Ovie Ejaria’s Rangers career has certainly been an interesting one so far.
To sum up Ejaria would be to label him the good loan star from Liverpool, but not the great one. Indeed, Ejaria is at Ibrox for a year-long loan spell from parent club Liverpool.
So far during his time at Ibrox, he’s put in some decent performances and shown flashes of brilliance. He’s one of the mainstays in Steven Gerrard’s team these days, and he has something about him.
In order for him to be great, however, he needs to improve those consistency levels.
Ejaria might have great feet and look technically very sound, but his influence on games recently has been minimal. Despite a strong showing against Spartak Moscow, he’s been off the boil since having to step up as Arfield’s replacement for creativity.
When Rangers are winning games and cruising to victory, Ejaria looks a strong performer given how confidently he plays. There’s certainly a player in there, but he still has a lot to learn before he’ll be a title-winner at this level.
Needs to improve the stats
So far, the midfielder has scored two goals and bagged zero assists in 21 appearances. Considering he’s an attacking midfielder, those stats don’t really reflect too well on him so far.
Yet, there’s no denying he does certain things well and isn’t as poor as the stats suggest. His quick feet are such an asset in the midfield, and he has a terrific stride on him.
It’s also important to remember that he is at Rangers to develop. Under the weight of expectation in having to win every week, however, Ejaria doesn’t have those consistency levels yet. His performance against Aberdeen was bitterly disappointing as he proved once more that those levels are too low.
With Scott Arfield missing for the last few games, there was a strong onus on the midfielder to run with the baton of creativity. Instead, he’s generally failed with the increase in responsibility where Ryan Kent has succeeded.
If Rangers are to reach their goals this season, Ejaria has to step it up another couple of levels. In European games he’s been terrific, but domestically he could do with being more expressive.
He certainly has the talent and has still started well at Ibrox, but it’s time to start raising the bar.
