John Souttar was Rangers’ only Scotland representative in the nation’s final squad before Euro 2024.
The defender also came off the bench for the country against the Netherlands amid much debate over competition in Scotland’s centre-back positions.
But after yet another composed and commanding performance at the heart of the Rangers defence in the win over Hibs, surely that chatter has finally been settled.
John Souttar in confident Rangers form
Since overcoming his most recent spate of injury problems, John Souttar has been a near ever present for Philippe Clement.
That confidence has been repaid with stellar performances and against Hibs, Souttar was once again amongst the best players on the park.
The 27-year-old Ibrox centre-back played with his usual defensive commitment but also exudes confidence and class on the ball.
John Souttar at his sweeping, powerful best is a modern centre-back who is always thinking about how to play the ball the forward and who can comfortably step into midfield.
A solid passer of the ball and a superb siege defender in those crucial moments, it was a stellar showing against Hibs and formed the foundation of the 3-1 victory.
John Souttar showing v Hibs – stats from FotMob:
- Rated 8.2
- 80/86 passes, 93% accuracy
- Penalties won – 1
- Touches – 97
- Touches in opposition box – 1
- Passes into final third – 15
- 6/9 long balls, 67% accuracy
- Tackles won 0/0
- 7 clearances
- 4 headed clearances
- 1 interception
- 9 defensive actions
- 11 recoveries
- 5 duels won, 1 lost
- 5/5 aerial duals won
- 1 foul committed
- 1 foul against
Ibrox defender is a Scotland Euro 2024 shoo-in
Scotland do have a number of decent centre-back options but it would take quite something to justify leaving Rangers star John Souttar out of the Euro 2024 squad.
Steve Clarke is under pressure with Scotland failing to win in any of their last seven games despite fan expectation rising ahead of the tournament in Germany.
With Grant Hanley (Norwich City) and Scott McKenna (Copenhagen) pulling out of the last squad, Scotland still had Ryan Porteous (Watford), Jack Hendry (Al-Ettifaq) and Liam Cooper (Leeds United) in the team.
Add into that the fact that Kieran Tierney (Real Sociedad) and Scott McTominay (Manchester United) have also played there and competition is clearly fierce.
But when I look at that list and compare these players with the John Souttar we saw against Hibs, any of these players will be lucky to be chosen ahead of the Ibrox star this summer.
Classy, condiment, comfortable and (usually) reliable, John Souttar’s best years are probably still in front of him as a defender and we might just be about to see them for club and country.
