Ola Solbakken scouted for Rangers: The Bodo/Glimt winger with untapped goalscoring potential

An area which was neglected under the stewardship of Steven Gerrard and his infatuation with No.10s, Giovanni van Bronckhorst has experienced difficulty realising the full potential of his system at Ibrox without a consistent, creative wide man on the right to complement Ryan Kent.

Plenty of names have been entered the conveyor belt of rumours, but Bodo/Glimt winger Ola Solbakken, out of contract this winter, continues to gain admirers across Europe.

The Rangers Review analyses his attacking skillset and suitability for a winter switch to Ibrox.

Solbakken’s role for Bodo/Glimt in recent years has been predicated much more on the positional nuances which support the collective idea of Bodo/Glimt than it is on his individual ability.

The 23-year-old is required to be positionally disciplined in the attacking phase, where he is tasked with holding width on the right-hand side of the pitch.

Bodo’s pass map from their 3-1 win over Zorya in the Europa Conference League earlier this season underlines Solbakken’s ability to stretch the pitch on the opposite flank to where his side concentrate their attacking moves.

It was a feature of Bodo’s display in their 3-1 win across the city at Parkhead, where the Norwegian side would often draw Celtic towards the left-hand side with quick passing or dribbling actions, before switching the ball out to Solbakken in acres of the space on the opposite flank.

Here, the underlapping movement from Bodo’s right full-back creates space for Solbakken to manoeuvre inside and attack Celtic's defence.

Celtic are able to smother the resulting effort at goal, but it is a move which draws parallels to the early days under van Bronckhorst at Ibrox.

“I would say the biggest change since I came in is that we have started playing with out-and-out wingers,” the Dutchman remarked back in December.

Van Bronckhorst may have tweaked his system since those early months, but the tweak itself has been necessitated by the lack of a right-sided attacking option.

READ MORE: The classy Steven Davis message that helped ease a Rangers' debutants nerves

At Feyenoord, Steven Berghuis emerged as an important component in van Bronckhorst’s system on the right hand side of the attack.

Standing at 6 foot in height, the Dutchman boasted a languid ability to attack from outside-to-in, where he could thread reverse passes through defences or unleash powerful shots from distance akin to Gareth Bale at Real Madrid.

It’s important to note, therefore, that Solbakken is an inch taller than Berghuis, while, to put his stature into perspective even further, he is a full seven inches taller than Ryan Kent.

Due to his physicality, he can become incredibly difficult to dispossess when he gains the upper hand in a one-on-one encounter, shrugging off the attention of defenders.

However, due to his one-footedness, Solbakken is guilty of being too predictable in his movements. Often, he is too keen to cut infield and opponents can adjust their defensive positioning accordingly.

In this instance, the 23-year-old should thread the ball inside to a runner from midfield.

However, he attempts to dribble infield despite being outnumbered 1v2.

Before he is easily dispossessed. 

Although Solbakken is capable of moving into dangerous areas with the ball, his low creative numbers hint at a lack of conviction in the final third.

Indeed, both of his goalscoring and creative numbers last season were largely in line with his underlying statistics in both categories, where Solbakken ranked 15th in Expected Assists per 90 and down in 22nd in Expected Goals.

In a Bodo/Glimt side who consistently top the league in terms of possession share (60.9% in the 2021 campaign), Solbakken appears to lack the dominant characteristics to provide the X-factor for Rangers.

This is highlighted in the example below, where Bodo have their opponents pinned inside their defensive third.

As Solbakken skips inside, he creates space for a potential crossing opportunity.

Bodo have created a 3v2 overload at the far post as an attacker raises his hand.

However, Solbakken elects against delivering into the penalty area. Instead, he chooses to recycle possession.

The 23-year-old’s failure to translate promising positions into shots at goal, especially operating in an inverted wide role, is reflected in the fact he ranked 34th in shots per 90 in the Eliteserien last season (1.62).

READ MORE: Rangers establish RB Leipzig template with comprehensive counterattacking display

However, when Solbakken is able to fashion goalscoring opportunity, his composure in executing his finish is impressive.

His goal to cap off a remarkable 6-1 win over Roma earlier this season displayed his coolness in one-on-one situations.

As he is bearing down on goal after a well-timed run in behind the Roma backline, he spots the goalkeeper going to ground.

Solbakken fakes to shoot low and into the bottom corner...

... Before rounding the stranded Roma goalkeeper and tapping into an empty net.

His conviction in one-on-one scenarios is at odds with his general decision making around the edge of the penalty area and, if he had greater license to run beyond the opposition’s defensive line under van Bronckhorst, his finishing ability could be hugely beneficial.

His ability to halt his momentum to assess where to best place his finish leaps out in the example below.

Again, his physicality allows him to explode beyond the opposition’s defensive line.

He intelligently cuts across the defender as to create a better angle for a left-footed effort.

As he slows down, he spots the goalkeeper lowering his body positioning…

…Before he rifles his finish high into the net.

Given the fee Bodo/Glimt were seeking for Solbakken in January was reported to be around £1.6 million, it is understandable why so few clubs in Europe were willing to bite.

The winger’s underlying goalscoring and creative numbers leaves a lot to be desired, often lacking the technical excellence to capitalise on his physically imposing frame as an attacker.

However, his composure infront of goal could make him an attractive prospect for a Rangers side crying out for more goal-hungry attackers heading into next season.