His cool, surface tension simmers and Gerrard must buy
same impact after the interval, although he has showed he can be a key player for Rangers in the rest of the season.
4 A pain in the grass Before the game Steven Gerrard claimed the poor state of the playing surface in the Allianz Stadion would not be used an excuse regardless of the outcome of Rangers final Europa League group game.
But the rutted, patched-up surface was not conducive to free-flowing football, from either side, as it cut up badly and the ball seemed to bobble about all over the place on it. For those whose first touch is questionable, and there were a few of those in either side, the awkward playing surface certainly did not help.
The Rangers fans might never have believed it but how they must have longed for the much criticised plastic pitches at Kilmarnock, Hamilton and even Livingston. Those Astro-turf surfaces are like a bowling green compared to the cut-up condition of the the sub-standard pitch in Vienna. 5 January sales
Rangers midfielders; Ryan Jack, Scott Arfield, Lassana Couibaly and the impressive Ross McCrorie, all put in a shift in Vienna but the Ibrox outfit are crying out for a creative spark. They had plenty of possession against Rapid but could not turn that into clear cut chances. The only real threat to the Rapid goal was a first half header from Connor Goldson that thumped off the crossbar.
Gerrard has previously stated there won’t be much activity by Rangers in the January transfer window but that midfield attention.
And now there won’t just be speculation about incomings but with the European adventure over there could well be outgoings.
Having recently announced huge losses of over £14million, Rangers need to bring in some cash to balance the books and although Gerrard does not want to lose any of his key players but business is business and prized assets James Tavernier and Alfredo Morelos could be vulnerable if the right offers come in. needs