DAVID McCALLUM has lauded an impressive team performance from Rangers B after they produced a commanding 3-0 victory over Everton Under-21s at the Rangers Training Centre this afternoon.
It took until three minutes shy of the interval for the young Gers to prise open their opponents as Arron Lyall curled a terrific strike into the top corner, before second half goals from Thompson Ishaka and Ross McCausland rounded off the victory.
Speaking to RangersTV after the triumph, McCallum commented: “Beyond the result, I’m pleased with how we performed. We put a lot of focus on the game at the weekend and what we did well, and we felt that if we could hit those same levels then the result today would take care of itself.
“There were probably spells out of possession in the first half where the players were perhaps thinking they were spending too much time without the ball, and it was interesting to see our guys do that because they’re not used to it. It was important that we could manage being comfortable without the ball, but also when we could pressure and force errors that we did it well.
“We restricted a lot of opportunities for Everton in our penalty box. We were excellent in possession. We had a lot of good control, and the one part that we challenged the lads at half-time on was the game changing moments. Obviously, Arron does that right before half-time after a brilliant bit of combination play with Josh McPake, and then he puts the ball in the top corner. That gives the lads a little bit more belief in the second half that they can open up a tight compact unit.
“Within that, you have players such as Zander Hutton, Paul Nsio and Zak Lovelace who are 2006s, while you have 2005s in there such as Jamie Newton, Kristian Webster and Greig Allen, who played the majority of the game. You have a wide age range, mixed with the talent who have been around the first-team, and it makes it more pleasing when you see them produce a team performance. I’m pleased with how the team functioned, but we always say to the players that within the team, you need to be individual. That was important today.”
Lyall’s strike on the stroke of half-time gave the side an extra spring in their step as they headed to the dressing room, with McCallum challenging his players to provide a greater end product in the second half.
He added: “We want to have control and have a principled structure when we have the ball in the building phase of our attack. It’s about being fluid, imaginative and destructive when we get through those first two lines. We did it well at times in the first half, but the last action that the team needed wasn’t quite there other than the goal.
“We created more opportunities in the second half. There’s a bit of debate about which of the three goals were the best and you could argue the case for all of them, but it was three excellent goals. There was individuality within it, but there was also teamwork to a point.
“We created more in the second half, but what I would like to see is more selfish movements in terms of getting in the middle of the goal and tapping the ball in from close range. It’s hard to be too critical with a performance like that.”
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