Rangers fans should show caution over Kelsy and Kim heroics | OneFootball

The big caveat that Ibrox Noise has been alluding to regarding Rangers stars shining on the international stage has been a notable one. The big two, of course, to come into prominence in recent days have been Kevin Kelsy and Minsu Kim. Both players have done some spectacular things and achieved firsts for their countries. However, the Rangers international friendly performances require some important context.

Kevin Kelsy shines in friendly action

Kelsy has netted his first ever goal for Venezuela. Meanwhile, Minsu Kim has been shining in his various fixtures for South Korea on his maiden call up to the national side at senior level. The problem in both cases, however, is that both players are playing in friendly fixtures.

This is important context. Competitive and friendly football cannot be equated with each other. Competitive football is a totally different animal, and it is why preseason is not a good place to judge any player, whether they produce a good performance or a bad one. You can only properly judge players, managers and teams on all round results when the match actually means something.

Minsu Kim impresses for South Korea

Therefore, Minsu Kim shining in his friendly matches and Kevin Kelsy doing likewise is a completely different prospect to Olwethu Makana doing the same in competitive African Cup of Nations qualifiers. Ditto all the European players in their Nations League matches. Meanwhile, there are no Rangers players playing for Scotland in their Nations League matches, so that is a bit of a misnomer and a dead rubber.

There is simply no point in judging players or getting overly excited when it is a friendly. It is the same during preseason. These matches obviously have nothing riding on them apart from match fitness and trying different things. When it comes to friendly internationals, it is much the same circumstance. That context matters when assessing Rangers international friendly performances.

Friendly performances need competitive context

Players can express themselves a bit more knowing there is nothing riding on anything they try. They also put less dig into the match for fear of injury. We know the viral footage of Minsu Kim saw him glide beyond two or three players in a row before one eventually took him down. Believe you me, he would never have succeeded with those runs had it been a competitive match. The boy is clearly a talented player and he is going to rise and grow in prominence. However, he would have been smashed down after the first one, if not the second.

That is, of course, a testament to his rising ability. However, it also shows that these friendly fixtures mean a hell of a lot less than competitive ones, even the Nations League. The Nations League has a little bit riding on it. It is a glorified friendly tournament in many senses. But it now has a competitive edge because there are implications for success at that level. Therefore, it represents a more meaningful match, even if it is not at European Championship or World Cup qualifier level.

Rangers need competitive international evidence

However, the simple fact is that players excelling on the friendly international stage do not get the same level of credibility as those shining on the competitive one. We hope to see competitive action involving Kelsy and indeed Minsu Kim in due course. Hopefully both shining in exactly the same way.

We will take the achievements from these Rangers international friendly performances with a little bit of a pinch of salt. Nevertheless, it is still nice for the feel good factor for the players, Rangers and everybody involved.