As speculation increases surrounding Scott Arfield’s future at Rangers, his performance against Brondby perhaps went under the radar, especially when you consider that he was taken off early into the second half to accommodate Joe Aribo dropping into midfield.
I don’t think he was singled out because of a poor performance and that it was more a technical decision because, when you look at the numbers, he showed that there is plenty of life in the old dog yet.
With an average age in the starting line up of over 30 – Steven Davis and Allan McGregor adding a few years to the total – it was an experienced XI that struggled to dominate and control the game as they should have done, however, Arfield can be pleased with his night’s work.
He made 25 out of 26 passes. including two that were key in contributing to creating chances, defensively, he won most of his duels and blocked a shot, made an interception and a clearance – he was also our highest rated midfielder at 7.2/10.
Arfield will have to adapt his game from the one that he first brought to Rangers, in his first season he spent a lot of time playing in the front three but his experience is better suited to a deeper role nowadays – as he proved against the Danes though, he still has what it takes to play at the highest level and have a positive impact on the game.
If he can continue to put in performances like the one he did against Motherwell and again against Brondby, he won’t do his chances of playing more regularly any harm at all, another contract? We’ll just have to wait and see.