Staggering stat that shows Bassey hot on heels of Barisic
Soccer Football - Europa League - Round of 32 Second Leg - Rangers v Royal Antwerp - Ibrox, Glasgow, Scotland, Britain - February 25, 2021 Rangers' Borna Barisic celebrates scoring their fourth goal Pool via REUTERS/Russell Cheyne
It’s not often that you will start a comparison or provide an answer before the question is even asked but, Borna Barisic is still a better player than Calvin Bassey.
But….
On current form, the Nigerian international in waiting is the man who has possession of the starting jersey and fully deserves to keep a hold of it for one reason, and one reason only.
We score more goals when he is in the team.
Yes, he isn’t as good defensively as his more experienced colleague, but then again he’s still only been playing senior football for the last two seasons – every game he has played with us are his only appearances at this level – he’s basically learning on the job.
To make the comparison fair I have looked purely at Scottish Premiership fixtures with Barisic having played six and Bassey seven of our 13 games so far with one startling difference in the numbers.
With Bassey in the team we have scored 22 goals, for Barisic, that figure is just seven.
Now, I’m not holding Barisic personally responsible but there is enough to suggest that the way that they both play has an effect on our attacking play.
Bassey tends to drive at opposition defences in an attempt to get to the by-line whereas Barisic prefers to get into position ready to receive the ball before picking out team-mates in the box, the Croatian has the proverbial wand of a left foot but – if it is a fault – he is the more predictable of the two.
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It is this quality – chaos – that enamours Bassey to Rangers fans, we forgive his defensive naivety because of how he attacks every minute of every game, you can’t fail to love how he approaches the game, even if he can be infuriating when he gives the ball away or miss-controls it or over hits a cross.
He is improving, and he is closing the gap on Barisic which should spur the elder of the two to raise his levels once again, it’s a problem for Gerrard, but a good one for him to have.