Malik Tillman has returned to the starting XI in recent gamees, partially due to injury, but mainly due to the fact that we have been severely short of central creativity.
A gradual improvement in performance and a suggestion that he might be able to reach double figures for goals and assists means that he deserves to keep his place for now, and an acceptance that his inexperience will sometimes see him go through dips of inconsistency.
Against Aberdeen though, he was more than just looking to get on the ball. He was making runs in behind their defence into the space that Antonio Colak was creating, he was also involved in most of the positive build-up when we did get chances. Tillman’s biggest improvement was in his work rate though, he looked sharp, got around the pitch and won possession back on numerous occasions.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst was also impressed, praising the American’s running, as reported by The Rangers Review:
“You always want to run behind the defence, they are the most effective runs if timed well. It gives you the opportunity to score. We knew Aberdeen with their system when they drop deep, it’s difficult to find spaces.
“But when they press high, it was obvious that we were one-on-one in the front. That means every ball behind is dangerous, from a winger or midfielder.
“Especially the role of Antonio who did really well, playing a little bit towards the ball to make space for Fashion and Ryan. Fashion had a big chance in the first half as well and Malik, when he times it right, he set up a big chance and got an assist for Antonio.
“It depends on the opponent, we reacted really well to their positions, knowing which players had to make the runs. Malik did it really well.”
Tillman seemed to be building a decent rapport with Colak in that they were either linking up directly or rotating around in their positions, it, for once, was very positive.
What Tillman needs now is to repeat this sort of performance and start dominating games more often. He’s very similar to Joe Aribo in the regard that we all know what he is capable of and how talented he is but we need to see it every week, not just when he feels like it.