Michael Stewart and Neil McCann blast ‘criminal’ Borna Barisic on BBC as Rangers lose v Celtic
Michael Stewart and Neil McCann blasted Borna Barisic for his performance as Rangers lost 3-0 to Celtic at Parkhead on Wednesday night.
Barisic, 29, was substituted off at half-time after a ridiculously bad performance in the first half.
The Croatia international was at fault for numerous Celtic chances while he was also completely exposed for the home side’s third goal when he didn’t bother marking Liel Abada at the back post.
Stewart couldn’t believe just how bad Barisic’s approach to defending was.
“This just highlights again where Barisic, in particular, is just asleep,” said Stewart on BBC Sportscene [2 February] after a highlight of one of Celtic’s chances that was saved by Allan McGregor.
After that, the BBC showed a replay of Abada’s goal and McCann absolutely tore Barisic to shreds, venting his anger at the left-back.
McCann said: “It’s a brilliant cross and then we highlight Barisic and every time I look at this, it makes me angrier.
“I mean, that is unbelievable. And it’s that moment of horror for Barisic.
“We’re talking about an internationalist here for Croatia.
“He has a look at O’Riley and thinks, ‘we’ve got that covered’. But at no point does he open up his shoulders and look for the wide man.
“As an international full-back, that is criminal.”
Shocking
Barisic’s defensive flaws are well-known among Rangers fans so it wasn’t a surprise to see him exposed against Celtic on Wednesday.
But no one expected him to play as badly as he did and Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s decision to axe him at half-time was absolutely spot on.
We looked a lot better after the break with Calvin Bassey at left-back and Leon Balogun playing in the middle. But, in fairness, Celtic did take their foot off the gas as the damage was already done.
Barisic has never been a strong defender but it’s basic, schoolboy stuff to defend the back post when the ball is coming from the other side of the pitch. And he didn’t even think to look at where Abada was.
There’ll be a massive fallout from that performance.
We just cannot continue with Barisic at left-back.
He has been absolutely rank rotten all season and his woeful defending basically cost us the game at Parkhead.
His teammates were not much better but how many times this season have we been left frustrated by Barisic’s performance at left-back?
We’ve lost count.
In other Rangers news, Tom English slammed this “punch-drunk” Gers player in the loss to Celtic.