The Scottish Premiership has been the talk of the town over the last couple of weeks, owing to innumerable question marks regarding the potential resolution of the competition. One of the parties who’ve been most heavily involved in the conversation is Steven Gerrard’s Glasgow Rangers side, who are only asking the SPFA for the right thing to do.
The Gers came quite close to catching up with the Hoops last season, only to bottle it in the latter stages of the competition. They ended up finishing a whopping nine points behind their city rivals at the end of the term. Despite this disappointment, Steven Gerrard would’ve taken motivation from the fact that some of his players were beginning to show what they were capable of, and one such name was Finnish midfielder Glen Kamara.
How Were Glen Kamara’s Displays In Midfield Last Season?
The 24-year-old arrived at Rangers from Dundee for a fee in the region of £50,000 midway through the last Scottish league campaign. Formerly of Arsenal, the midfielder was let go back in the summer of 2017, from which point his development has been rapid. A strong passer of the ball, the Finnish holding midfielder seemed to grab the opportunity given to him by Gerrard with both hands.
After becoming a regular in the first-team, he began to earn plaudits from all over the continent. Despite being a defensive-minded midfielder, the former Arsenal man even scored a goal during his eight league outings for the Gers last season.
This season, although Kamara has still been a regular feature of Gerrard’s side, it must be conceded that the 24-year-old’s work-rate and quality both seem to have dropped. Having played in 19 league outings since the start of the campaign, Kamara is yet to open his account for the season. At the same time, he even began to make uncharacteristic errors and mistakes in the middle of the park. Gerrard was forced to bench the Finnish ace for a few fixtures owing to his worrying dip in form as well.
Should Gerrard Keep His Faith In Kamara’s Talents?
The 24-year-old, despite his average form through the second half of the league season, has proven on various occasions during his short Rangers career so far that he has what it takes to become a key feature of Gerrard’s setup at the Ibrox Stadium. The Finnish midfielder’s display in that stunning 2-0 win over Celtic in the final Old Firm Derby of the 18/19 league season is arguably what earned him such a name within the blue side of Glasgow.
In an Instagram live video on Don Dada’s page from a couple of days ago, as has been quoted by All Nigeria Soccer, Everton’s Nigerian winger Alex Iwobi proceeded to heap praise on Kamara by saying that the Rangers man is one of the top five best players he’s ever played with. The former Arsenal star then said, “I always say this one, Glen Kamara, the most underrated footballer.” Iwobi chose Santi Cazorla, Glen Kamara, Chuba Akpom, Mesut Ozil and Francis Coquelin in that order.
A further report by Daily Mail suggested in January that some of the Premier League’s top clubs are after Kamara’s signature too, with the likes of Brighton, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and even his former employers Arsenal all keeping tabs on his progress. This fact alone should be more than enough motivation for Gerrard to give the 24-year-old at least another year in the first-team, and try to assess whether the mid-season loss of form was just a blip or not.
