Rangers flop must not start again this season

Glasgow Rangers central midfielder Tochi Chukwuani has been a brilliant addition to the squad since he was signed from Sturm Graz for a fee of £4m in the January transfer window.

The central midfield star made his Light Blues debut as a substitute for Joe Rothwell against Annan Athletic in a 5-0 win in the SFA Cup back in January.

Since then, the Danish powerhouse has started all ten of his appearances in the Scottish Premiership for the Gers, including the 6-3 win over Falkirk on Sunday.

The 23-year-old talent has emerged as a regular starter alongside Nicolas Raskin in the middle of the park for Danny Rohl, striking up a fine partnership with the Belgian ace.

Chukwuani’s performance against Falkirk on Sunday, however, was not plain sailing because there were things to like and dislike about his display.

Analysing Tochi Chukwuani’s Rangers performance against Falkirk

The Denmark U21 international scored a pivotal goal for the Gers in the 6-3 win, as he pulled a goal back just before half-time when the team was on the verge of going into the break at 2-0 down.

Rangers were 2-0 down, in part, due to the overall lackadaisical nature of their performance, and Chukwuani was a part of that as he looked off the pace in the opening 30 minutes.

It was his sloppy pass out to the flank that gave possession away in the build up to Falkirk’s second goal, but he quickly improved after his early errors.

Chukwuani ended the game with six ball recoveries and two out of three tackles won, winning the ball back for Rangers in good positions on several occasions in the second half, yet still ended the match with only five of his 11 duels won.

Whilst there were positive and negative elements to his performance against Falkirk, the Danish star was far from the worst performer on the pitch for the Gers.

Worse than Chukwuani: The biggest underperformer for Rangers against Falkirk

Chukwuani could have started the game with more intensity and performed more efficiently in his duels, but one of his teammates underperformed so badly that they should not start again this season.

Rohl opted to go with the captain, James Tavernier, as his starting right-back ahead of Max Aarons and Dujon Sterling, who was left out because of the artificial surface.

The veteran defender, whose contract is up at the end of the season, struggled in and out of possession throughout the match for the Gers, and was fortunate not to cost the team points by giving away a penalty in the second half.

Tavernier gave Falkirk a lifeline with a foul, described as “ridiculous” by Heart & Hand’s David Edgar, that allowed Calvin Miller to make it 4-3, but a quick goal from Youssef Chermiti meant that any chance of a comeback for the hosts quickly faded.

He was also caught out of position for the opening goal in the sixth minute, as Falkirk took advantage of the space that he vacated, and the right-back was not on the frontfoot to win a challenge from Chukwuani’s loose pass for the second goal.

Miller, who assisted the opening goal, ran from a deeper position than Tavernier, who was on his heels, and had all the space and time in the world to provide the assist to Broggio.

It was not just his defensive mistakes that stood out with the skipper, though, because he also lost possession a whopping 29 times without creating a single ‘big chance’ for his teammates.

Tavernier has now lost possession 558 times in the Premiership this season and only registered four assists in 31 appearances for the club, which means that he has lost possession 140 times per assist on average.

The 34-year-old defender, therefore, was way worse than Chukwuani, who had good and bad moments, because he was ineffective both in and out of possession throughout the game.

With five games left to go in the title race and games against Celtic and Hearts to come, Rohl’s team cannot afford to be as sloppy defensive and on the ball as Tavernier was against Falkirk.

Therefore, Rangers may have the best chance to win the Premiership title if they drop the captain from the starting line-up for the remainder of this season, playing Sterling or Aarons in his place.

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