Steven Gerrard’s substitutions have been questionable to say the least.
Not as much because of the nature of the players coming on, but the timing in which he’s carrying them out. The 1-0 defeat to Aberdeen in this evening’s Betfred Cup semi-final was gutting for the Rangers support, but it could’ve been avoided.
Too often when Rangers are struggling in matches, Gerrard is making substitutions in the final 10 minutes. Not half an hour, or even 20 minutes, but 10.
Tonight, Scott Arfield and Glenn Middleton came on immediately after Aberdeen scored. Rangers were leggy and needed fresh legs a lot earlier than the final 10 minute-mark. It was evident the ideas were running out, and outside of Ryan Kent, there wasn’t an effective influence on the pitch.
It was the same at Hamilton last weekend. Joe Worrall, Eros Grezda, and Ross McCrorie all came on with around 10 minutes to go. Grezda did come on with 20 minutes to go against Spartak, but Middleton came on with four.
Earlier changes required
Too many Rangers players are continuing to play long after they’ve shown to be ineffective. The likes of Ryan Jack and Lassana Coulibaly could’ve came off a lot earlier. It was clear Aberdeen didn’t have too much going for them in the final third, and taking off Coulibaly in particular would’ve been suitable.
Arfield was clearly being protected tonight, but a big deal was made of him being fit for the game. He was thrown in to try and make an impact, but he had little to no time to make something happen. Same for Middleton, who must’ve been cursing his lack of playing-time.
Nine times out of 10 Rangers will get away from it. They still have a high quality of squad, and will beat most teams in Scotland. In big matches such as this one, when matches are close, sometimes changes need to be made. Gerrard has yet to show he can do that consistently.
Don’t get us wrong, there was plenty that was good about tonight’s performance. The control Rangers had on the contest without a cutting edge was at least something. Rangers appear to finally have dominance over Aberdeen in general play, but the manager could’ve won this game earlier.
Late substitutions aren’t particularly uncommon in the game. You need a certain quality of squad to be able to get away with it consistently. Rangers, at the moment, don’t have that.
It’s an area of his management arsenal that Gerrard will learn from as he rolls on. For tonight, however, it was certainly frustrating for Gers fans.
