Nottingham Forest defender Joe Worrall started for Scottish Premiership giants Rangers in Thursday’s Europa League clash away at Villarreal.
Steven Gerrard was certainly impressed by Joe Worrall’s debut performance against Villarreal in Thursday’s Europa League clash.
The Nottingham Forest loanee started at centre-half as Rangers came from behind twice to seal a hugely impressive 2-2 draw in Spain. And Gerrard was full of praise for the 21-year-old.
“I put him right in the deep end. He was in a sink-or-swim situation,” the Liverpool legend said in quotes reported by Eurosport.
“When a manager gives you your debut away in the Europa League, against a side of this level, it was a big ask for him to come in and perform. I thought he was outstanding.”
While you can hardly blame Gerrard for attempting to instil belief and confidence in a new signing after his first appearance, ‘outstanding’ may be a bit too far.
Worrall was arguably at fault for Villarreal’s opening goal after just 48 seconds after all. He was caught out of position and the ball deflected back off him into Carlos Bacca’s path before the Colombian striker arched a stunning volley into the far corner.
And though Worrall looked impressive on the ball, his positional sense left a lot to be desired. He played Villarreal’s attackers onside on a couple of times, forcing goalkeeper Allan McGregor to race out of his box to make a goal saving interception on one occasion in the second half.
But that is why Worrall is on loan at Rangers. Regular game time should help erode this mistakes out of his game.
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