Back in 2016, during a presentation in Northern Ireland, new Rangers boss Mick Beale expressed his belief that, if a club is to truly thrive, they need that perfect blend of midfielders. An ‘energiser’, a ‘passer’, a ‘magician’ and a ‘destroyer’.
“What matters is that there are different personalities,” Beale said, via The Athletic. “He can be an energiser; someone a bit old-fashioned, who works the channels and is very energetic, up and down.
“He can be a passer. A magician would be like (Philippe) Coutinho, who likes to ride in between the lines like a David Silva. Then, there is the old-fashioned destroyer, like Roy Keane.
“You want to have a blend. Listen, if you play someone who is a passer, someone who likes running, and someone who likes to ride in between the lines, you will get a lovely blend.”
Mick Beale returns to Rangers as Giovanni van Bronckhorst replacement
Is an indication as to what we can expect, then, from Beale’s Rangers side? His Queens Park Rangers outfit soared to the top of the Championship in October with Sam Field, Andre Dozzell and Stefan Johansen thriving in behind the mercurial Ilias Chair; QPR’s very own rabbit-out-of-the-hat magic man.
The difficulty facing Beale in his new role at Ibrox, however, is not so much the profile of Rangers’ midfielders but their age and their contract situation. Ryan Jack, Steven Davis and Scott Arfield are all the wrong side of 30. All three players are due to leave in the summer, meanwhile, alongside the versatile James Sands. Glen Kamara is facing an uncertain future of his own, with Serie A outfit Salernitana interested.
Fortunately, Rangers already appear to have laid the groundwork for the potential winter arrival of a player who, in addition to looking perfectly suited to Beale’s aggressive, front-foot, high-pressing possession style, also fulfils a number of those midfield roles. Nicolas Raskin is an ‘energiser’, a ‘passer’ and a ‘destroyer’ rolled into one.
Nicolas Raskin is a jack of all trades, master of many
No one in Belgium’s Jupiler League averages more tackles per game than Raskin’s 3.3 (WhoScored). Malik Tillman, for context, is Rangers’ most prolific tackler with 2.2 per 90 minutes.
A relatively low pass completion rate of 83 per cent, meanwhile, does not mean Raskin lacks in the technical side of the game. More that his distribution tends to be more ambitious, and therefore ‘risky’, than that of Davis, Jack or Lundstrom, for instance. Not every pass comes off. But when Raskin is at his best, the 21-year-old Standard Liege talisman can create goalscoring chances as reliably as he stops them at the other end.
He’s also a decent ball-carrier, able to shimmy through tackles and drag his team up the pitch. Raskin’s tally of 0.6 dribbles per game is far higher than that of Jack, Davis, Arfield and Kamara (all 0.1).
“He’s monstrous,” Standard’s former Celtic coach Ronny Deila said after Raskin scored in a recent 3-1 victory over Anderlecht; capping a trademark, all-action performance from this jack-of-all-trades midfielder.
“We’re talking about a leader. His level is constantly evolving. I am proud of him because he has improved a lot. Before, he was a much more emotional player whereas now he is much calmer and more disciplined on the field.”
According to DH Net, Raskin could be lured away from his Belgian homeland by the prospect of a fresh start, with Rangers one of the clubs most interested in the £5 million-rated enforcer. Now, Rangers’ interest pre-dates that of Beale’s arrival.
But as far as post-Christmas gifts go, this is one that would make Beale’s new job that little bit easier.
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