Rangers ace John Lundstram ‘invaluable’ to any team – Kane Hemmings
John Lundstram had a very tough start to life at Rangers but he resurrected himself over the second half of last season in terrific style.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst taking over from Steven Gerrard has really lit a fire within for the 28-year-old and he became an integral part of the Dutchman’s side as they reached the Europa League final.
He has kept that form going into the new campaign and former Rangers striker Kane Hemmings is not at all surprised to see him overcome those issues.
“It’s not been a surprise to me how good Lunny has been for Rangers,” he said to the Sun. “The start might not have been what he wanted, but he got himself through it and he will be better for having to deal with that.
“Guys like Lunny are invaluable to any team and he’s become a top player at Rangers. He scored the goal to take the club to a Europa League final and I was delighted for him.”
Glue
Every great team needs that central midfielder who holds everything else together and that is what Lundstram has become so good at for Rangers over the past 10 months or so.
The attack-minded individuals in the Light Blues side know that they can afford to take a risk because the insurance policy is right behind them to make sure any missed opportunities are not punished on the counter-attack.
His stability in the middle also allows more attacking players to be selected so the side can go from a 4-2-3-1 system with two sitting midfielders to a 4-3-3 that allows just one and then two central midfielders who can push on and help get bodies around the striker.
van Bronckhorst could have been forgiven for wanting a new holding midfielder over the summer to potentially sit alongside Lundstram in the beating heart of the team but the Englishman has been so good that he doesn’t need his own support machine to be at his best.
In other Rangers news, the early team news ahead of this weekend’s Old Firm derby against Celtic is not good news for the Bears.