Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before

For those of us who endured our game against Livingston on Sunday there will have most definitely been a feeling of Deja vu. What unfolded in front of us on was nothing new as we watched Rangers struggle to break down a team intent on stopping us playing and with no desire to try and win the game for themselves. It is something we have encountered on numerous occasions in the last couple of seasons and perhaps most worryingly, we appear to be no closer to finding a solution to the problem.

The result on Sunday itself is not disastrous, particularly at this stage of the season, but the manner of how the points were dropped does allow the Rangers support to ask legitimate questions of our manager and his coaching staff. On Sunday Livingston set up with effectively a 6-3-1 formation and invited Rangers to find, or create, a gap in their defensive wall.  

This is not a new problem facing Steven Gerrard and the coaching team but not for the first time under their stewardship Rangers failed to find a way to break down the block. There was a lack of tempo and urgency from the team to get the important first goal, too many players took the safe option, and there was a general lack of creativity. On the very few occasions that did we manage to create an opportunity we were not clinical in front of goal. Alarmingly these same problems have littered previous games where teams ‘sit in’ and try and stop us playing and it is the failure to address these problems that supporters have vented their frustrations at.  

Supporters are, understandably, questioning both the tactics and the players deployed in these games.  Rangers employed their usual 4-3-3 formation against Livingston despite the fact it has proved unsuccessful in previous fixtures where teams sit in and stifle the Rangers side. Sunday also saw two holding players deployed in central midfield despite the opposition providing little attacking intent or threat. The predictability of Rangers style and the lack of surprise in both formation and personnel has been discussed on this blog before. Why, if we know that a team is going to sit do we not play two strikers? Why do we feel the need to play two holding midfielders?  

The blame for Sunday's performance cannot lay squarely at the foot of the manager though. He was once again let down by some of his players. The midfield three of Hagi, Jack and Kamara were poor throughout the game with only Kamara producing a credible performance. Hagi did not show anything like the kind of performance that we know he is capable of and it's fair to say his start to the season has been rather subdued. Ryan Jack looks a shadow of the player he was at the start of 2020 and there must be a marked improvement in his performances in the coming weeks to justify his position in the team. Alfredo Morelos once again looked out of sorts which was disappointing after a much-improved performance against St Mirren in midweek. The transfer saga surrounding him is in danger of clouding his relationship with the supporters and it would appear a resolution needs to be found to the situation before we see Morelos return to the kind of form we know he is capable of. 

Despite the dropped points on Sunday it is still a solid start to the season for Rangers. We have yet to concede a goal in the league and for the 1st time in several years it would appear Alan McGregor has real competition for the No1. jersey. Jon McLaughlin looks like an excellent signing and giving McGregor some genuine competition has been long overdue. Borna Barasic continues to excel and only an outstanding save stopped him from scoring another wonderful free kick on Sunday, Ryan Kent has also started the season strongly and despite his miss near the end of the game against Livingston was once again one of our better players.  

The players and management team have a rare free midweek and we can only hope they use it wisely as they prepare for the visit of Kilmarnock on Saturday. Whilst Sunday was undoubtedly a poor performance and ultimately a disappointing result, three points at home to Kilmarnock will set us back on track. We must remember that the league season is a marathon not a sprint and there will be many more twists and turns before the end of the season. If we were to look back at any title winning season, there will always be occasions when points are dropped. Currently we sit top of the league and can cement this position with a victory on Saturday at Ibrox. 

WDTCR 

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