It was an unexpected result. However, the 7-1 victory over Motherwell was the kind of result that was needed at this point in time. Braces from Scott Arfield and Eros Grezda along with goals from James Tavernier, Alfredo Morelos and Glenn Middleton made sure Rangers won in style.
I’m going to look at a few of the talking points from the thumping Rangers win at Ibrox:
Hopefully a confidence-builder going into a difficult December
It’s been a tough spell performance-wise lately for Rangers. However, with that result and the good performance, especially when Motherwell went down to 10 men, you have to hope it will be enough to give the team some confidence back. It was nice to see them relax and play with some freedom and try the more difficult passes and such. They are going to need that kind of confidence when they’re approaching the games against Livingston and Villarreal after the break and then the make-or-break month in December.
League-wise we now sit only two points off the top and if we have indeed played our way out the other end of the sticky patch, we have a real chance of challenging.
Grezda, Middleton and Arfield were excellent
The three players that stood out in the game for me were Eros Grezda, Scott Arfield and Glenn Middleton. Of course, Arfield and Grezda managed a brace each but I was impressed with how the three of them worked together. All three wanted to run in behind, and Arfield running beyond Morelos was how he managed to get his first goal. Recently when we have been playing poorly this sort of thing would not be happening. Players would want to play in front of defences and play safe. But it just shows that even though it was against 10 men for the majority, if you run in behind the defences you will cause them problems.
The three of them were involved in almost every goal bar the penalty kick. It was nice to see them work so well considering they hadn’t played together before and look so fluid in doing so.
Special mention to Grezda, though. He missed the chance against Spartak, was bitty against St Mirren and some fans had him written off as a dud. However, he impressed with his direct running, his ability to drive and commit players and also I was impressed with the calmness of his assist for Middleton’s goal.
I’m hoping we see more of him after the international break.
Rangers played their own game instead of trying to get all physical like the Fir Park encounter
It wouldn’t be a game against Motherwell without their physical approach. For a period after their equaliser it looked like Rangers were going to fall into the trap of playing that type of game rather than their own, much like the second half at Fir Park. However it was pleasing to see the team show calmness, play football and let that style come out on top over thuggery on the day.
