Rousseau

We've started really well: high tempo, aggressive, but the final ball is so sloppy. Several players have given the ball away under no pressure.

I'd say Goldson is our best defender, but I agree, we miss Helander; that's the strongest partnership, for me.

 

Edmundson should be first back-up too.  

8 minutes ago, MacK1950 said:

Is he not cup-tied?.

Yeah, you're correct.

 

Useless BBC...

I'd like to see the same side as midweek, to get our form and season back on track. 

Hamilton Academical host Rangers in the 5th round of the Scottish Cup today. Kick-off is set at 12.31 GMT to raise awareness of mental health issues in sport.

 

Steven Gerrard wants Rangers to build on an "extremely positive" second-half show against Hibernian as they try to reach the Scottish Cup quarter-finals.

 

A late Ianis Hagi goal sealed a comeback win on Wednesday to keep Rangers seven points behind Celtic.

 

And the Ibrox boss wants a similar approach in their last-16 cup tie at Hamilton Academical on Saturday.

 

"I'll be looking for the same standards, people being really tuned in to get the right result," said Gerrard.

 

"This is a club that demands that you give everything in every competition, you can't pick and choose.

 

"We'll be going to Hamilton in decent shape, certainly on the back of the second-half performance against Hibs, which was extremely positive and very close to where we've been for most of the season. Hopefully we can take off from there."

 

Having fallen behind, Rangers drew level with Hibs in first-half stoppage time and went on to dominate the rest of the match, pinning the visitors back for long stretches.

 

"It was a really strong 45 minutes," said Gerrard. "Collectively, everyone was at it. Both in and out of possession, the intensity levels were exactly where I want them.

 

"We had 15 corners and I think it was the second most crosses we've put in in a game. We could have scored another two or three goals, but for their keeper and players not taking chances at the time."

 

Midfielder Ryan Jack remains sidelined but on-loan Florian Kamberi is available after sitting out against parent club Hibs, with Gerrard saying there "won't be wholesale changes" for the cup tie.

 

Rangers have won on their last nine visits to Accies but Gerrard remains wary of a side who drew at St Mirren on Wednesday after staying level with Celtic for 77 minutes despite a first-half red card for Jamie Hamilton last weekend.

 

"Every environment is different," he said. "They are very effective on their pitch. They've got a good coach and they have players who can hurt you if you don't defend properly.

 

"Every time we've gone there, they've tried to stay in the game for as long as they can. We've had to finish them off late on."

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51412598

 

49 minutes ago, Gaffer said:

I didn't vote for anyone because I didn't see anything from any of the candidates that suggested why I should lend them my support.  Did I miss something?

You didn't vote for Gersnet's very own plgsarmy!?

 

The 5-match ban for Beale is quite serious for us: he's our main tactician! Big loss. 

Last season's was quite nice, I thought.

 

Clearly, it's not the "greatest ever", but it's one of the better ones, for me.  

Anyone else see Ian Black wearing #25?

 

Side question: which player do you see wearing it?

I've got a soft spot for 12. 

 

McCoist. 

 

Side question: which player do you see wearing it?

4 minutes ago, RabiDuck said:

I think so, but with a single striker there's scope to play 2 in behind him perhaps.  A traditional diamond of LD,CD,CD,RD,LM,DMC,RM,AMC,ST,ST could be changed to LD,CD,CD,RD,LM,DMC,RM,AMC,AMC,ST and with Kent and Hagi in the AMC roles could be quite effective...  Pete always played best in that kind of role and I think Kent could be very similar in some sense

That's how we play now; the 4-3-2-1. 

It's a standard yellow. 

 

I really cannot comprehend how he's not been booked. 

I went with Barasac.  

 

I thought everything good went through him; he was clever and composed on the ball. 

 

Hagi was similar. 

35 minutes ago, Gaffer said:

I realised last night what Rangers have been working on during the winter break.  We've changed our shape in the final third.  Previously, when Kent or Aribo picked the ball up, we relied on Tav or Barisic overlapping to allow the slipped pass to them or Kent/Aribo cutting inside.  That was once effective, but Kent in particular is being closed down by two players while another covers his runs he did when he dribbled past them.  This meant Kent only had the pass to Barisic, and it was similar on the other side.  I suppose that's why we saw such an increase in the number of crosses from Barisic before the break.

 

Now what we appear to be doing is asking the two midfielders (on either side of Davis) to move into those inside channels.  I think this is a good idea and will help to break down teams that constantly sit in against us (like Hibs, Aberdeen, etc), but it's such a big change to the system that I wonder if it would have been better down during the summer when we have more of an opportunity to play games and embed it.  It seems we gambled on introducing it and the gamble didn't pay off.  The big problem we had in the Hearts game particularly is that their midfield outran us and outmuscled us, meaning that our two midfielders (Kamara and Arfield) were unable to cover the ground they needed to.  I can't see this approach working against Celtic either, but it should be effective against most other teams.

 

On reflection I'm thinking that this is why we have slowed down in the transition.  It's almost like we deliberately slow it down to allow Aribo and Arfield (as it was last night) the time to make those runs forward.  As I said, it's a nice idea but it's going to have two consequences for us.  Firstly, our style is affected a lot by it and isn't nearly as fluid or as exciting to watch.  Secondly, all it takes is a hard working and rough team like Hearts, Livi or Killie and we will struggle to command the midfield like we need to.

 

I will pay closer attention to this over the next few games to see if we can become more flexible and effective with it.  Obviously the management team believe this will be a risk worth taking, but they would have hoped that we'd get through the first few games after the break while we practised it.  I guess it's unfortunate timing that Hearts changed manager and their style.  It's also unfortunate timing that Jack and Tav got injured too.  Sometimes in football, the difference between winning and losing is so marginal.

 

Anyway, I love the tactical side of the game and I thought I'd share what I'm seeing.  And while I'm on the subject of what I'm seeing, I've never seen a player like Hagi before.  I've never seen a player who uses both feet so interchangeably.  Can anyone else think of another like him?  I can't.

I love your enthusiasm, but weren't we doing that before? The formation we play, that should have been happening. Although, we have complained in the past about those midfielders playing too deep. They should be deep at first to ensure ball transition through the thirds, but when we reach the final third, those wide midfielders need to occupy the half-space. 

 

I thought it was more of a 4-2-3-1 in the second half (I didn't see much of the first half), with Aribo moving forward, Davis and Arfield sitting, wingers playing wider, or Kent at least.

 

The issue for me is the attacking positional structure; the positions, or zones on the park, that the players have to occupy.  

 

Guardiola has a rule that no more than two players should be on the same line, vertically. For example, if Kent is in the left half space (channel), then whoever plays behind him, say Jack, can't be on the same line; he must move diagonally or wide. This opens passing options and makes it more difficult to defend. 

 

For me, too many players keep playing in the same space. 

 

I thought last night we had good coverage: Tavernier wide right, Hagi in the right half-space, Aribo in the left half-space, and Kent wide left. Davis sat deep, alongside Arfield, but with Arfield having more license to get forward. 

 

Barasic was clever: when Kent was wide, he would come inside a little, and then overlap when Kent came inside. That's the movement and occupation of space that we need. 

 

 

Hamilton 1 - 3 Rangers

 

FGS Morelos

Most of us were very close to a Correct Score, but only three were on target!

 

Everyone who entered gained 1 point for the Correct Result.

 

Dado, BEARGER, Yorkie, compo, Onevision, 26th, Devil and Ian gained another 1 point for the Correct Number of Rangers Goals.

 

No one had Edmundson as FGS -- but I do recall Katic being picked-- hmm...

 

compo, 26th and Devil gained 3 points for the Correct Score.

 

compo takes the lead!

 

Latest Standings:

 

 

It took me several minutes to realise their goal had stood. I've never seen those fouls not given. Typical.

 

The fans are not helping. We can't get forced into playing counter attacks. We must build attacks.

 

The Referee, though...

27 minutes ago, BEARGER said:

https://twitter.com/RangersFC/status/1225108450482491396

 

I took out the mobile bit☹️

Just re-paste it:

 

 

 

49 minutes ago, craig said:

Typing on my phone and couldn't see screen properly

 

Claudio's wife's name is Claudia...….. please let it be so

Personal life[edit]

Reyna married Danielle Egan, then a member of the United States women's national soccer team, in July 1997, one week after attending the FIFA All-Star Game in Hong Kong and two weeks after the U.S. team's World Cup qualifier at El Salvador. They have had four children: Jack (1999–2012), Giovanni (born 2002), Joah-Mikel, and Carolina. Giovanni, named after former Rangers teammate Giovanni van Bronckhorst,^[15] has achieved great success playing in the New York City FC development academy, and joined Borussia Dortmund's academy in November 2018.^[16] Jack, Reyna's eldest child, died of brain cancer in 2012. The family resides in Bedford, New York.^[17][18]

 

Reyna now spends much of his time managing the Claudio Reyna Foundation, his non-profit established to provide soccer training and mentoring to underprivileged youth around the nation and abroad. Claudio was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame on February 29, 2012.

4 minutes ago, Gaffer said:

5-0 Hagi

Hagi? Not Kent?

 

Are you feeling OK?

I thought it was far too congested for Kent and Aribo to do anything. I thought it was maybe because our Full-backs were too deep -- so Aberdeen's Full-backs could outnumber Aribo and Kent.

 

After seeing highlights, the Full-backs were fine; they were high and wide.  There was space for Aribo and Kent, but they didn't move enough to find it. Their body positon was poor too; it was always back-to-goal, so the only way to go was back. They should be more side on, so they can move forward. 

 

The link-up play in general between our front three was poor and static. 

 

On reflection, I think we were too critical of Defoe. It wasn't his fault, it was more the two behind him. Morelos kind of struggled too, even although he's able to do it himself -- at least he tried to find space by peeling off to the side.

 

The front three is not clicking. They need to get back to basics and learn some patters of play again. 

 

It was left to Arfield on occasion. I would actually swap Aribo and Arfield around next match -- if Hagi is not starting.  

Rangers 1 - 0 Hibernian

 

FGS Morelos