For Philippe Clement’s Rangers squad, Saturday was one of those days when nearly every player appeared to have forgotten his shooting boots.
Liam Kelly, a former Auchenhowie student, made his point in goal, but the Gers manager was correct to point out that we had more than enough opportunities to win if we had played as well as we did against Hearts the previous week.
Fabio Silva was one of the goal scorers at Ibrox last week; Neil McCann, the former Rangers winger, believes a more prolific attacker would have equalized the score before halftime.
Does Rangers require a second striker, preferably one who scores goals more frequently?
With 27 goals under his belt, it’s understandable why Lawrence Shankland was the most frequently mentioned player. Scott Allan feels that it was a wasted chance.
McCann was analyzing the several opportunities that Rangers lost while speaking on BBC Sportscene. One such opportunity was when Fabio Silva shot straight at Kelly with the goal gaping:
“I simply feel that Silva doesn’t always get past the front post.
He’s had countless opportunities that ought to have been buried.
“They are in the back of the net, a natural goal scorer, and Rangers don’t give up on that loss they suffered today.”
Inefficient Rangers
Pundits James McFadden and Neil McCann of Sportscene examine how Rangers had 31 chances, but only 11 were on target, ultimately losing 2-1 to Motherwell. tweet.com/vUwYh140pr — March 3, 2024, BBC Sport Scotland (BBCSportScot) check Out This Tweet
To Silva’s defense, on a gloomy afternoon, he was arguably the best player for the Rangers and the most likely to create an opportunity.
The 21-year-old seems to be more comfortable playing off the left side of the attack, and with Oscar Cortes, Rabbi Matondo, and Abdallah Sima all sidelined due to injury, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him continue in the upcoming games.
Still, McCann is correct.
Kelly produced a number of outstanding saves, but there were also a number of instances in which he wasn’t supposed to be able to make the save in the first place.
Even on one of his “those” days, Cyriel Dessers stopped two goal-bound attempts from his own teammates.
Despite the fact that he cannot be counted on to start every game, Kemar Roofe is getting closer to being fully healthy and his time with the Rangers is almost done.
It’s that simple: if he is available to play, especially in the league, he should.
The 31-year-old is Philippe Clement’s finest finisher, and I would have placed my mortgage on him to take all of the opportunities that his fellow forwards failed to take.
Shankland saw that a catastrophe was avoided, but we might not have need a favor in the first place if he had worn the renowned Light Blue jersey this weekend rather than the maroon of hearts.
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