Glasgow Rangers of Scotland midfielder, Joe Aribo has received stirring words of praise from The Gers’ coach, Steven Gerrard for his ability to fit in a make-shift left-back from the club and help them eke out another victory,megasportsarena.com reports.
Speaking in the wake of The Gers’ latest victory in the Scottish premiership, with Aribo filling in as a stand-in defender, Gerrard stressed that it is another confirmation of the former Charlton Athletic of England lad’s good attitude, technical quality and readiness to assist the team.
The accolades came after Aribo, who has been deployed in various roles by Gerrard so far this season, including central midfield, attacking midfield, right winger and right midfield, helped Rangers move closer to becoming the first club to break the 100-point barrier with a 3-0 victory over Efe Ambrose’s Livingston in their penultimate game of the campaign.
Although Gerrard was forced to reshuffle his side after a string of injuries ravaged the squad and one of the changes saw Aribo fill in at left-back, goals from James Tavernier, Ryan Kent and Ianis Hagi earned Rangers their 31st win of the season.
En route to the victory, Aribo, whose father hails from Ondo State, did a great job and was very much involved in his team’s third goal when he slipped the ball for Cedric Itten who fed Hagi to score in the 83rd minute.
In the aftermath of the encounter, Aribo, who was standing in for Borna Barisic, was singled out for praise by Gerrard, who admitted he was impressed with what he saw of the Super Eagles’ youngster playing in an unfamiliar fullback role and described him as a fantastic asset to the team
Gerrard told Rangers TV: “What can I say about Joe Aribo? I’ll tell you what I’ll say about him: good players can play football, top players can play anywhere on the football pitch and a manager can ask a player to do a role and good players can do some and good players can’t do some but Joe Aribo is a top player.
“Whatever I ask him to do he goes out and gives it his best shot. He’s my man of the match tonight just because, if you think about it, he’s a number 10, and he’s just been so comfortable at left-back.
“(He) cruised it and breezed it. That left-back performance is as good as we’ve seen in my three years that I have been here so well done to him for parking his ego and doing a fantastic job for his teammates.”
Aribo, who was last season named Rangers’ Young Player of the Year, added that he was equally excited by his personal display and posted on social media: “Not a bad game at left back. Top team performance, 3 points and a clean sheet.”
