Scott Arfield blasts ‘extremely unfair’ verdict on three former Rangers teammates
Scott Arfield has blasted criticism aimed towards three of his former Rangers teammates following the poor recent run of form.
Speaking to The Athletic on 7 September, the ex-Gers midfielder, who signed for MLS side Charlotte FC following the expiration of his contract at Ibrox, jumped to the defence of James Tavernier, Connor Goldson and Borna Barisic.
The 34-year-old Scotsman labelled the recent criticism as “extremely” unfair after the trio have been a constant in the Light Blues’ backline over the past five years.
“It’s extremely unfair,” said Arfield. “Mentality can come in many ways. Tav has played more than 400 games and never misses anything.
“Talk about mentality as a professional, how many would crumble at just the thought of going to play in front of 50,000? It’s a completely different thing.
“If you’re putting yourself on the line every time, then sometimes you’re going to lose.”
No surprise
It doesn’t come as too much of a surprise to see Arfield jump to the defence of his former teammates after he played with them for a number of years at Ibrox.
He was part of the side that – alongside the trio – secured Rangers their 55th league title and went on that incredible run to the Europa League final in 2022, so he will be understandably biased towards them.
While they have been great servants to the club over a number of years, that doesn’t mean they should be free from criticism as the performances have been below par this season.
Although Tavernier has already kept up his impressive scoring record for the Gers, he led a defensive unit that fell to pieces in the 5-1 defeat to PSV in the Champions League qualifiers.
There is a line that shouldn’t be crossed when commentating on players, but as long as it doesn’t go beyond that and is constructive, then criticism is probably fair in this instance as each of the players in question are better than they have been serving up lately.
In other Rangers news, a BBC pundit has said what Rangers need to do as Michael Beale verdict shared.