Borna Barisic in stunning Rangers recovery as left-back ranked in top four Europa League defenders

Recoba

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I would just like to say he was brilliant last night and now has the confidence to go forward with the ball rather than cut inside, i now firmly believe he is going to be a great player for us and i never thought that a month or so ago, i am so glad to be proven wrong and eat my words.

Borna Barisic in stunning Rangers recovery as left-back ranked in top four Europa League defenders
Croatia international was in top form against Feyenoord - something that wasn't missed by UEFA.

Rangers enigma Borna Barisic might finally have announced his arrival at Ibrox after a starring role in Thursday's Europa League victory over Feyenoord.
The left-back has struggled to nail down a starting position under Steven Gerrard since his £2million move from Osijek in the summer of 2018.
Indeed he has spent much of that time watching from the sidelines as the likes of Jon Flanagan and Andy Halliday have been preferred on the left of defence despite that not being their natural position.
What makes Barisic's situation even more curious is the fact he is a first pick in the position for Croatia, who are hardly one of European football's also-rans.
However that could all be about to change on the back of a colossal performance from the Croat against Feyenoord .
Barisic was as strong in defence as he was a threat in attack and his showing was perfectly reflected in the lead-up to Rangers ' winning goal when he thumped into a 50/50 in the middle of the park to set-up Sheyi Ojo for the only goal of the game.

Such was the 26-year-old's impact that he has been named in UEFA.com's top four defensive performers for matchday one of the Europa League group stage.



The statisticians at European football's governing body crunch the numbers to come up with the best performances in each position on a points-awarded basis.
Barisic picked up 1983 points for a display which saw him claim an assist, play his part in a clean sheet and create a total of three chances against the Eredivisie side.
It's a radical turnaround for a player who has often been accused of failing in his defensive duties in his 14 months at Ibrox.



Barisic comes in just after Wolfsberg's Mario Leitgeb, Roma's Aleksandar Kolarov and Anton Nedyalkov of Ludogrets in the rankings.
Steven Gerrard demanded an aggressive performance from his players and he will have been heartened by his left-back's showing as he looks to finally nail down a regular starter in the problem position.
With a massive season ahead both at home and in Europe, Gerrard will be looking for Barisic to step up to the plate and make the position his own.
 
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The reason we've been so disappointed in Borna is because we expect so much. He was outstanding against us for Osijek and holds down a place for Croatia so we know he's capable.

Gerrard has to give him a run in the team now to build his confidence and momentum.

We're all behind you Borna
 
if rangers manage and develop him and he continues to be first pick for croatia, someone in the EPL will take a punt. this type of signing is crucial to our long term viability. we need to be able to profit on players
 
I was really pleased with him. To be fair I thought he looked shaky in the first 7 or so minutes, when feyenoord came out of the blocks all guns blazing. When he and the rest of the team settled he was superb though.

That’s what we need from Borna. That’s what we expected. If you’re one of those sneering guys who likes to say sarcastically “but he plays for Croatia...” on every thread then I hope you’ll think twice now.

We have to give him a run in the team now. There’s no point playing Halliday except maybe Livy away. If we want to see the best of Borna, we need to play him, not chop and change relentlessly.
 
He was excellent last night and pleased he’s showing why we bought him

But he needs to keep it up and do it in the SPL too

His 50/50 challenge that led to the goal will hopefully give him the confidence for rest of the season

I hope he proves me wrong as I thought he wasn’t capable of handling the expectation and demands of playing for us

Keep it up Borna
 
He cannot be allowed to go into his shell again, management must work through it. That takes our team to a different level when you have an International left back .
 
Last night was the type of performance weve been waiting so long for. Iv never wanted to give up on Borna and im glad the manager didnt either.

Heres hoping he keeps this up as he will be an asset if he does!
 
Borna’s performance is one of the highlights of last night for me. It’s just what he needed, and I’m delighted for him, and us.
 
His composure on the ball when pressed last night was top drawer, defensively he was right at it, covering his CB's when we were countered on & he was brave on the ball in attack. Tremendous.

The way we get the best out of him domestically is to go down the right and switch it as quickly as possible, this will give him some space to control it, look up & deliver early.
 
He looked a changed man, confident and composed. I’d like to know the most games he’s appeared in consecutively, it can only be 2 or 3? Needs a run of a dozen games now to make that position his own.
 
Still think it will be horses for courses regarding our LB position, I've probably been one of Borna's biggest defenders, But I can see The Manager rotating the position throughout the season, WOuldn't surprise me if Halliday plays on Sunday
 
Borna finally arrived last night. He's set the standard of what he's capable of, more like that last night and we'll have the left back on our hands that we'd all hoped for 18 months ago.
 
Still think it will be horses for courses regarding our LB position, I've probably been one of Borna's biggest defenders, But I can see The Manager rotating the position throughout the season, WOuldn't surprise me if Halliday plays on Sunday
Halliday should never start another match at LB for us, unless we have an injury crisis. It's a disaster waiting to happen.
 
He was great last night. Strong in his tackles, drove forward when needed and delivered some good corners. Long may it continue.
 
What a performance and perhaps a testament to Gerrard's management of him. Even after his stunning and surely confidence boosting free-kick winner against St Mirren, he has been rotated with Halliday.

That's one way of the manager throwing down a gauntlet for consistency. If he continues to balance attacking and defending in the way he did last night then he will rightly become the automatic starter we all know he can be.
 
Starting to show what a player he is and not just on last nights performance he has been turning in good performances lately .
Toughened up considerably proved that when he steamed in to the fight to back his team mates in the polish game wearing flip flops on , Hurlock never even done that .
Keep it up Borna
 
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