The Rangers’ new-look roster is beginning to take shape, slowly but surely.
in particular, the defence. Despite Celtic’s demolition of a reorganised backline in the Old Firm derby due to the exits of Connor Goldson and Borna Barisic, there have been noticeable advancements on both sides of that Parkhead anomaly.
With their 3-0 victory over Dundee on Saturday, Rangers advanced to the League Cup semifinals thanks to a brace from Cyriel Dessers. This means that Philippe Clement’s team has now preserved a clean sheet in four of their last five games.
Jefte is establishing himself as a more than viable left-back alternative to Barisic, both offensively and defensively.
Meanwhile, John Souttar and former FC Twente captain Robin Propper are forming a strong relationship at Rangers, and Clement appears to have settled on his starting back-four after Ben Davies left.
But the campaign is going in a very opposite path for one of the defenders who may have ended up at Ibrox before the window closed.
Stanley N’Soki, a defender for Hoffenheim, was linked to Rangers.
In the last week of the window, Stanley N’Soki was connected to the Rangers, according to the French newspaper L’Equipe.
Furthermore, there was some logic to the rumours. Former France Under 21 player N’Soki has previously collaborated with Clement at Club Brugge in Belgium. Being a left-footer, he also seemed a perfect fit to take Davies’s position, the southpaw who was heading to Birmingham.
But, the interest was in vain, as the Rangers chose to sign Neraysho Kasanwirjo in its place. As the clock struck eleven on August 30, N’Soki was stranded in Sinsheim.
And after three weeks, it feels more like N’Soki lost than the Rangers did because of the paucity of late-window action.
Because N’Soki has only played one minute of football for Hoffenheim in the first four games of the current Bundesliga season. Throughout the past three games, the 25-year-old has not even left the bench.
And even though his circumstances might quickly alter—Hoffenheim has given up nine goals in their previous 270 minutes of play, so they might be ready for a defensive realignment—N’Soki’s standing is still declining two years after he moved to Germany for £10 million.
John Souttar and Robin Propper are constantly getting better.
One can only speculate as to why the Rangers chose Kasanwirjo over N’Soki.
Maybe the Glasgow giants were scared off by an injury-plagued 2023–24 season. N’Soki’s hip issue prevented him from playing in the final seven Bundesliga games.
Clement also emphasised Kasanwirjo’s remarkable adaptability after his arrival from Feyenoord on deadline day.
With the Dutch loanee’s versatility as a full-back, defensive midfielder, and center-half, perhaps the manager thought Rangers might acquire two or three players in one.
For whatever reason, Rangers’ defence is beginning to appear rather strong, whereas Hoffenheim’s is letting more holes appear every game.
“We played strong defence and gave opponents few opportunities to score against us. The more powerful Propper stated, “So, the 1-0 was, I think, how it was supposed to be,” following the victory over Dundee United, where the hosts were unable to produce even a shot on goal following Tom Lawrence’s opening seven-minute goal.
“You have to change and get better. Since I’m new, I need to adjust to the football, my teammates, and my rivals.
“That need some time. I always try my hardest, and occasionally you can see that both our offence and defence are of high calibre. I try my best, and we can make that better.
“John [Souttar] and Jefte are helping us a lot to get better.”
But once the Europa League gets begin this week, Rangers could be in for a much harder test of their newly-redesigned defence against Lyon and Malmo.
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