The display of Joe Worrall against Livingston left a lot to be desired in the minds of Rangers fans.
The on-loan Nottingham Forest centre-back was thrown in against Livi alongside Connor Goldson. It was a match in which Rangers had to win to keep their title challenge on track. Instead, the Gers crashed to a 1-0 defeat with Worrall right at the heart of it.
This wasn’t the first time Worrall has played alongside Goldson. The pair also teamed up to keep Villarreal down to two goals in Spain in that terrific 2-2 draw.
Yet, against Livingston, Worrall had another big chance to impress and didn’t take it. He was bullied all over the Tony Macaroni Arena by Dolly Menga, and didn’t have an answer to Livingston’s front-man.
This was the kind of outing Worrall would’ve wanted to have strolled through. With Nikola Katic and Goldson both earning rave reviews since arriving at Ibrox, a poor performance wasn’t needed by Worrall. In truth, if he wanted to cement his place in the side, he could barely afford one mistake.
Plenty of errors
On Sunday, the centre-back made plenty. When on the ball he looked like he didn’t have a clue what to do with it. Consistently looking up as if to pass forward before choosing for either a sideways pass or a dreadful long ball – he didn’t show sufficient quality.
Katic will have been sitting on the bench wondering why he wasn’t allowed to start against Livi. That’s not to say Katic would’ve just waltzed on to the park and strolled the game. Livingston deserve more credit than that for a terrific display on Sunday.
What he would’ve brought, however, was an understanding with Goldson that’s been developed since pre-season. In big away games against tough opposition, this is probably essential.
Worrall has been promised plenty of game-time in this Rangers side this season. That could be one of the main reasons why we’re seeing plenty of him at the moment. But it could also be the fact that Steven Gerrard wants each of his centre-backs to understand each other.
Regardless, Worrall didn’t do himself any favours on Sunday. Katic will fancy his chances of returning to the fold on Thursday night against Rapid Vienna.
If he doesn’t, he’ll certainly be scratching his head as to why.
