Rangers boss Steven Gerrard didn’t pull any punches when criticising his defence following Wednesday night’s draw with Aberdeen, as quoted by the Daily Record.
After half an hour, the Gers were 2-0 up and cruising, but defensive lapses both before and after the break proved their undoing as they dropped two important Premiership points.
Several players didn’t react quickly enough to initial danger before both James Tavernier and Filip Helander failed to block the 39th minute Jon Gallacher shot which got the Dons back into the contest.
Then, after a sluggish start to the second half, a moment of madness from Jon Flanagan, followed by statuesque defending in the box, allowed Andrew Considine to bring the hosts level.
“The defending for the second goal isn’t good enough – it’s disappointing,” said Gerrard, as quoted by the Daily Record. “There’s no panic, Jon [Flanagan] has plenty of time, I don’t know about the communication.”
“It’s the small details of how you defend. We lose a runner and then they are more hungry to score.
“We are trying to claim a foul in the box but whether it’s a foul or not it’s very unlikely you are going to get it here at Pittodrie so our reaction needs to be better when it drops in the box.”
Verdict
Gerrard was clearly immensely frustrated after his side essentially surrendered what had at one stage looked like being a comfortable three points.
The criticism of the defending is justified, though. Particularly, for the second goal.
Flanagan showed a lack of composure and then once the ball came back into the area, no one was prepared to take ownership to clear the danger.
Having kept a clean sheet in four consecutive games heading into the international break, it’s a concern that the Gers have now shipped five goals in their last four outings.
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