In the space of one year, Steven Gerrard and Mark Allen put their heads together and created a Rangers team which is almost unrecognisable from that misfit bunch of overpaid has-beens and limited stop-gaps which summed up the Caixinha and Warburton years.
These days, Rangers have at least two convincing options for every position on the pitch with Gerrard rotating his XI by the game. Some days it will be Nikola Katic, the others Filip Helander. Alfredo Morelos or Jermain Defoe, Borna Barisic or Jon Flanagan.
You get the idea.
But, in the case of Scott Arfield, it seems that Gerrard wrote his name on the team sheet in magic marker. Because no matter how the former Burnley midfielder performs, he is one of the few constants in a rotating mix of players.
Arfield has stared 12 games in all competitions this season already and, after being rested against St Johnstone at the weekend following 90 minutes at home to Feyenoord, he was back in the team once more as The Gers triumphed on Livingston’s notorious plastic pitch in the Betfred Cup quarter final.
Now, no one can question Arfield’s work rate. And he is perhaps the only player in Gerrard’s squad capable of thriving in an orthodox number ten role, providing the link between midfield and attack in the final third.
That’s all well and good. But while Arfield helps get the best out of Morelos and co, surely it’s about time his own productivity was brought into question. In 13 games, the former Falkirk man has just two goals and one assist. He’s contributed to a goal every 4.3 matches in 2019/20, down from 2.4 last season.
Arfield was lucky that his wastefulness didn’t cost Rangers against Feyenoord and he was typically profligate in Livingston too, failing to put the visitors 2-0 up as they ended up hanging on for dear life.
Arfield is key to the way Gerrard’s Rangers play and dropping him would perhaps create more problems than it solves. But the fans will start asking questions soon enough if the 2018 summer signing doesn’t start to improve his numbers.
He is still getting the chances. The difference is, this year, he’s not taking them.
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