Surprise stat that shows Tillman is the man to replace Aribo
Soccer Football - Champions League Qualifying - Play-off First Leg - Rangers v PSV Eindhoven - Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow, Scotland, Britain - August 16, 2022 Rangers' Malik Tillman in action with PSV Eindhoven's Ibrahim Sangare Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith
Small, fast players will always look like they are making more effort compared to tall, languid ones, but we all know that isn’t how it works. Joe Aribo is a great example of a player who never really seemed to be flat out, and yet, his work rate could never be questioned, making key contributions in defence and attack – it’s not really a shock that we have sometimes struggled at both ends of the park since he left for the Premier League.
Malik Tillman, tasked by Giovanni van Bronckhorst with filling the hole left by the Nigerian international, has shown flashes of what he is capable of but is yet to be fully appreciated in terms of what he offers.
With four goals and three assists, he is well on track to replicate Aribo’s attacking output but there is another statistic that shows he is more than doing the dirty work behind the scenes.
SPFL Premiership
Most Tackles Made
Top Ten As At 16/11/22Ryan McGowan 28
Alex Cochrane 27
Ethan Erhahon 22
Alan Power 21
Alex Mitchell 20
Ylber Ramadani 20
Malik Tillman 20
Borna Barisic 19
Larijan Cabraja 19
Sondre Johansen 19
Callum Johnson 19
Ryan Strain 19
Drey Wright 19— Pie & Bovril 🏴 (@pieandbov) November 16, 2022
Tillman has been revealed as Rangers highest tackler in the Scottish Premiership, not only that but, he is the fifth-highest in the league. A surprise when you consider how much we dominate possession and that he is, usually, playing his football in the final third. He is also in the top five when it comes to dribbling.
It has to be remembered that the USA international is very inexperienced when it comes to senior football and that even compared directly to Aribo, he is a good few years behind him in terms of volume of games but, he looks every bit as talented.
What the 20-year old needs is a bit of help from those behind and around him but he has shown so far that he can be a productive player, whether or not Ross Wilson will trigger theoption-to-buy clauseis another story though.
