Patterson is a hugely precocious talent.
But don’t just take our word for it, listen to Gers skipper James Tavernier, who is convinced that the right-back has what it takes to be a major success in Glasgow.
As quoted by the Glasgow Times, he said: “He gets his head down and works hard and I believe he does have a big future at Rangers and a big future in football.
“He has got great attributes to his game and as long as he keeps working hard at his game, as he is now, he will have a very good future.”
But if there’s one thing for sure, we’re convinced that bright future lies at right-back.
To be fair, that is exclusively where we’ve seen him operate in a Rangers shirt so far in his fledgling career, but a rare damp squib from the youngster at international level would suggest that he is definitely not a natural winger.
Patterson played a full 90 minutes for Scotland’s U21 as a right-sided forward earlier this month, and it’s fair to say that he didn’t exactly sparkle.
The Gers prodigy had a total action success rate of just 39%, some 23.4% lower than his career average, as per Wyscout.
He also registered a 0% shot accuracy, 0% cross accuracy, a pass accuracy that was 25% lower than normal, and an inferior dribble success rate.
In particular, his lack of accuracy from crossing positions was something of an anomaly.
Patterson’s career average accuracy is 31.1%, with an average of 5.21 attempts per 90 minutes.
For Scotland, the teenager attempted six deliveries, and failed to find a man with any of them.
Interestingly, all but one of his crosses were attempted from right by the byline.
By contrast, if we look at the four successful crosses that he registered on his senior debut for Rangers in the Scottish Cup against Stranraer earlier this year, we can see that he has much more joy ands makes more meaningful passes when he delivers the ball from a slightly deeper position.
That makes sense too.
Playing at full-back affords a player more time on the ball, generally speaking, and also gives them a broader view of the action by allowing them to operate in a more reserved position.
With that in mind, it’s perhaps unsurprising to see that Patterson only completed two out of an attempted six dribbles inside the opponent’s hand during his experimental foray further up the field as well.
All of this suggests that he copes much better when he is given more time to survey his surroundings, and that surely lends itself to allowing him to continue his development as a right-back without being tempted to push him further up the field.
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