Rangers midfield struggles v Celtic could leave door open for Nicolas Raskin to impress Michael Beale
Rangers’ midfield struggles against Celtic in the Viaplay Cup Final on Sunday could now mean Michael Beale hands January signing Nicolas Raskin regular starts.
The Gers left Hampden Park empty-handed after the 2-1 defeat to Ange Postecoglou’s side in a somewhat underwhelming performance against their Old Firm rivals.
Beale tasted his first defeat as Rangers boss, and the former QPR manager stunned fans before the game with his strange tactical decisions ahead of his first big test.
Beale went for a midfield-pairing of Glen Kamara and John Lundstram, with the latter reportedly a doubt ahead of the game, ahead of January signing Raskin who started on the bench.
Both Lundstram and Kamara were poor all game, with both receiving ratings of just “4/10” from the Scotsman, which could well leave the door open for Raskin to start for the Gers moving forward.
Scottish pundit Andy Halliday, speaking to Clyde 1 [27 February] was left baffled that the former Standard Liege ace didn’t start, stating the fact that the Gers pushed for his signature last month should warrant his starts in the big games.
He said: “In terms of taking the game in isolation, the omission of Raskin was a real shock for me.
“I look at Michael Beale’s desire to get Raskin in in January…when you look at when Rangers were initially talking about a pre-contract and getting Raskin in the summer but they wanted it over the line now, surely it was for games like this?
“That’s why, for me, I thought it was a no-brainer for him to start the game. So for him to not then start the game was a real shock.”
And Halliday wasn’t the only pundit baffled by Beale’s decision which cost him a first major trophy in his career, with former player Barry Ferguson stating his own disbelief at Raskin’s omission.
The 21-year-old was dubbed a major coup ahead of his move to the Ibrox, with his unique qualities from midfield a much-needed ingredient for the Gers to unlock defences in the most intense and tightest of matches, including Sunday’s final.
Following Kamara and Lundstam’s underwhelming performances in midfield, Beale may now have learned a testing lesson to now hand Raskin the starts his talents warrant.
In other Rangers news, the fans must do more to get Douglas Park and Ross Wilson out of the club because enough is enough.