A passionate Rangers fan has made the bold claim that Swedish defender Filip Helander is better than legendary Dutch centre-half Jaap Stam on a popular football phone-in.
Rangers fan Lewis called into Clyde Superscoreboard [27/10/20] to sing the praises of the on-form defender with his excellent positional sense coming in for particular praise.
But the Ibrox supporter didn’t stop there as he drew comparisons between Helander and Stam and suggested the big Swede, 27, was a better defender than the ex-Manchester United man.
“With how Rangers defence has been playing this season, especially Filip Helander, I think you’ve got to put him up there now with the best that have been playing in the Scottish league”, said Lewis.
“I think his positional play is unbelievable, he reads the ball so well.
“I think you could even put him up there and compare him with the likes of Jaap Stam, I’d even say he’s possibly better than Jaap Stam.
“Even though he’s not played in Scotland, I think you could put him up there with Jaap Stam.”
The panel would acknowledge the ability of the player but question whether or not it is “extremely high praise”.
Lewis would then go on to highlight Helander’s performances in Europe and claim that he’s “easily been the best defender in the league”.
Helander played a key role in the record-breaking seven clean sheets run at the beginning of the Scottish Premiership season and has been on fine form for Rangers.
Rangers have also kept 12 clean sheets in 15 games this season, with Helander being part of eight of those in eleven appearances.
The £3m signing from Bologna has been a revelation since joining Rangers, starting 28 games, keeping 17 clean sheets, conceding 14 goals and winning 20 matches.
Rangers have also never lost a game in the league when Filip Helander has played – so there’s justification for the praise.
But it’s hard to argue that the Swedish international has some way to go before he can eclipse the record of Jaap Stam.
Stam won a host of honours with PSV, Manchester United (including the Champions League in 1999), Lazio, Milan and Ajax whilst also making 67 appearances for Holland, reaching the semi-finals of the 1998 World Cup in France.
