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News
‘He is my type of player’: Van Bronckhorst suggests out of favour star may still have a place at Rangers
John Lundstram may have revived his Rangers career after putting in a solid display yesterday as Rangers defeated Hearts 5-0.
Lundstram for Rangers in July 2021, penning a three year deal. He immediately expressed his desire to play for then manager Steven Gerrard by saying
“The chance to work with Steven Gerrard and Gary McAllister, as well as Michael Beale, was a huge draw. The manager is from the same area as me, and I want to learn from those coaches and become a better version of myself and continue to develop under them.”
Lundstram has had a stop-start career so far at Rangers, coming under criticism from fans ever since he pulled on the Rangers jersey. Fans had questioned the signing of Lundstram as he struggled to fit into the Rangers side.
The scouser was believed to have been the box-to-box midfielder the club had been craving, although he struggled to come to terms with the pace of the game. Some shocking performances, coupled with a stupid first-half red card against Alashkert was enough for fans to question his signing.
There was a period in the season between September and October where Lundstram did start a , earning the man of the match accolade in every game and it appeared he may have found his place in the side as a defensive midfielder.
However, he was then dropped to the bench for the 6–1 demolition of Motherwell, before coming back into the squad for Gerrard’s last game as manager against Ross County.
Struggled to impress the new manager
With Gerrard leaving and Giovanni Van Bronckhorst being appointed it was suggested in the fanbase that Lundstram would not be a GVB flair type player and would struggle for games.
This appeared to be the case with the player only one game under the new manager. He has never featured two games in a row and had only played 83mins since Gio’s arrival.
Lundstram had become a peripheral figure at Ibrox and looked to be on his way out of the door in January.
His former Sheff Utd manager Chris Wilder, now managing at Middlesbrough was to have an interest in a reunion with Lundstram but the move never materialised.
Giovanni Van Bronckhorst’s most important squad selection yet
With Rangers dismal display in the Old Firm last Wednesday night, GVB was under immense pressure. The club required an immediate reaction against Hearts and GVB’s tactics and team selection were eagerly awaited. This was GVB biggest call as manager as he had to choose an eleven that he could trust.
It came as a massive surprised when John Lundstram was named in the starting eleven. Fans were bewildered as to why a guy who had hardly featured under GVB had then been thrown into the managers biggest game yet.
When asked yesterday, GVB denied the assumption that Lundstram was not his type of player
“No, he’s in my squad of course he is my type of player! Today was a special game after the Old Firm and we needed character after a performance like Wednesday and I knew John would bring that to the team with Ryan Jack. Those two really set the tone together with the other players.”
Rangers went on to demolish Hearts with John Lundstram being quoted as some fans MOTM. Deployed as one of two holding midfielders he looked comfortable and assured and controlled the midfield with Ryan Jack.
Is there a role for Lundstram going forward?
Rangers midfield were bullied in the Old Firm game. Glen Kamara has seen a dip in form, he also doesn’t look comfortable in that sitting role and Scott Arfield is more influential further forward.
Rangers were never bullied yesterday. Jack and Lundstram sat at times and allowed forwards Ryan Kent, Joe Aribo, Scott Arfield and Alfredo Morelos to take the game to Hearts. However, they chose their moments to help in the attack with both players registering shots at goal.
Fans had been critical of GVB’s tactics as he had kept his full-backs on a leash, despite Rangers getting a lot of joy from overlapping full-backs in recent years. Tavernier has always been acknowledged as a better attacker than defender and his assists over the years are ridiculous.
Tavernier and Bassey were permitted to play higher than usual yesterday with Jack and Lundstram there to cover. Bassey had a huge hand in the first goal and Tavernier also had three key passes in the game [SofaScore].
Fans were delighted with the performance yesterday, defeating the team 3rd in the league by such a large margin in what was expected to be a nervy afternoon for the Champions.
Rangers played at a much higher tempo than they have recently and with GVB favouring a 4231 formation, John Lundstram and Ryan Jack look to be the two players that are suited to the role in the squad.
Rangers now face another tough test on Wednesday night when Hibs come to Ibrox.
Rangers fans will be hoping for more of the same after yesterday and John Lundstram will likely have earned his place in the squad for the foreseeable future.
Fans will be hoping he can kick on from yesterday and revive his Rangers career under Giovanni Van Bronckhorst.