The Rangers flop must not start again this season

Glasgow Rangers midfielder Tochi Chukwuani has been the club’s standout player since signing from Sturm Graz for £4m in the January transfer window.

The central midfielder made his Light Blues debut in place of Joe Rothwell against Annan Athletic in a 5-0 win in the SFA Cup back in January.

Since then, the Dane has started ten Scottish Premiership games for the Gers, including a 6-3 win over Falkirk on Sunday.

The 23-year-old talent emerged as a regular starter alongside Nicolas Raskin in the middle of Danny Rohl’s park, starting a good partnership with the Belgian ace.

The way Chukwuani played against Falkirk on Sunday, it was not easy because there were things they liked and didn’t like about his display.

Analyzing Tochi Chukwuani’s Rangers performance against Falkirk

The player who plays for Denmark U21 scored an important goal for the Gers to win 6-3, when he pulled a goal before the break the team was about to go to the break 2-0.

Rangers went down 2-0, in part, due to their poor performance, and Chukwuani was part of that as he sat out the first 30 minutes.

It was his sloppy sideline that gave away his goal as he set up Falkirk’s second goal, but he improved quickly after his early mistakes.

Chukwuani finished the game with six goals and two of the three wins, winning the ball that put Rangers back in good positions many times in the second half, however he finished the game winning only five of 11.

While there were positives and negatives to his performance at Falkirk, the Danish star was far from the worst performer on the pitch for the Gers.

Worse than Chukwuani: Rangers’ worst performer against Falkirk

Chukwuani could have started the game with more energy and performed very well in his games, but one of his teammates did not play so well that they should not start again this season.

Rohl opted to go with captain James Tavernier as the starting right-back ahead of Max Aarons and Dujon Sterling, who were left out due to the artificial surface.

The veteran player, whose contract expired at the end of the season, was struggling while playing for the Gers, and he was lucky not to lose points to the team by giving away a penalty in the second half.

Tavernier gave Falkirk a lifeline with a poor performance, described as “ridiculous” by Heart & Hand’s David Edgar, which allowed Calvin Miller to make it 4-3, but a quick-fire goal from Youssef Chermiti meant any chance of a comeback for the hosts quickly vanished.

He was again caught off guard in the opening goal in the sixth minute, as Falkirk capitalized on the space he left, and the defender was not on the front foot to meet Chukwuani’s challenge for the second goal.

Miller, who assisted the opening goal, ran from a deeper position than Tavernier, who was on his heels, and had all the space and time in the world to provide an assist to Broggio.

It’s not just his defensive mistakes that stand out against the captain, because he was also beaten 29 times without creating a ‘big chance’ for his teammates.

Tavernier has now lost the ball 558 times in the Premiership this season and has registered just four assists in 31 games, meaning he has lost the ball 140 times per assist.

Therefore, the defender, 34, was worse than Chukwuani, who had good and bad times, because he could not get in and out of the ball in every game.

With five games to go in the title race and games against Celtic and Hearts to come, Rohl’s side will not be able to defend as sloppy as Tavernier against Falkirk.

Therefore, Rangers may have the best chance of winning the Premiership title if they remove their captain from the team for the rest of the season, playing Sterling or Aarons in his place.

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