Podcaster David Edgar has identified the abilities that Rangers defender Calvin Bassey has, whilst comparing him to Croatian left-back Borna Barisic.
Bassey has been a constant in the Rangers defence this season. He has featured 35 times in all competitions, according to Transfermarkt, while he has also shown his versatility having played at both centre-back and left-back.
Edgar spoke on the Heart and Hand Podcast and compared Calvin Bassey to Barisic following the weekend’s win over Aberdeen, with Bassey coming in for high praise after his game-changing display at Ibrox when he was switched to left-back by Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
He said: “At the moment, I think Bassey is streets ahead of Barisic.
“He doesn’t have the delivery that Barisic has, but he causes far more bother. And almost instantly, he started getting to the byline, he’s got an amazing ability to do that, that changes the game.”
TIF Thoughts on David Edgar’s comments…
With Bassey’s impressive performances as of late – averaging above a seven in all but one of his last five appearances in all competitions (as per SofaScore) – it has meant that Barisic has seen his game time limited when the youngster does play at left-back, despite the Croatian being a mainstay in the Rangers side that won the SPFL last campaign.
Although, Barisic did find himself at left-back from the start against Aberdeen as Bassey initially slotted in at centre-back.
The Scottish Daily Express, however, weren’t so kind on Bassey’s performance against the Dons, as they gave him just a 6/10. Although, stats seem to suggest he had a fairly solid game, as he managed to block one shot, achieved a pass success rate of 84%, won four duels and made two tackles.
But Barisic arguably had the better game despite only playing 59 minutes, as he made two key passes, had two successful dribble attempts, a successful pass rate of 83%, won seven duels, made three tackles, two clearances and two interceptions (as per SofaScore).
So perhaps Edgar’s comments indicate that the stats are fairly misleading of each player’s effect on the side, particularly when given that Rangers eventually made the breakthrough without Barisic on the pitch as they chased an important winner.