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Posts posted by Rousseau
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Is that more objects being thrown at our players?
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1 minute ago, JFK-1 said:
No. Got hubz away and Kilmarnock home prior to that.
Meh--He needed a rest anyway...
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Defend it out for 18 minutes.
We've gone 4-3-2.
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3 minutes ago, Rousseau said:
Morelos sent off?
Oh, come on.
Yes, he's went over to the 'Well fans.
How many times do opposition players goad our fans with no booking?
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Morelos sent off?
Oh, come on.
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Well worked from Arfield and Jack, and then Aribo twisting on the wing.
Decent cross from Aribo, but we get a bit of luck with the way it falls for Morelos; good finish.
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Yaaassss!
Finally.
Morelos.
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What a save from McGregor.
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Tavernier really should be putting that on a plate for Arfield.
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The inconsistency of the Referee is laughable.
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Walker is very quick to highlight anything Morelos does.
He's not allowed to tackle, apparently.
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Morelos was smiling, there.
Terrifying.
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To be fair to Katic, he got better as the half went on. His aerial duels were rightly restricted to balls he could actually win, rather than throwing himself into everything in no-man's land leaving the defence wide open.
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I think Aribo has had another very good game.
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There's been an interesting switch-up in tactics.
I feel we're staying solid and countering. When we get the ball we're going long and direct.
It's not the most entertaining, but it nullifies their threat on the break.
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That's Donnelly booked, then. Took longer than I thought.
Terrible tackle.
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0-1. Katic.
Another player that never fails to show me up.
I was just going to write, I think he's too eager to win the ball. Defensively that's an issue; attacking the corner, it's great!
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Kamara really should have scored, or at least hit the target -- he's trying to smash it, rather than just side-foot it on target.
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That should be a penalty, IMO, seeing it again.
I was unsure at full-speed to be fair.
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Katic is a bombscare.
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- Popular Post
- Popular Post
It has been a strange week. The disappointment of last Sunday's Cup Final still lingers, and then the last minute equaliser against Young Boys was gutting, but we did still qualify for the last 32 of the Europa League -- a magnificent achievement.
And yet, I suspect we're all a tad deflated. That is two games, big games, where by all accounts Rangers played wonderfully; dominating the ball for long spells with an aggressive , stifling tempo and peppering the opposition goals with shots, but ultimately unable to take the chances that our performances deserved.
The matches come thick and fast this month, and next up in the League, Rangers travel to Fir Park to face Motherwell on Sunday.
Since the last meeting between the sides, Motherwell have been on a solid run of form. In their last seven matches, they have won 5, losing two (against Celtic and a surprise away defeat to Hibernian), and in that run, they have scored 13 goals. They have kept three clean-sheets in their last three games. This form has seen them jump over Aberdeen to claim the third spot in the League.
The last meeting between the sides was far from easy, despite Rangers claiming the 2-1 win at Ibrox. A unusual front-three of Barker, Defoe and Stewart started the game for Rangers but they struggled to find the breakthrough against a resolute Motherwell team despite being quite lively. An early goal for Motherwell was just what we didn't need, but Defoe equalised in added time at the end of the first half. It took a late Helander header to claim the points.Despite doing well in recent visits, it is never a quiet day at the office at Motherwell. Of the last five league fixtures at Fir Park between the pair, Rangers have won three, with two high-scoring draws making up the other results.
In the game at Ibrox, Motherwell employed a 3-5-1-1 formation. They were compact both horizontally and vertically, looking to counter -- a tried and tested way to play against us. They let Rangers have the ball, and went direct as often as possible. The out-ball was to their #9, Long, who waited for the overlap from the wing-back. The other forward player would get himself into the box to receive the cross from the wing-back, or the ball would be cut-back to their #9. Their goal come from a long ball from the 'keeper to the wing-back, who knocked it on for the two roaming front players.In their other games , Motherwell have employed a 4-3-3, sacrificing a defender for another attacking player. Against Celtic they employed the 3-5-1-1/3-5-2 as they did against us, to it is likely they will revert to that on Sunday.
Their key men in this set-up are the tall, pacey wing-backs, Jake Carroll and Bevis Mugabi, and their #9, Chris Long. Long is not much of a goalscorer, but he is a good target-man and has developed a good partnership with Devante Cole, who is usually deployed in a supporting role around him.
Motherwell remain without David Turnbull -- the central-midfielder was subject to a bid from Celtic in the summer --, and full-backs Christian Ilic and Charles Dunne. Their centre-back Declan Gallagher is one booking away from an automatic suspension.
Filip Helander and Steven Davis both missed the Europa League match on Thursday through injury. Helander looks to be out for another game or two with a foot injury, but Davis is pushing to return against Motherwell. Jordan Jones is also still out.
With Helander out, we could see Katic retain his place after being reinstated midweek. Katic will be more than capable of dealing with the physical threat of Long, but I wonder if he can deal with the pace? Could Edmundson perhaps come in? Katic is more likely.
Dealing with Motherwell's counter-attacking pace, snuffing it out before it begins, may well be the role of the midfield, which should be Jack, Davis and Kamara. Davis may not last the full 90 minutes, but his creativity and metronomic ability to dictate the tempo will be crucial.
Morelos and Kent seem certain to take two of the three forward spots. Alongside them, Gerrard may opt for the pace of Ojo or the guile of Stewart for this one. Aribo was magnificent against Young Boys, but he was dead on his feet towards the end; a rest is well-deserved. I'm a big fan of Stewart, so I'll opt for his inclusion.
Our performances have been phenomenal for the most part over the last week, but we are lacking a cutting edge. They were both big games, with an even match-up; both teams going for the win. Sunday's game against Motherwell will be different; they will be looking to defend deep, but aggressively, and counter with their big target man and pacey wing-backs. Rangers will need to be patient, but we have the quality to continue our good League form. I think I'd settle for a poor, but clinical performance for this one!9 -
Motherwell 1 - 2 Rangers
FGS Morelos
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6 minutes ago, cooponthewing said:
You can have a special discount upon my qualification Rousseau! Clearly you have an unspecified and as yet undiagnosed neurological condition, which appears to leave you cognitively incapacitated when viewing players called "Katic"???
You graduated?
I just don't think a couple of crunching tackles is enough to justify his place in the starting XI over a more rounded player like Helander.
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I thought Katic was poor.
There was one -- or two? -- crunching tackles that I loved, but he didn't win a lot in the air, his positioning was lacking and his passing was not great. The latter is nothing new, but I did expect a more dominant performance in the air.
I much prefer Helander.
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[FT] Motherwell 0 - 2 Rangers (Katic 27; Morelos 69)
in Rangers Chat
Posted
Ooh-- Polster coming on.