Rangers left-back Borna Barisic was one of the best players on the pitch as the Light Blues secured a comfortable 3-0 win against Dundee on Saturday.
The Croatian international has struggled for form and fitness this season but fans on Twitter agreed that the defender was very much back to his best at the weekend:
Amazing what a change of manager can do
— LuxInterior4209 (@bboysshadrach) December 4, 2021
Aye you can definitely see a difference in him
— Foz (@BFoster_5) December 4, 2021
He's been outstanding in the past couple of games..rock solid at the back.
— Everybody's gotta be somebody (@8Hay) December 4, 2021
Welcome back Borna .
— james stirling (@jamesst50264523) December 4, 2021
Thought he was fantastic. Seems a lot more confident defending than before!!
— Ally Stewart (@AllyStewart1989) December 4, 2021
Defensively has stepped up
— FootballBoxingRugby (@boxing_rugby) December 4, 2021
Said this earlier during the game. Been class since Gio came in👏🏻
— Grant (@Grant_Rushton26) December 5, 2021
There seems to be more structure in the team tactics under Gio. I see improvements all over the pitch
— Ja💙 (@jamsmekk) December 5, 2021
He’s been great the last 4 games!!!!
— Fergie (@73fergie) December 4, 2021
As well as delivering his trademark corners, Barisic also put in a shift defensively; something he has neglected to do on occasion this campaign.
There could be a number of different reasons for the 29-year-old’s improvement recently. He is undoubtedly trying to impress his new manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst but there are definitely other factors.
Barisic came straight into the season off the back of Euro 2020 (where he picked up an injury) so he wasn’t going to start the campaign firing on all cylinders. On top of that, the system has been tweaked slightly by van Bronckhorst and the fullback seems to be flourishing as a result.