BBC Sportscene pundit blown away by Rangers left-back Borna Barisic as footage shown v Motherwell
Richard Foster was impressed with Borna Barisic after the Rangers left-back registered two assists in the 3-1 victory over Motherwell at Ibrox.
The Croatian produced a pinpoint cross for Alfredo Morelos in the 13th minute for the Colombian to open the scoring with a header. He repeated the trick in the 39th minute to allow Connor Goldson to double the Gers’ lead.
Foster was full of praise for his “fantastic” cross for Morelos and believes it’s a shame for Adam Devine who was left on the substitutes bench.
“This is what he brings to the team and that’s a fantastic cross in [Morelos’ goal],” said Foster (BBC Sportscene, 07m:27s, 28 December).
“The Motherwell defender gets himself underneath the ball and it’s an easier enough header for Morelos. There’s pace on the cross and that’s what he brings to the side. He’s a natural left-footer playing at left-back and he has lots of quality.
“You hope that the brief experience at the World Cup gets him back to the Barisic he has been in seasons previously. It’s a shame for young Devine who has been excellent, but I think with young players you need to dip them in and out of the team and I think Barisic knows he needs to perform to stay in the team.”
On the money
Barisic was one of Rangers’ best performers on Wednesday evening (28 December) and will be looking to continue his good form in the Old Firm derby on 2 January. His crossing was exquisite and would’ve been a tough task for pretty much any defensive unit to deal with.
It appears the World Cup has given the 30-year-old a new lease of life, and it’s now up to him to show more consistency as the second half of the season gets underway.
Barisic will know he will have to keep on performing if he wants to keep his place with Devine also looking to become a regular starter under Michael Beale. The new boss will be pleased with the competition and will hope it leads to improved levels of performance from his players.
The clash against Celtic will represent Beale’s first proper test since returning to Ibrox and his players will need to up their performance levels if they wish to close the gap at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
It’s been a promising start, but there’s certainly a lot of room for improvement in the second half of the campaign.
In other Rangers news, an Ibrox legend has praised one man playing out of position under Beale while criticising another.