‘Unbelievable’ – Goldson blown away by one Rangers starter in win v Lech Poznan
Connor Goldson was full of praise for Borna Barisic after the Rangers left-back impressed in the 1-0 win against Lech Poznan on Thursday night.
Barisic, 27, assisted Alfredo Morelos’ match-winning goal with a superbly executed cross in the 68th minute.
Stats by WyScout show that Barisic fired eight crosses into the Poznan penalty area during the match and while only three of them found one of his team-mates, the Croatian’s input from the left-flank was arguably the biggest threat Steven Gerrard’s side possessed on the night.
Speaking after the match, defender Goldson raved about Barisic and James Tavernier for their ability to put the ball on a plate for players in the box.
“I thought he put in some unbelievable ones in the first-half as well,” he said after the match on Thursday, as quoted by the Herald.
“We were unlucky we didn’t get on the end of them. We know the quality that both he and Tav have got and that is why we try to get them both up the pitch as much as we can.”
Goldson makes a good point there because when you look at the stats, it will say that Barisic found a team-mate with just 38 per cent of his crosses against Lech Poznan and across all competitions this season, the Croatia international’s cross accuracy has been 46.4 per cent [WyScout].
But there’s just so much more to crossing stats than just whether or not they were completed because it’s such a tricky skill to get perfect.
While Rangers are very good at raining crosses into the box and getting goals from wide positions, you cannot always guarantee 100 per cent accuracy with them.
Defenders can do well to make clearances, the ball’s flight can change in the air, goalkeepers can come out and win the ball or punch it away, they can be blocked or an attacker can miss the ball by millimetres.
Barisic usually always gets the ball into the right place with a perfect amount of pace and direction.
Against Poznan, he was unfortunate to just get the one assist.
In other Rangers news, the Gers want to sign this Liverpool-born Premier League player on a cut-price deal.