Connor Goldson proves he’s a cut above for Rangers, stats back him up
There are many remarkable statistics revolving around Rangers’ sensational charge to the Europa League quarter-finals.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side have already sent Borussia Dortmund and Red Star Belgrade packing in the knockout stages of the competition.
Portuguese side Braga are the next team to stand in the Light Blues’ way but they might find scoring past the Gers a tough assignment if this latest stat is anything to go by.
As posted by the UEFA Europa League Twitter account, Rangers defender Connor Goldson is sitting pretty at the top of the tree when it comes to ball recoveries in the entire competition.
He has a healthy lead too on a whopping 60 ball recoveries with the next closest to him being Andreas Maxso of Brondby and Marcao from Galatasaray on 54 apiece.
It might not be the stat that everyone looks for at first glance but these recoveries quickly add up to make a huge difference to the team and Goldson has been exceptional all competition in that regard.
The Englishman is rightly attracting interest from elsewhere after a brilliant couple of years at Ibrox and he is proving his worth as one of Europe’s elite talents in defence.
van Bronckhorst has been very lucky to have the 29-year-old at the heart of his defence and his impeccable fitness this season has been another huge boost for the Dutchman as Filip Helander and Leon Balogun both suffered from setbacks.
There is no doubting that, given the stats, he is the best defender in Scotland at the very least and should probably be in the conversation for an international call-up very soon if Gareth Southgate has any awareness of Scottish football existing.
In other Rangers news, it’s been a heated day at Ibrox but the fans and the club have to put their differences aside until the season is done.