Rangers defenders criticised after Europa League clash.
Steven Gerrard made a big call for Rangers’ Europa League clash with Villarreal.
He handed loanee Joe Worrall his Rangers debut, breaking up Nikola Katic’s partnership with Connor Goldson, leaving the Croatian on the bench.
The pair were slow to react for Villarreal’s opening goal, with Carlos Bacca scoring against Rangers after less than a minute at El Madrigal.
Former Scotland defender Willie Miller was highly critical of the pair.
He told BBC Sport: “Steven Gerrard said Joe Worrall was looking lively – neither centre-back looked lively on that occasion. Slow to close down, poor reaction, they’re too close to each other.
“There’s no understanding. It’s absolutely dreadful defending.”
The obvious conclusion would be that Katic and Goldson would have been more in tune with one another and been quicker to react.
Rangers had positives to take away from the game, and the way Goldson and Worrall recovered after the opener was encouraging.
The Gers need to rotate their squad and it will be up to the defenders to start getting used to playing with different combinations.
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