John Lundstram’s emergence as a regular in the Rangers first-team and a key component for Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s tactical plan may have been a surprise to some but to Vital Rangers and certainly not to Everton’s former head of academy recruitment.
Martin Waldron, speaking to Jordan Campbell of The Athletic, has revealed that the powerful midfielder hasn’t always played in the middle of the park and that his early promise was as a centre-half.
When asked about the recent adjustment that has seen Lundstram drop into defence as part of a three during games, that caught many by surprise, he said:
“Not for me it’s not.
“That’s what he was: an outstanding centre-back.
“He got voted in the tournament select squad at the Under-17 European Championships in 2011 playing there.
“The day I scouted him he was six and playing up a year as a sort of left-back in a seven-a-side team called Springwood.
“We developed him as a centre-back but one or two people didn’t think he’d be big enough so we started developing him as a centre-mid.”
It’s a similar story with James Sands in that the 21-year old American looks equally at home in either position, Van Bronckhorst enjoying the tactical freedom that it gives him to change shape without having to make a substitute. Against Borussia Dortmund and Red Star Belgrade in particular it has been key in shifting momentum back in our favour.
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Scottish Premiership title
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Playing with three – or five – at the back can be seen as negative but with full-backs like Calvin Bassey and James Tavernier, and someone as comfortable on the ball as Lundstram dictating play from deep, against the right set-up, it can help to create more overloads around the pitch.
It’s no coincidence that Lundstram has blossomed since Ryan Jack returned to the team as well, a player who sets the tempo and the standards both on the pitch and in training, a standard that the scouser looks to be aspiring to – in Belgrade he could easily have claimed to be our best outfield player and nobody saw that coming after getting sent off against Alashkert at Ibrox.