One of the big differences between Rangers and Celtic currently is the strength of their bench. Most games Rangers fans look at the bench options and struggle to think who can come on to change the game when the eleven that started aren’t doing it. This was never more apparent than yesterday, especially when Fashion Sakala came on.
The quality of player they had to come on compared to Rangers was startling and there’s a feeling when their subs come that they can change the game or see the game out. This has been lacking in the Rangers squad depth this season, the players coming on are generally not of the same level of the starters and that has to change.
Ryan Kent was way off his game yesterday and looked disinterested but he was hooked at half time. Alfredo Morelos looked exactly the same yet lasted till the 82nd minute, probably only because Beale didn’t fancy the options he had on the bench.
Fashion Sakala came on yesterday and missed the second open goal at Hampden in a row. With the gap on the pitch during 90 minutes being so narrow they cannot afford to miss those kind of chances.
Matondo and Yilmaz had bright moments when they came on but unfortunately didn’t have enough time to change the game. Then Hagi was brought on without much time to make an impact.
Rangers need to strengthen all over this summer and fans will be expecting close to double figures in, incoming players. Not only because of the number of departures but purely because the squad needs better players.
Where would you focus on this summer? The starting eleven needs bolstering but so does the bench. Rangers can’t just have eleven players to rely on the squad needs to be deep and filled with quality. An incredibly important summer ahead.