Rangers‘ signing of former Sheffield United star John Lundstram was met with huge optimism from the Gers’ support but after another disappointing performance, the midfielder needs to improve quickly.
Lundstram moved to Ibrox after his Sheffield United deal came to an end but the Liverpudlian again struggled as the Light Blues took on Dundee United at Tannadice this afternoon.
In a midfield trio alongside Glen Kamara and Steven Davis against the Arabs, Lundstram looked miles off the pace in a fairly woeful performance across the board as Rangers lost a league game for the first time in 521 days.
Far too often the midfielder looked sluggish in possession or took far too long to move the ball on, particularly in the opening 45 today.
After starting the second 45 brightly, Lundstram was to blame for the second game in a row after losing Jamie Robson completely as he went on to open the scoring – with Lundstram replaced a few minutes later by Scott Wright.
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The tempo of games appears to catch Lundstram out and, while we’re not writing him off this early in his Rangers career, he needs to turn things around quickly.
There’s a lot of similarity in the sort of role Lundstram, Kamara, Davis and Ryan Jack all play in Gerrard’s Rangers side and, when playing with three central midfielders, it can’t be three of the same.
With so much at stake for Rangers, domestically and in Europe, the Light Blues can’t afford key players to be passengers in games.
Lundstram certainly can’t afford to have many more bad games at this stage of his Ibrox career either.
Borna Barisic has shown that players can take a while to settle in Scotland before hitting top form but Rangers’ ambitions this season won’t allow the Gers to get away with consistently poor performances in midfield.
Ryan Jack’s delayed return from injury may give Lundstram a bit of breathing space when it comes to his place in the starting XI in the next few weeks – but he needs to up his game quickly if he’s to have any chance of staying in the side in the longer-term.