Like you’ve never heard him before, Barisic opens up to Record Sport.
Borna Barisic still sounds quite emotional. Even in his most relaxed moments, the reserved Croatian speaks quietly. It’s practically cracking now, though.
That’s what he gets from talking about Rangers and Steven Gerrard. He officially moved from Ibrox to the Turkish club Trabzonspor just 26 days ago. That will take some getting used to after six years in Glasgow.
Beyond Barisic’s career, the Rangers had an effect. It caused a life change in him. The manager who signed him from Osijek in 2018 was leading the charge in that regard. He looked up to Gerrard as a mentor in addition to a manager.
The left-back was therefore deeply affected when he left Rangers to join Aston Villa following their 55th championship win.
Barisic has admitted openly for the first time how much the former Ibrox boss influenced him. He also acknowledged that he left Rangers along with Gerrard in 2021 when the latter moved on.
For this reason, Barisic reacts with love and fondness simply at the mere mention of his name. This was, after all, the man who took him out of his home country’s relative obscurity and introduced him to life at the Old Firm.
And Gerrard made him and Rangers captain James Tavernier one of Europe’s most lethal full-back combinations for at least a few years. “Oh my God, how big was Steven’s influence on me?” Barisic said in an exclusive interview with Record Sport.
Since he was both my coach and manager, I probably didn’t want to respond to that question up until now. However, I can now.
He had SO much influence – like no one ever before in my career. When I played under Steven, I thought I could fly. That’s the effect he had on my mindset. First of all, he brought me to the club along with Mark A“So he trusted me from day one.
Then, after a hard first year, he kept me at Rangers, which meant a lot. After that, I started to play some amazing football under him.
My second year at Rangers, and the season we won the league, that was the best I’ve ever played. It’s hard to describe how big an impact he had on me. I just love the guy. And I’ll be honest. From the moment he left, it felt like part of me had also gone.
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