Ibrox View: BBC pundit rant surely shows that Rangers player needs to fix up or face axe
Rangers finally showed a sign of weakness at Easter Road on Sunday.
After starting this season with seven consecutive Scottish Premiership clean sheets, the Gers slipped up against Hibernian by shipping two frustrating goals in a 2-2 draw.
And one man in particular who drew ire from former Hearts chief Craig Levein for his display was Filip Helander.
Speaking on BBC Sportsound, he said: ““Listen, I’m not being disrespectful, but I’m not having Helander.
“I don’t think he’s strong enough, I don’t think he’s quick enough.
“He’s good on the ball, but there are times when you need to be a proper centre-back in this league, put your head on the ball and tackle when you need to tackle.”
The stats certainly suggest that Levein has a point too.
Helander started the campaign out of the starting XI, with summer signing Leon Balogun taking his spot.
Were it not for an unfortunate injury, the Nigeria international may well have retained his place in the heart of defence too.
And compared to Balogun’s early season output, Helander struggles to match up.
The Sweden international averages fewer interceptions, fewer clearances, and fewer loose balls mopped up than his teammate, as per Wyscout.
In particular, his showing against Hibs was an underwhelming one.
Helander won just 38% of his aerial duels, some 37% lower than Balogun’s season average.
Most concerning, however, is the fact that he failed to win any of the three that he contested in and around his own box.
You need your centre-back to be commanding that area with confidence, and Helander evidently wasn’t.
If you need any further proof of this, just take a look at the Helander’s loose ball duel map.
The 27-year-old won just one 50/50 all game, giving him a paltry success rate of 14%.
Whether this is a reflection of his lack of pace, lack of gumption, lack of anticipatory skills, or a combination of all three, it really doesn’t reflect positively on his talents as a defensive enforcer.
The single foul that Helander committed against Jack Ross’ men was a perfect illustration of those flaws too.
In the image above, he is the Rangers player closest to the ball.
Now, in fairness to the defender, he is making his way back from a set-piece, which at least explains the poor positioning.
But he is sluggish in catching up with the play, and allows his man to get his body between the Ibrox centre-back and the ball.
The whole thing is then compounded by the dreadful timing of Helander’s intervention.
Look at how far away the ball is by the time that he actually puts his foot in.
It’s an obvious foul, yes, but even worse is the fact that it highlights the full range of issues that Helander needs to address in his game.
He’s not a bad player by any means, but if he doesn’t fix up sharpish, surely he is going to be ousted for the returning Balogun.
In other Rangers news, Ibrox Exclusive: Euro journo claims Celtic player was ‘biggest competition’ for Rangers new boy.