Glasgow Rangers booked their place in the final of the League Cup for the second time under Philippe Clement after they beat Motherwell 2-1 at Hampden Park on Sunday.
The Light Blues claimed the victory after going 1-0 down to a goal from former Gers man Andy Halliday, which left them with plenty of work to do after the break.
Cyriel Dessers levelled the score just five minutes into the second half, with a neat finish from Connor Barron’s pass, before Nedim Bajrami secured the win with a deflected finish inside the box.
Despite the eventual win for Clement’s men, there were a few players who either struggled with their performance or had moments to forget, one of whom was Jefte.
Jefte's performance against Motherwell
There is no getting away from the fact that the Brazilian full-back made a huge error in judgement for the opening goal from Motherwell in the first-half.
Jefte is completely unaware of Halliday’s run across him, despite checking his shoulder moments before, and starts to run towards the corner, presumably thinking that the cross is going to sail past him and towards the left-back position.
Instead, the ball gets past Leon Balogun, who potentially could have communicated with Jefte, and Halliday runs in to find the back of the net, whilst the full-back is sprinting away.
However, the young defender was still trusted to play the full 90 by Clement and produced a solid display aside from that error, with some neat touches in possession and a good link-up with Bajrami down the left flank.
The Rangers star who was even worse than Jefte
James Tavernier, meanwhile, was even worse than Jefte and the Belgian head coach must, now, ruthlessly ditch him from the starting XI for the upcoming clash with Olympiacos in Greece.
Like the Brazilian, the veteran right-back was partially at fault for the opening goal. Journalist Joshua Barrie stated that the Englishman was “far too slow” to get out to the crosser and described his defending as “passive”.
That was exactly the word to describe his performance – passive. Too many loose passes and crosses with no real intention, other than to play the ball into an area, which led to him conceding possession back to Motherwell on a consistent basis – particularly in the first-half.
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Tavernier was then withdrawn from the action in the 67th minute, well before the winning goal from Bajrami, and this suggests that the manager did not believe that he was the right man to help win the game for Rangers, which is a telling moment in of itself.
GlasgowWorld handed him a dismal player rating of 5/10 for his performance at right-back, whilst Jefte earned himself a very respectable score of 7/10, despite his mistake.
The Scotsman, meanwhile, awarded the captain a dismal score of 3/10 and described his display as ‘lamentable’, suggesting that the pressure on him at the moment contributed to his struggles.
This backs up that the former Newcastle United defender was even worse than the summer signing, who did well enough away from his mistake to earn a solid rating.
Quite simply, Tavernier did not perform and was substituted by Clement with the score at 1-1 because of that, and it turned out to be the right decision because the Light Blues went on to win the match.
The Rangers manager must, now, make another big call on Thursday night by dropping him from the starting XI for the visit to Olympiacos, as Sunday was not the first time that the defender has struggled this season.
James Tavernier's performances this season
Tavernier has been far from his best in a Gers jersey this term, after an impressive return of 24 goals and 12 assists in all competitions during the 2023/24 campaign.
Instead of carrying that form into the current season, the English dud has managed one goal and three assists in 17 matches for the Scottish giants in all competitions.
That is far from a terrible return for your average right-back but the bulk of Rangers’ attacking play goes through the defender, who also takes his share of set-pieces, and he has been wasteful with his use of the ball.
In the Scottish Premiership so far this season, Tavernier has lost possession a whopping 20.5 times per match on average, 205 times in ten games, and contributed with zero goals and two assists.
No other Rangers player has lost the ball more than 16 times per outing in the league on average, which speaks to how wasteful the skipper has been, when you consider his lack of direct goal involvements to go alongside that.
Appearances
3
Assists
0
Big chances created
0
Pass accuracy
73%
Possession lost
41x
As you can see in the table above, the 33-year-old dud has struggled in the Europa League this season, losing possession a whopping 41 times without creating a single ‘big chance’ for his teammates.
This shows that his struggles on the ball have not been limited to domestic action, after his poor showings in possession in the League Cup and in the Premiership, as he has been sloppy in Europe.
With a clash away at Olympiacos coming up on Thursday night, and pressure growing on the captain, it could be the right time for Clement to do him a favour and take him out of the spotlight for a match.
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Dujon Sterling and Neraysho Kasanwirjo are both natural alternatives to the Englishman at right-back and either of them could come in to take his place at the back, alongside John Souttar, Leon Balogun, and Jefte, in Greece.
Hopefully, being dropped to the bench will give Tavernier the kick he needs to bounce back and get back to his best in a Rangers shirt, because his incredible record last season shows that there is still a quality player there to be unearthed, if he can recapture his finest form.