McCoist admits Rangers have lost physicality after departure of three Super Eagles stars

A fantastic Ajax Amsterdam team thrashed Scottish Premiership giants Glasgow Rangers in their opening game of the group stage of the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday evening.

The Light Blues were dismantled in the first half as Edson Alvarez, Steven Berghuis and Mohammed Kudus gave Ajax a 3-0 lead.

With ten minutes left on the clock, Steven Bergwijn added a fourth after a defensive mistake.

Rangers could have pulled a goal back but hit the post in the closing moments.

Assessing the performance of the Rangers players at halftime, Rangers icon Ally McCoist, who was on punditry duties for BT Sport, highlighted that Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side have lost physicality following the departures of three Super Eagles stars Leon Balogun, Joe Aribo and Calvin Bassey.

Balogun left as a free agent before he was snapped up by Championship outfit Queens Park Rangers, while Aribo and Bassey were sold to Southampton and Ajax respectively in the summer transfer window.

Álvarez opened the scoring when he headed home unchallenged in the heart of the Rangers box and it seemed the nearest defenders Goldson and Tavernier were blocking each other.

"The problem is, and I keep harping on about it, you lose Balogun, you lose Aribo, you lose Bassey - you lose three good players - but you lose a real physicality in your team. You lose defensive strength at set plays," McCoist said on BT Sport.

"You've only got one player in your team, right now looking at that Rangers team, you've got one player, and he's not been great at it by the way, and that's Goldson that looks capable of winning a defensive header. In the modern game, particularly at set plays, that is not good enough."

Aribo and Bassey were key members of the Rangers side that reached the final of last season's Europa League.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Copyright ANS

All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from allnigeriasoccer.com