Rangers first-half against Servette stood out for all the wrong reasons and James Tavernier was front and centre.
The skipper is key to our attacking success but he was misplacing passes, overhitting crosses and giving the ball away – it wasn’t much better in defence either.
Michael Beale intervened at half-time, however, Rangers need to be better against PSV Eindhoven, including James Tavernier, as reported by BBC Sport.
Rangers captain James Tavernier learns lesson the hard way
Speaking to the BBC after the 1-1 draw, the Gers captain revealed what the manager had said to them to get a foothold back in a game that was in danger of escaping them:
“We had to get closer to them, we felt they were maybe building up too quickly and getting through us too easily so we changed a few things at half-time, got around each other and we came out the second half much better so I am really pleased with that.
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“You don’t really want to waste 45 minutes so we will learn from this. It will be a big tie at home next Tuesday.”
Tavernier is right.
Rangers were able to turn a negative into a positive but we won’t get away with that against better opposition, nor will James Tavernier get away with being so wasteful in possession either.
Few would have complained, even the player himself, if he had been hooked at half-time but it again shows the importance of Beale’s job too.
The system and tactics left Tavernier isolated and exposed and he struggled as a result.
If we see more of what we saw in the second half, his position won’t be questioned as often as it currently is.
Scoring winning goals helps too though.