Filip Helander has had a decent week as a footballer.
The Rangers centre-half has been colossus this week, scoring the winner against Celtic at Ibrox before, last night, providing the base for his country to beat Spain 2-1 and put them in pole position to qualify for the Qatar World Cup.
Helander, playing alongside Victor Lindelof, won all his aerial battles and rarely looked troubled as he showed once again why he is Steven Gerrard’s best defender.
In 2019/20 when Rangers collapsed post winter break Gerrard spoke about how desperate he was to get the big Swede back in his side, he brings a calmness, a composure that can often be lacking in the defence in his absence.
For a player that many claim isn’t blessed with pace, he rarely gets beaten for it, nor is he found wanting positionally, that it took for him to get into his third season to lose a Premiership fixture says it all about his consistency and even then, he was one of a few players to emerge with any credit from the game against Dundee United.
Gerrard singled out Helander for praise following our 2-1 defeat to Malmo away from home, claiming it was a “Champions League performance“, although he wouldn’t admit it, I bet he’d like to be able to make his team selection for the second leg again – this time with the Swede at the centre of his defence.
With Premier League sides said to be sniffing about, it may be that others are finally taking notice of a player who developed his craft in Serie A, results and performances like the one against Spain only add to the evidence that he is more than capable of operating at the highest level and that we should appreciate him for what he is – one of the most valuable players at the club.