Rangers simply can’t rely on Ben Davies | OneFootball

This is a topic which is a touch ‘crying over spilled milk’ but we feel it’s worth mentioning just what ‘impact’ Ben Davies had on Rangers’ loss in Poland to a very, very ordinary Dynamo Kyiv side.

The left-sided defender replaced Ridvan Yilmaz as left back around 77 minutes, and within 3 minutes Kyiv had amassed their first meaningful shot on goal, before instantly following it up with two goals.

The calamitous first strike came from Davies’ side before naturally Tavernier’s ineptitude on the other side cost the quickfire second.

Up till then?

Kyiv hadn’t had a single shot on target, Rangers had kept them fairly comfortably at bay, and we’d offered a bit of threat.

And yes, this was AFTER we lost Jefte, which is why we don’t blame the ref and the admittedly poor call for the result.

The moment Davies came on, that Ridvan went off, the defence instantly collapsed and shipped two goals and then fans blamed the ref.

What does this tell us?

It tells us Davies, definitely, is ghastly as a left back – he’s already pretty poor at best in the middle as a CB, managing half decent stats but always looking so, so vulnerable.

It also tells us that Clement is clearly desperate when he resorts to using him, as he was this weekend when injury to Robin Propper saw Davies arrived just like similar v Kyiv and Ridvan.

Thankfully against Saints and with Davies in his marginally better position of CB it wasn’t as dangerous for Rangers.

But a defence with Tavernier, Davies and Jefte is a dreadfully concerning proposition to be in, as we’ve discussed in another piece.

We’ve lost Ridvan, may have lost Propper, and there are big concerns about Souttar and Balogun.

If we’re having to rely on Tav and Davies, well, what else is there left to say?