Rangers came out triumphant in the two big games before the international break, and that has brought a new sense of hope and optimism among the club that their side can go past anyone on their day. In both those games, Steven Gerrard went in with Joe Worrall at the back who took a lot of stick from the fans for his performance against Livingston where the Gers lost 1-0 on the day.
Many wanted Gerrard to bring back Nikola Katic in the lineup to partner Connor Goldson. However, the manager kept his trust in Worrall, and the Englishman didn’t disappoint as he hardly put a foot wrong in the two crucial wins. Rumours were doing the rounds that the Gers have a deal with Forest where the club needs to give a certain amount of game time to Worrall, but something like that happening looks unlikely.
Former Scottish International and two time European Cup winner with Nottingham Forest Kenny Burns also feels that Worrall is making it to the team on his merit. The legend said,”I don’t believe for a minute there will be anything in his loan agreement that stipulates Joe must play. I just can’t see Gerrard agreeing to that. If Worrall is in that team then he’s in it on merit.”
”Gerrard didn’t take him to Rangers to make the tea so he’s right to play him. Joe will put his head in where it hurts and I would play him ahead of Nikola Katic alongside Connor Goldson as Gerrard is doing. If some fans believe Katic should be playing then, without being disrespectful to the supporters, I would say the manager is working with Joe every day of the week so he knows best.”- he added further.
Katic though would be feeling slightly hard done by as the Croatian has put in decent performances so far. He and Goldson had formed a formidable partnership which saw the Gers wade past some tricky Europa League qualifier fixtures. However, the signing of Worrall has added more competition for places and it remains to be seen how long Gerrard is going to persist with the partnership of Worrall and Goldson.
It is clear that the gaffer rates the 21-year-old Englishman highly as he gave Worrall his debut in the tough away game against Villarreal. Worrall started shakily but got better as the game progressed and helped his side come away with a crucial point against the Spanish outfit.
Even though Worrall is new to the team, he looks like a leader at the back. He is strong and decisive in his challenges and the defender is likely to get better with every passing game. Though one thing on which the youngster can improve on is his distribution as he tends to hoof the ball from the defence to a no man’s land on some occasions. Otherwise, this defensive partnership has no reason to be broken up at this time.
