Rangers: BBC Sportscene pundit slams John Souttar despite win v Ross County at Ibrox
Despite a convincing Rangers victory against Ross County on Wednesday 14 January, Neil McCann was critical of John Souttar for his role in The Staggies’ equalising goal.
Cyriel Dessers opened the scoring after just five minutes, but instead of dropping their heads, Ross County looked to take advantage of Rangers’ weakness in defence.
It took Simon Murray just 25 minutes to equalise, powering a volley home past Jack Butland, with the defence nowhere near the striker after a pass in behind.
Speaking via BBC’s Sportscene on Wednesday (14 February), McCann said: “If you play [Eamonn] Brophy and Murray, you’ve just got to turn Rangers. You saw the joy that Aberdeen have had with balls over the top.
“The ball gets knocked on, and John Souttar is out there trying to impact Murray. Goldson should stop the cross, but Souttar’s body position is all wrong. James Tavernier should tuck in and get to the immediate danger.”
Rangers weakness for Clement to address
In no way should Philippe Clement be joyous about his side’s play in the build-up to Ross County’s equalising goal. Rangers have been caught out by a long ball over the top far too often.
As McCann mentioned, Aberdeen have also been a team in the Scottish Premiership to exploit this weakness, with Bojan Miovski causing many problems during Neil Warnock’s first game in charge of The Dons.
Despite the obvious flaw in Rangers’ defence, the signs of a title-winning team were certainly there, as Dessers bagged his brace before Souttar, making up for his mistake, headed a late goal to close out a 3-1 victory.
The 27-year-old centre-back will have surely made amends with Clement for his lapse in judgement, but it should still be a cause for concern for the Belgian. Aiming to just score more than the opposition is a risky tactic to employ.
Tavernier was also slow to react in the build-up to Murray’s goal, but a hat-trick of assists will have surely painted over the crack in his defensive display.
In other Rangers news, Andy Walker has slammed Connor Goldson for a “reckless” and “dangerous” display
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