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View: Malik Tillman must offer more for Rangers away from Ibrox
Rangers suffered a damaging away defeat at the hands of Ajax and it’s time for Malik Tillman to show more for the Gers away from Ibrox.
The American has had a positive start to his Ibrox career, but ultimately there has been too much of a disparity between his displays when he isn’t playing at home.
Rangers’ trip to Ajax was an excellent chance for the American to show that he is ready to feature in Europe’s top competition but his performance displayed a player who instead shied away from the challenge posed by the Dutch giants.
As per Wyscout, Tillman only attempted one dribble against Ajax. In his previous Scottish Premiership match against Ross County at Ibrox, he attempted six and in the Gers 2-2 draw against PSV Eindhoven he attempted seven.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side lacked an attacking spark at the Amsterdam Arena on Wednesday (7 September) and they needed someone like Tillman to take the game to Ajax and drive the Gers forward.
Ultimately, he didn’t take the initiative and take the game to the Dutch side, when really he should’ve been eager to make an impression on the biggest stage.
Another damning statistic for Tillman was his reluctance to get stuck in and really make a statement of intent on Ajax.
Rangers’ hopes in Amsterdam hinged on whether they could make life hard for their hosts, and instead, they were passive and reluctant to show any desire.
Unfortunately, Tillman was a prime example of the lack of effort that was displayed by the Gers and significantly different to how he performed at Ibrox.
A good indication of his reluctance to work hard and make life tricky for Ajax is demonstrated by his duel success rate.
Against Ajax, Tillman only managed 20 per cent success rate when it came to duels and that is significantly lower than the 56 per cent he managed against Ross County and the 29 per cent against PSV at Ibrox.
From an attacking standpoint as well, his nine per cent offensive duel success rate was dreadfully low compared to nearly 40 per cent in his previous Ibrox fixtures.
In big European away matches, the Gers their quality players to stand up and make a difference and it’s now up to the American to really make an impact in their two remaining Champions League away fixtures.
In other Football Wonderkids news, Leeds United got a good deal for Willy Gnonto this summer.