The Terrace podcaster Craig Anderson has claimed that Leon Balogun should not feature in Rangers’ strongest defensive line.
During the Gers’ most recent outing in the Premiership, they defeated Aberdeen 2-1 at Pittodrie Stadium on Sunday (per Transfermarkt).
On the day, Steve Gerrard started his side in a 4-3-3 formation against the Dons and his central defensive pairing was Balogun alongside Connor Goldson.
While that was the pair Gerrard opted for during that game, minutes have been shared between centre-backs Goldson, Balogun and Filip Helander throughout the Premiership season so far (per WhoScored).
In the latest episode of The Terrace Scottish Football Podcast, Anderson aired his belief that Balogun is lacking compared to his two teammates.
He said: “You saw from that early chance [against Aberdeen], to be fair, Balogun and Goldson both getting themselves in a bit of a tangle or basically forgetting where their feet were.
“You wouldn’t expect that from Helander, you would expect a different type of mistake definitely – people running at him [with] a bit of pace can cause him hassle.
“There wasn’t any pace in that Aberdeen team, certainly through the middle, so it was less of a problem.
“I think Helander and Goldson is the best partnership. I feel like Balogun is fine but he’s not quite at the level of those two.
“He’s probably a better footballer than Helander certainly, possibly than Goldson as well.”
TIF Thoughts on what Craig Anderson said about Leon Balogun…
As can be seen in what the podcaster had to say, he believes that Balogun is not as strong in a defensive sense as Goldson and Helander are, although he is a better footballer.
Of the two players, who would you rather was starting at centre-back alongside Connor Goldson?
Helander
Balogun
So far this season, Helander has been the second-best tackler in Gerrard’s squad having averaged 1.8 tackles per Premiership match (per WhoScored).
Goldson has fared a little worse with 1.1 tackles per outing, however, he has still been the joint-sixth-best tackler in the squad.
Balogun, meanwhile, is the worst of the trio but not by much, as he has been the joint-ninth-best tackler in the squad, having averaged one tackle a league game.
This would seemingly back up what Anderson had to say about the £720,000-rated Nigerian being the worst defender of the three players, even if it is only by a small margin.