On Wednesday night, we saw yet another mixed performance from Sheyi Ojo.
The Liverpool loanee has five goals and four assists in 13 appearances in Light Blue [Transfermarkt]. However, you get the impression a large percentage of the Gers support are as yet undecided on the 22-year-old.
His goal against Feyenoord was an absolute screamer, worthy of winning any game. Yet, elsewhere in open play he often chose the wrong option or slowed the game down and failed to track back in defence.
Away at Livi, we saw glimpses of something special. After being fed the ball down the left midway through the second half, he showed incredible pace and stamina to burst clear and get himself into the box. After doing brilliantly to get there, his finish was weak.
Later in the piece, having been found in space on the wing, he once again showed great pace to fashion an opening but opted to check back inside, instead of firing the ball across the box to a waiting Alfredo Morelos. The Colombian forward was livid with his teammate and no wonder – it was the obvious ball.
The fact is, Rangers fans are going to have to get used to this.
£1.8m-rated Ojo [Transfermarkt] is a mercurial talent who is capable of the sublime but also of the ridiculous. He’s pacy, tricky and skilful, but also raw, indecisive and sometimes unwilling commit himself defensively in the way a Daniel Candeias would.
If the winger was the finished article, Liverpool wouldn’t have sent him out on loan for the fifth time.
In the modern footballing world, you need to pay big money for a player with both attacking flair and consistency. After all, the Gers shipped £7.5 million for Ryan Kent [Sky Sports], and while a more rounded operator than Ojo, he is still some way off mastering the latter trait.
Gerrard brought in Ojo for the season and knew what he was getting. He’s a match-winner, but he’ll also have Bears tearing their hair out on a weekly basis.
