By Sam Stone

23rd Aug, 2022 | 9:16pm

View: Rabbi Matondo direct dribbling should excite Rangers fans

Rabbi Matondo has enjoyed a good start to his Rangers career and his directness and confidence should excite the Ibrox faithful.

Matondo completed a summer move to Ibrox from Schalke and the 21-year-old Welsh international has seemed to adjust to well to life in Scotland.

The winger has shown his eagerness to take on his opponent, particularly when operating on the right flank and his ability to beat his man and find a cross could see him notch a number of assists this season.

The image above shows the 21-year-old receiving the ball off of John Lundstram on the right flank.

Matondo’s first thought is to take the ball forward and commit the defenders that are surrounding him. He has other options that would be safer, but the Welsh international is eager to be direct and make stuff happen for Rangers.

The image above displays that Matondo has drawn three Hibernian players towards him and opened up a large space that he could exploit with his electric pace.

On this occasion, the defender gets a block to prevent Matondo from entering the box, but it’s excellent to see the youngster show the confidence and intent to drive at an opposition defence and make stuff happen.

Matondo is averaging 10.21 dribbles per 90 minutes which further demonstrate his eagerness to take on a full-back in a one v one situation.

The 21-year-old has enjoyed a good start to the season on the assists front with three assists in three Scottish Premiership games for Rangers.

His expected assists of 0.7 per 90 indicate that he is slightly overperforming in terms of assists at the moment.

However, if he continues to take on players in one on one scenarios, there’s every chance his expected assist statistics will improve.

Furthermore, his 40% crossing accuracy is certainly an area for Matondo to improve on.

In other Football Wonderkids news, Ian Maatsen was sent-off for Burnley during their draw with Blackpool.