Rabbo Matondo’s exclusion from the Rangers squad against Dundee United had many fans wondering if the Wales international had suffered an injury in training or if there was something that we weren’t being told about his attitude behind closed doors, however, it would appear that Giovanni van Bronckhorst simply rates his other options as being better players at this moment in time.
How he can justify this with none on them registering α single goal between them yet is anyone’s guess with Gers legend Brian Laudrup also confused and concerned about the 22-year old’s absence via his column in The Daily Mail, as reported by The Daily Record:
“Against Napoli, it was basically a Steven Gerrard line-up. Then, on Saturday, only Antonio Colak came into the side from the recent arrivals. Rabbi Matondo didn’t even make the 20-man squad, which I find extraordinary. The winger didn’t seem to be ill or injured.
“After the United match, Van Bronckhorst spoke of how he simply had to cut his numbers from the European match and so Matondo missed out. I had high hopes for the Welshman based on what he did in Belgium during his time with Cercle Brugge last season. But he’s only made two starts in the Premiership and played just over 200 minutes of football.
“Obviously, I don’t see him on a daily basis. I don’t know how he is training or what his attitude has been like. But to not even make the bench for a run-of-the-mill league match is a very concerning state of affairs.”
There doesn’t appear to be any issues with Matondo’s application, and yet, Gio continues to pick Ryan Kent and Scott Wright ahead of him who have four assists and no goals in 20 appearances combined, surely this is exactly the time to give him α chance, could he genuinely do any worse in α position where numbers matter every bit as much as performance?
Injuries have had an affect on team selection but Matondo’s absence from the starting XI and the squad continues to be α strange one. It would be α different matter if the players ahead of him were performing but they aren’t – if anything, it’s more confusing as it is concerning when every Rangers fan can see exactly where our issues lie just now and we don’t seem to be willing to try something else to rectify them.