Big Jaws 570 Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 I think earlier in the thread someone said that Zelalem scared them when he came on.... .. They did say he scared them initially but not for those reasons... they just though he would be a little lightweight. (Cant remember which poster it was) Absolutely spot on Craig the lad strolled the 30-40 minutes he got and in that time I only counted one wayward pass which was weighted slightly short. He didn't hide, made good angles for his team mates to lay off to, recycle and reset. On one particular occasion late in extra time we were clearing our lines from a Celtic attack. Tav cleared the ball up to Clark on the halfway line who held it up and laid it back to the young lad. As he received the ball it was clear he was in a tight position with 5 Celtic players round him and closing. He smartly dropped it back into a yard of space got turned and delivered an outstanding 10 yard pass round the on rushing Brown with the outside of his boot to the advancing Wallace who then released McKay unfortunately (tired) that fluffed the return pass back in to Wallace now just inside the box. Not many rate him on these boards but I think he will be a player. He's quoted as saying that Pirlo is his favourite player and whom he most wants to emulate. Maybe that's why he's not rated here because he's certainly no Pirlo. However given a year or two when that lad has grown into himself, added on a little bit more timber, some snap in the tackle and confidence that he's not made of glass and he's got all the makings of a Busquets/Khedira. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
calscot 0 Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 I think the good thing about Ball playing and doing so well is that it somewhat nullifies the Oduwa disappointment and means that clubs like Spurs and other will see the value in sending their players to us - although we should only take the best who add something to the squad, which Ball has done. Zelalem has done a bit but he needs to develop some parts of his game and I think needs a better workrate. However, I do think Oduwa was a factor in McKay having confidence to run at players - which he seemed to start doing after the Spurs youngster was getting praise for it. He's become my favourite player to watch and reminds me of past times when we had players who would take opponents on from the wing and get into the box. We haven't had many of those recently. The good thing is that Holt likes to do this through the middle now and again too and I love some of the interplay between them with McKay using his pace to ghost past defenders and collect the ball. We seem to be using a certain style of diagonal pass between the defenders for that, which had Celtic beaten every time - until later when they finally sussed how to defend it and our legs were weary. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 3,267 Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 The usual collection courtesy of Caledonia ... FT: Rangers FC vs. Celtic FC 5:4 (2:2, 1:1,1:0) After Extra time and Penalty Shoot-Out[/b] Attendance at Hampden Park: 50,069 1:0 Kenny Miller 16.min. 1:1 Erik Sviatchenko 50.min. 2:1 Barrie McKay 96.min. 2:2 Tomas Rogic 106.min. Penalty Shoot-Out: https://streamable.com/ra6d 1:0 Andy Halliday 1:1 Charlie Mulgrew James Tavernier missed for Rangers Callum McGregor missed for Celtic 2:1 Barrie McKay 2:2 Nir Bitton Nicky Clark missed for Rangers Scott Brown missed for Celtic 3:2 Lee Wallace 3:3 Leigh Griffiths 4:3 Gedion Zelalem 4:4 Mikael Lustig 5:4 Nicky Law Tomas Rogic missed for Celtic Full Match - View or download First Half https://weshare.me/4524b6819d4ca217/Rangers_v_Celtic_17-04-2016_First_Half_Sky_Sports_2_HD.mp4 Second Half https://weshare.me/b703d82590ff29f2/Rangers_v_Celtic_17-04-2016_Second_Half_Sky_Sports_2_HD.mp4 Extra Time and Penalty Shoot-Out https://weshare.me/d7eef00e86f4a59e/Rangers_v_Celtic_17-04-2016_ET_Sky_Sports_2_HD.mp4 Highlights from Rangers TV Official SFA Highlights BBC Highlights https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkK-qgcLT6s BBC Sportscene 25 Minutes Highlights (scroll down page) http://rangersfc.org/index.php?dn=news&to=art&id=1844 Pre-Match Rangers End The Moment... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P546-yuNwzA Rangers Fans Tunnel Talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5FbhXixgwI Reaction Mark Warburton Reaction Kenny Miller Reaction Wes Foderingham https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_C1_hpbs0Y Reaction Dominic Ball https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLhvJvYKCAY Pics by Willie Vass http://willievass.photoshelter.com/gallery/170416-Rangers-v-Celtic/G000036K3O9E7vJE/C0000FPOTtcv6CMk Pics by Rangers FC http://rangers.co.uk/news/galleries/gallery-cup-semi-final-2/ 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 3,267 Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 Mildly aggrieved to see our beautiful victory being dragged down into a battle of the arseholes about who's more offended by what. Easy mate, easy. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
calscot 0 Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 I thought there was two parts to our play yesterday that were really lacking and could have bitten us - long balls and heading. I've said since we started playing the ball on the ground we need to be able to use judicious and accurate long balls as well as good clearances when required. We have ignored that part of our game as we haven't needed it so much against a much lesser opposition. Against Celtic we were under a lot more pressure in possession and resorted to the long ball on a pretty regular basis - however, the delivery was almost always abysmal - either straight to them or out of play. I found that really frustrating, and I think the more tired we got, the more we used a tactic we're poor at a lot more unnecessarily. I think we need to practice it and use it - which doesn't mean we change our main style, as we only need to do it now an again. But it should be a skill in our repertoire. The other problem is our heading, which although not as bad as our long ball, meant that they had numerous headers on goal - almost every corner, which meant that four corners in a row gave plenty of chances to put a good one in and score. I recall the fourth corner itself was a bit of a soft give-away too when we needed to release the pressure, and even a throw would have been a better concession. There were boasts about how little we header the ball and I remember saying then that it was a concern in the long run. I do think we need to replace one of the CBs with a player who can win most of the high balls in the box - like Butcher and Gough - and Weir. We'll need that a lot more in the division above. However, I'm not detracting from the rest of our play, which was fantastic yesterday, and great to watch. It was probably the most aesthetic OF game for a long time while still having that amazing tension and end to end stuff. It reminded the rest of the world of the OF brand. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blinkyman 0 Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 I've always considered young Zelalem to be too 'light-weight' for our needs & was afraid of seeing him play any major role yesterday. Not known for his tackling or shooting I was fearful of his usefulness in ET. But, as others have mention on this thread, his conduct was exemplary in retaining possession & wearing down an already leggy Celtic. His PK was simplicity itself. Law on the other hand .......... the ONLY thing he did right, IMHO, was score a penalty. Back or sideways passing and his cowardly refusal to take on a defender or simply make a tackle, culminated in the equalizing goal teed up by Tierney for Rogic. I sincerely hope he never kicks another ball in a Rangers shirt .................... In comparison, Shiels I would like to keep for his attitude & veteran experience, much like KM. While Clark's effort can never be questioned, along with his 'too few' important & timely goals, I expect (sadly) he will be 'down the road' .................. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranger_syntax 3,781 Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 I think earlier in the thread someone said that Zelalem scared them when he came on as he was losing the ball or something like that (not trawling back through 35 pages to find it...). I was surprised at the comment because I thought Zelalem absolutely STROLLED it when he came on. He was a mature, calm head whilst others around him were all blood and snotters (yes, that would be you Scott Brown....). Zelalem played as if he was in a training exercise and just strolled it. Was strong in possession, never missed a pass and, something which often gets ignored, he makes great angles to show for the ball - at one point Tavernier was advancing down the right hand side and came into 2 Celtic players, Zelalem made the smartest run by offering himself between the two players - unfortunately Tavernier went backwards but had he split the two Celtic players Zelalem had carved them open with one simple, smart run into a space which provided an easy angle for his team mate. I thought the lad strolled it - and he made his penalty look like he was hitting it in training without a keeper in the net. One of the many good points from yesterday. Not least because you would be forgiven for having doubts about how he would handle this match. In general he has not been very effective but in particular situations he can be. When he does play you can almost always rely on him take the ball and ease any pressure in midfield. I thought that we were needing that prior to his introduction and he proved himself equal to the challenge. His penalty was excellent and, as an added bonus for the evening, the celebration did cause me to smirk a bit. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the gunslinger 3,366 Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 Even my partner was laughing at me. As Gideon stepped up I commented oh ffs not him. He can't kick a ball 3 feet. Followed swiftly by beautiful penalty wee man. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the gunslinger 3,366 Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 Should we have a penalty in the first half? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aweebluesoandso 290 Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 For me it was Zelalem's best performance for us so far, there have been games when he's played as good. But the massive difference was the level of opposition yesterday. he effectively ran the show when he came on, his distribution was superb, didn't allow himself to get caught with the ball as he is sometimes prone to do, accurate passing and tireless running. When he beefs-up and can put in a solid tackle he'll be a regular for Arsenal. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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