Barry Ferguson fuming with Rangers players after Liverpool defeat
Barry Ferguson has been left fuming with Rangers players after the Gers suffered an “excruciating” 7-1 loss against Liverpool in the Champions League clash on Wednesday at Ibrox.
With this defeat, the Bears have been knocked out of this competition. They have to win their remaining two games and hope Ajax lose both of their games in order to progress to the Europa League.
The Bears were 1-1 at the break, but they collapsed dramatically in the second half. Ferguson is stunned that nobody stood up and made it difficult for the Reds after Conor Goldson left the pitch with an injury.
“But please don’t tell me Goldson is the only one out there who knows how to organise and how to lead. When he limped off, surely someone else realised they had to step up and take on some responsibility? In a situation like that you need three or four guys who can smell the danger and start doing something about it,” wrote Ferguson for the Daily Record.
“‘Hey you! Get in, stay tight. Don’t leave any gaps. Make sure we’re close together and organised. They’re cutting through us like a hot knife through butter. Get the f****** finger out here!’ I watched it for a second time on Wednesday night and I didn’t see anyone out there who was prepared to take on that role.
“The distances between players were frightening – and I’m talking about a good 15 yards between defenders, full backs and the midfield. What did they think was going to happen when people like Roberto Firmino, Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota and Mo Salah were running into them?
“Yes, the manager needs to identify that during the game but so do the players. They have to give themselves a right good shake for the part they played in what became an excruciating beating. They let their manager down every bit as much as they let the fans down.”
Perspective
Missing Goldson was a huge blow for the Gers, and it left a hole in defence when he left.
It is easier said than done that other players should have stepped up. Imagine if Virgil van Dijk had left, Liverpool would have faced a similar problem as well.
Also, Rangers are currently lacking options at the back. John Souttar is injured, and Ben Davies hasn’t played enough. The summer signing needs more time to impose his authority on the side.
When Goldson left, young Leon king was asked to face world-class Liverpool forwards, and it’s not fair on the young lad if he had failed to stay compact.
Ferguson rightly pointed out that there was a huge gap between midfield and defence, and Liverpool forwards did exploit it, but without a proper leader at the back, it was always going to happen.
Moreover, nobody imagined that Mohamed Salah would do something that nobody ever did in Champions League history – that is scoring a hat-trick within six minutes.
In other Rangers news, Ross Wilson may have played a blinder for Rangers after a shocking development in October that will leave many Gers fans surprised.