It is no secret that Rangers are finding unbelievable success under manager Steven Gerrard this season (WhoScored.com). The team still have a chance at winning every competition they are currently in. However, this doesn’t mean that every single player is performing well.
Sheyi Ojo hasn’t impressed fans greatly during his stay in Glasgow. Alan Hutton spoke out this week claiming the player had left him disappointed as he described him as being “very in and out” (Football Insider). What do the statistics say? Why don’t pundits like Hutton rate Ojo?
TIF Tactics – Where has Ojo fallen short this season?
When we look at Ojo’s statistics in isolation, without any context, his overall performance for the season looks like a success. In 1754 minutes of football, he has six goals and six assists. This averages out to 0.31 goals and 0.31 assists per 90 minutes. With numbers like that, fans could realistically expect the winger to be chipping in with either a goal or an assist every other game.
But these statistics aren’t genuine to his overall performances for Rangers. If we look at his statistics isolated regarding the competitions he has played in, we see a different picture. The main competitions Ojo has participated in this season is the UEFA Europa League and the Scottish Premiership.
When we look at Ojo’s performances in Europe he looks like a world-beater. He averages 0.5 goals per 90 minutes and 0.25 assists per 90 minutes. While his assist numbers have slightly decreased from his overall total, his number of goals scored has shot up. This is because a majority of the goals Ojo has scored this season came against weak opposition in the UEFA Europa League qualifiers.
In the Scottish Premiership, however, he only averages 0.12 goals per 90 minutes. His assist average out to 0.36 per 90. While his assist numbers are still impressive, his goals scored are quite low.
We can also look at his xG (expected goals) for some additional context. His average of 0.5 goals per 90 minutes in the UEFA Europa League exceeds his xG of 0.4 per 90 minutes. In the Scottish Premiership, however, he underperforms from his xG of 0.22 per 90 minutes.
So despite Ojo showing that he can chip in with goals and assists, he hasn’t been able to do it in the league on a regular basis. He has only shown his best moments against teams that Rangers fully well expected to beat. There is still time for Ojo to turn his Rangers career around before heading back to Liverpool when his loan ends.
(all data and stats from Wyscout.com, accurate at the time of writing)