He may have only come on for the final few moments, but Ovie Ejaria vs Dundee was painful viewing.
Rangers supporters have let loose at their on-loan midfield star after his pitiful cameo against the Dee this afternoon.
It was a match that Rangers were ultimately frustrated in as they were held to a 1-1 draw in Tayside. With the match heading for a draw for large spells, Steven Gerrard threw on Ejaria to try and bring a creative spark to the game.
Instead, the on-loan Liverpool man took far too many touches on the ball, and consistently lost possession. He even came close to throwing away the point when he was dispossessed, leading to a four-v-three in the final third for Dundee.
Rangers escaped that embarrassment, but Ejaria himself didn’t escape criticism for his own personal display this afternoon. Here’s some of the Twitter reactions from Rangers fans to his display today.
https://twitter.com/IL_Official/status/1071792944959709192
https://twitter.com/glasgowsportsfa/status/1071808909579616256
https://twitter.com/crossy72_/status/1071808280983470080
Massive dip in form
When it comes to Ejaria’s stats at Rangers, they most certainly don’t lie. So far during his loan stint in Glasgow, he’s notched just two goals and bagged just one assist. For a player who’s supposed to add a real creative spark to the side, he’s struggling big time.
Rangers continue to struggle for inspiration in the final third these days. Against Dundee, the plan of action seemed to be just to toss the ball into the box and see what happens. Given how poor Kyle Lafferty was on the day, these crosses went unpunished on a consistent basis.
Ejaria came on for the final 20 minutes, but his performance was lackluster. There appears to be real hesitancy with him when on the ball, as he refuses to play a final ball and always seems to want one more turn.
He did play a fine ball through to Daniel Candeias in the closing stages, releasing the Portuguese down the right. That was about it, however, whilst he’ll mostly be remembered for a ridiculous phase when he continued to twist and turn on the edge of the Dundee box before losing control of the ball.
When results don’t go your way, you need to start performing individually first and foremost. Ejaria certainly isn’t, and Rangers fans have every right to wonder why.
