A tonne of positives came tumbling out of today’s stunning win over French giants Marseille, and we’re shamelessly going to flood your interweb with a few of them for the next while, but for us the most conspicuous was the unexpectedly blossoming partnership of Borna Barisic and Jordan Jones.
For seasons, fans and commentators have repeatedly banged on about the overlapping and interlinking support between James Tavernier and Daniel Candeias – well, Steven Gerrard may just have developed himself some symmetry here because Barisic and Jones fed off each other in frankly comparable fashion, and it was at times a joy to watch.
Barisic and Jones repeatedly linked, dragged defenders from each other, and laid off – there was an understanding already brewing and while the Croat managed few actual crosses, Jones was notably applauded by Stevie after yet another link between the two led to a brilliant cross in the first half from the NI international that no striker gambled on.
And that kind of symbiosis was present for as long as they both remained on the pitch.
We lost count of the number of layoffs, and one especially was breathtaking where Barisic fed it inside for an on-running Jones to take in his stride and rampage forward.
It just looks every inch the duo on the left that many feel Tav and Candy on the right are – maybe even more so, because this is a partnership that has been working from the off, and showed some tentative signs of birth against St Joseph’s.
Yes, Marseille clearly were not full pelt in this encounter, and didn’t contribute a blood and thunder opposition; it was a friendly after all, and they’re clearly considerably behind in fitness. But then they were fifth last season, and Celtic couldn’t even score at home v 10th place Rennes so there’s some context for you.
Either way, there were a boatload of good things to take from this, even if we maybe didn’t learn as much in victory as we could have in defeat, as the cliché goes. On this occasion, however, we learned enough.
And a lot of them are fine.
Proof that barisic suffers because of Kents reluctance to use him
Yes, this was something we definitely touched on last season – there was zero understanding between those two.
Wasn't so much as understanding it was more to do with Kents greed.
Yes.. Jj is defo better at the link up, kenty just got the head down n ran at defences or loked for the early ball, thats ok if you play with flanagan who gets a nosebleed if he crosses halfway line
More than fine. Outstanding. That second goal via Jack/Candeias. WOOOOOOW.
Fantastic performance all round. Spot on Ibrox Noise, that left hand side is looking much improved..
We knew we'd find common ground with you eventually Will 😉
Totally agree, Shades of the link up between Willie; wan fit' Mathieson and Bud Johnson as well Davie Robertson and Laudrup during 9 in a row,
I canned believe some of you rate Jordan Jones better than Ryan Kent I would seriously break the bank for Kent hes that good ,JJ will do a job but not in Kent's class yet ,although u hope I'm wrong
Kent is an excellent player and so is Barisic. I don't think Kent is remotely to blame for Barisic's poor performances last season, It's encouraging that the Croat has started the pre season well but he alone is responsible for his own loss of confidence and his difficylty adapting to the game in Scotland and the expectations of playing for Rangers,
Comments are closed.