Rousseau

I did say I'd take an ugly win, and that was certainly that. The switch to 3 at the back worked, but it conceded far too much territory to 'Well; I can't see us withstanding that kind of pressure week in week out - not sure my ticker can take it either! A win's a win.

We look fragile at Right-back; Hodson is too small and weak to stand up to the 'Well players, and they're definitely targeting that area.

Foderingham should just come out for the ball. He did it a few times earlier, relieving pressure instantly.

We look good going forward, however I would like to see us control the ball more; take the pressure off. Windass has been tremendous, hitting the woodwork twice; his running ability is unbelievable at times.

Right Rangers, 3 points. Ugly if needs be.

As much as his commenting is hypocritical, disrespectful and out of place, I actually agree with BR. Cathro has ideas, and it seems the DoF (Levein) hasn't been on board. As BR says, the profile of players signed, e.g. Berra (part of the reason I was delighted we didn't sign him is that he is outdated in terms of playing style and ability), are not going to be able to play the way Cathro would like. I like the DoF structure, but at Hearts it looks like the coach has more progressive, modern ideas than the DoF was able to implement, in terms of player recruitment. That's a recipe for disaster.

It'll be interesting to see how our DoF performs over the next year or so.

Just saw the Forest highlights: 70% possession, very little created -- outside one decent long-range striker from McKay --, vulnerable from corners and loose play from the 'keeper trying to play from the back. Where have we seen that before? MW even made a double substitution on 59 minutes...

“The weather is not like Portugal", is an understatement, but I like this mindset:

“[The Motherwell game] is the most important one of the season because it is the next [game]."

Well, Rossiter is there and Pena is training, so both should be getting closer to pushing for the first team, which can only be a bonus.

Hodson will fill in for Tav no problem. Not sure Nico would have started anyway? Let's hope Windass steps up to the plate?

windass can't fill in for the guile and skill of nico....he's not quite a battering ram but his game is running at defences

what about this guy Pena is he a playmaker ?

Worried about Hodson; I've never thought he was that great, and certainly not as good as Tavernier offensively. Candeias and Tavernier were striking up a nice partnership on the right.

I don't expect Kranjcar to play 90 minutes every week, but I do think he'll be first choice. Windass has shown glimpses of what he can do, so I'm not so worried about that position.

Pena could play there but he doesn't look fit enough as of yet, and he's certainly not match sharp - at least as much as the others.

Kiernan Signs!

 

Defender makes switch from SPL on a three year deal with option of a fourth

Tavs and Nico out injured

F***.

Chance for Windass to show what he can do.

I'm not very good at previews. I always feel guilty coming onto the thread...

The stirring refrain 'gitoarintirem' is still heard ringing around Ibrox to this day, although it seems to have evolved into 'gitintirem', with or without '-rainjurs' added.

I had never seen that sketch before, but that was fantastic!

I wouldn't read too much into it. Bayern have been poor during pre-season -- even Arsenal beat them! Liverpool started on a flyer last year too and we thought they'd be contenders but fell away through poor defensive play and teams just figuring them out. They've not dealt with the former as far as I can see thus far, and the latter will be revealed as we start the season.

That's an interesting idea! Not sure I'd pay for it, but it's a nice novelty.

The reaction to Ian Cathro’s appointment as Hearts manager last December was as utterly tedious as it was predictable. A youthful figure without a background as a professional player, the debate over his place in Scottish football was to be expected. The debate had, however, was the wrong one.

Cathro was derided as little more than a laptop manager, as if his eight-year past in the sport, working his way up as a coach at Dundee United, Rio Ave, Valencia and Newcastle United counted for nothing. “He’s probably not been this excited since FIFA 17 came out on PlayStation,” Kris Boyd infamously wrote in a column, slamming the soon-to-be Jam Tarts boss before he’d even had a chance to find a socket on his new Tynecastle desk.

In truth, he has never truly recovered from that initial bluster. Saturday’s Betfred Cup defeat to Dunfermline made his position as Hearts boss untenable, with the 31-year-old sacked on Tuesday morning. Cathro could have no arguments.

Results have been poor and performances even poor. Even his most ardent advocates lost their grounds for support. Hearts were a bewildering team to watch under Cathro’s charge, losing the swagger that made them so effective under Robbie Neilson. Anne Budge and Craig Levein found themselves backed into a corner with no other option to take. The discussion around Cathro and the route that led to his appointment remains pertinent, though.

A certain anti-intellectualism dogs Scottish football, with the response to Cathro’s hiring last year the purest manifestation of that since Paul Le Guen’s failed Rangers revolution. Even Pedro Caixinha has experienced some of this in his short time in the country, mercilessly mocked for his use of empty glasses to illustrate tactics to the press.

Cathro became Scottish football’s very own Vitruvian Man – a figure who represents the branching between the ancient gods and the convention of the way of old, and science, mathematics and the way of new thinking. Leonardo Da Vinci probably wasn’t much of a Scottish football fan, but he came up with an analogy to illustrate one of its most compelling characters.

But while so many framed the discussion around Cathro as former players versus non-former players, the crux of the matter can instead be found in the education of those who are given managerial jobs in Scotland. That is where the debate over the future of the sport in the country should hone in on.

Too frequently in Scotland, a background as a player is considered a strong enough education to build a managerial career on. As if playing the game is in any way transferable to coaching it. Being an great talent on the pitch doesn’t necessarily mean you stand a better chance of succeeding in the dugout, just ask Barry Ferguson. And yet the Scottish game doesn’t seem to have learned this lesson.

Five of the current Scottish Premiership managers went straight into management after retiring as players (Alan Archibald, Derek McInnes, Jim McIntyre, Martin Canning and Neil Lennon). Including Lee McCulloch, who served for a short time as assistant manager at Kilmarnock, it’s six.

Contrast that to the Premier League, where only four of the current 20 managers went straight into management after retiring as players (Eddie Howe, Jurgen Klopp, Mark Hughes and Tony Pulis). Of those four, not one was handed their first job in the top flight. In comparison, Canning, Lennon and McCann all started their managerial lives in the Scottish Premiership.

In fact, the Scottish Premiership, with its modest count of just 12 clubs, has more managers who went straight into management than any of Europe’s top five leagues (Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1).

Not in any of those five divisions is there a manager who was handed a top-flight job without some sort of lower league or youth coaching experience. As already referenced, there are three such figures currently managing in the Scottish Premiership. Is that really serving the future of the game in the country? Are they truly qualified for such roles at the top of the game?

Despite his age, Cathro had more than served his time as a coach before making the step up as Hearts manager, yet it is he, rather than the likes of Canning, who was widely ridiculed in Scottish footballing circles. The explanation as to why has its grounding in the culture of the sport in the country over anything based on logic.

Other countries do it differently. Take Vincenzo Montella, for example. Despite being a Roma legend, the former striker got his start in management as head coach of the club’s under 15s side. Even after serving as interim manager of the senior side for a few months after the sacking of Claudio Ranieri, he dropped down to take charge of lowly Catania before working his way back up through Fiorentina, Sampdoria and now AC Milan.

The Dutch model

In Netherlands, there is a culture of coaching induction even for their biggest names. Dennis Bergkamp, one of the country’s greatest ever player, started off coaching Ajax’s under 12s, before moving on to the club’s under 19s. Even after nine years of coaching at youth level, Bergkamp has only worked his way up to an assistant manager’s role. He has yet to take on a senior management position.

This ethos stretches to other areas of the game, with former players moving into administrative and boardroom roles. Edwin van Der Sar, for example, is working as Ajax’s chief executive officer alongside Marc Overmars as the club’s director of football. Can you envisage such a legendary figure taking on such a role in Scotland?

Only one of the current 18 Eredivisie managers moved straight into management after retiring as a player, and even then, NAC Breda boss Stijn Vreven did so at amateur level before progressing up the ladder. Giovanni Van Bronckhorst, one of the most decorated Dutch players of his time, served five years as Netherlands Under 21s assistant, and then Feyenoord assistant, before finally taking a senior management role in 2015.

There’s an apprenticeship that even the most established of Dutch players undertake before moving into management. Take Vitesse Arnhem manager Henk Fraser, for example. The former centre back made 138 appearances for Feyenoord over nine years, yet was made to wait a further 12 years after his retirement to get his first coaching job in senior football, as an assistant at ADO Den Haag. From there, he progressed into the manager’s role three years later before switching to Vitesse in 2016.

This surely forms the basis of the high standard of coaching in Dutch football. This due diligence is why a country of just under 17 million people continues to compete at the top level of the global game. It’s why Netherlands has been considered a hot bed of footballing talent for generations.

However, Netherlands, just like Scotland, places its faith in former players to harness the next generation. Only one current Eredivisie manager found his way to the top by alternative means, but not one was given a top flight job immediately after retiring as a player, compared to five such managers in the Scottish Premiership.

Sometimes the fast-tracking of coaching talent works. Pep Guardiola, for one, hardly warranted taking over at Barcelona with such scant experience, but he had at least shown his worth as manager of the Catalans’ B team beforehand. More often than not, though, throwing a former player straight into the manager’s seat fails.

The aforementioned Ferguson probably won’t measure up to the benchmark he set for himself as a player as a coach having failed to make any real impression at Clyde, but at least he showed a willingness to drop down the leagues to earn an education. The same could be said for Paul Hartley, who must surely regard his success at Alloa as grounding for what followed at Dundee.

That is the sort of precedent the wider Scottish game must follow. There was a debate to be had over Cathro and the route he took to the Scottish Premiership, but the one that materialised was the wrong one. Now, we must look to discuss the right one.

http://www.thetwopointone.com/ian-cathro-discussion-is-wrong/

I see Jong Ajax and Jong PSV have been finishing mid-table over the last few seasons, which is quite impressive; 2nd and 4th last season is really impressive. That can only benefit the first team.

Sorry the second tier. The Netherlands only has 2 professional levels. De Ere divisie and the Juplier league.

 

 

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Voetbal »Nederland » Jupiler League » 2017/2018

Jupiler League

 

Samenvatting

Uitslagen

Schema

Stand

Teams

Archief

 

 

 

Schema

 

StandNEDERLAND: Jupiler League

Speelronde 1

18.08. 20:00 Cambuur Jong Ajax

18.08. 20:00 Den Bosch Jong AZ

18.08. 20:00 Eindhoven Telstar

18.08. 20:00 Fort. Sittard Dordrecht

18.08. 20:00 MVV G.A. Eagles

18.08. 20:00 NEC Almere

18.08. 20:00 RKC Waalwijk FC Emmen

18.08. 20:00 Volendam Helmond Sport

21.08. 20:00 Jong PSV De Graafschap

21.08. 20:00 Jong Utrecht Oss

Toon meer wedstrijden

 

Stand

Vorm

Meer/Minder

HT/FT

 

Totaal

Thuis

Uit

 

Vorm

1. De Graafschap 0 0 0 0 0:0 0

 

2. Cambuur 0 0 0 0 0:0 0

 

3. Den Bosch 0 0 0 0 0:0 0

 

4. Dordrecht 0 0 0 0 0:0 0

 

5. Eindhoven 0 0 0 0 0:0 0

 

6. FC Emmen 0 0 0 0 0:0 0

 

7. Helmond Sport 0 0 0 0 0:0 0

 

8. MVV 0 0 0 0 0:0 0

 

9. Almere 0 0 0 0 0:0 0

 

10. Fort. Sittard 0 0 0 0 0:0 0

 

11. Telstar 0 0 0 0 0:0 0

 

12. Oss 0 0 0 0 0:0 0

 

13. Volendam 0 0 0 0 0:0 0

 

14. RKC Waalwijk 0 0 0 0 0:0 0

 

15. NEC 0 0 0 0 0:0 0

 

16. G.A. Eagles 0 0 0 0 0:0 0

 

17. Jong PSV 0 0 0 0 0:0 0

 

18. Jong Ajax 0 0 0 0 0:0 0

 

19. Jong AZ 0 0 0 0 0:0 0

 

20. Jong Utrecht 0 0 0 0 0:0 0

 

So as you can see Young(Jong) PSV, Ajax, AZ, and Utrecht all play in that league. They can become champion but wii not be promoted to the Ere divisie. Jong Ajax finished second last season to VVV where Zelalem went to. I am not sure how often he played.

That's interesting. Are they competitive, generally speaking? I need to look into this further! It must help development; Spanish sides do the same and both are known as being the best at producing young players.

I think GZ has developed an attitude problem - 9 games (and 1 goal!?) last season according to Wikipedia.

An excellent bit of analysis as always mate. If you've not done so already, I'll publish it in a wee while.

 

FWIW, one of our best modern era teams lacked genuine width but it had a midfield we'd love again now: Reyna, Ferguson, Gio and Albertz.

Cheers! You just beat me to it!

It's all about balance.

I don't think Pena has played for a while, because of the unusual Mexican season. I'm not sure though.

I did expect to see him get more game time.

We keep saying we need width: If we can just get another left-sided winger to complete our 4-4-2 then we'd be doing well. But to say we must have width from midfield is not absolutely necessary. History has shown us that asymmetric formations can and do work. Moreover, we don't even need to rigidly stick to one formation. What we need is balance.

Formations are a crude, albeit useful, tool for visualising a teams general shape. We all know how a team will generally play in any given formation, whether it's a 4-4-2, 4-2-3-1, 3-5-2 or 4-3-3. But to insist that certain formations must have certain types of players is wrong: a 4-4-2 doesn't necessarily need to have a winger on each side.

While we've been debating the benefits of any given formation and what formation would work best for our side, we've perhaps been caught up in these narrow designations, which has perhaps made us overlook exciting solutions that Pedro Caixinha has introduced: asymmetry and fluidity in formations. History can show us some interesting examples.

The great AC Milan side of the early 2000's shows us that you don't need midfield width at all. Milan lined-up in a 4-4-2 (diamond) or 4-3-1-2. There is no natural width from midfield, and they didn't even have rampaging full-backs on both sides; at right-back they did, in Cafu, but at left-back they had Maldini - not known for his attacking play. But there was balance as they had Seedorf playing LCM, who was able to drift wide, and then Kaka playing off a striker, again making space.

Of course it's easy to play through the middle when you have Seedorf, Pirlo, Gattuso, Kaka and Rui Costa to set up Shevshenko and Inzaghi, but the principle remains.

Even though Caixinha has tinkered with a diamond before, it didn't quite work. It may be that we didn't have the players to make it work, but that it may be tried again in the future. We now have more dynamic central midfield players to build upon those rampaging full-backs; and most importantly, we have a more disciplined midfield to cover them.

A more applicable example of asymmetry in formations from history must use a variant of the 4-4-2 if it is to link to Caixinha's current experiments in pre-season. So far the 4-4-2 has been popular, both in terms of use from the manager and acceptance from the fans.

Fabio Capello's England side, although not generally thought of as 'successful', did highlight some interesting asymmetry in their formation. England lined up in a 4-2-3-1, but like us, lacked any natural left-winger. Capello's solution was to play Gerrard in Left-Midfield.

Gerard is no Left-midfielder, but it allowed for some interesting combinations. Rooney would play off the striker (No.10) but had a natural tendency to drift left, opening up space for Gerrard to cut inside onto his lethal right-foot. The width came from Cole at LWB. Add to that Lampard from LCM and there are some interesting, and potent, combinations on the left side; all without a natural left-winger. The Balance comes from Cole and Rooney drifting wide, to allow Gerrard to arrive late into the middle of the park.

But of course, it doesn't just need to be standard formations utilising unorthodox players. Argentina's journey to the final of the last World Cup in 2014 provides a fascinating example of a team switching formations in-match to better help defend or attack.

Argentina's run was built upon a pragmatic 4-4-2 in defense, but would transition into a 4-3-3 in attack. Their defensive set-up featured two players in unorthodox positions: Perez, a central-midfielder, playing RM; and Lavezzi, a forward, playing LM. On the attacking transition, Lavezzi would push forward to make a three-man forward line with Higuain and Messi, and Perez would tuck in to make a three-man midfield.

Thus far in pre-season, Caixinha has experimented with asymmetry and fluidity in his formations. We've seen a standard 4-4-2, but with unorthodox flavours. We've employed a standard right-winger in Candeias, who hugs the touchline, but then on the left, Kranjcar has been used. Kranjcar is not a natural left-midfielder, but he's not being used as such: his role is to tuck inside to make a three-man midfield, to create overloads in the centre of the pitch. The balance comes from Miller's leftward movement and Wallace's width.

Although we don't have a natural left-winger as such, we've still been able to create some interesting combinations. In theory, the combinations and inter-play between Kranjcar, Miller and Wallace will create problems for any defense; add to that Dorrans playing deeper in LCM, and we've got good attacking options without needing a natural left-winger.

There are two main benefits to implementing an asymmetric flavour to a standard formation: (a) asymmetry presents sides with unfamiliar and unpredictable problems. Who marks who? If a RM is marking Kranjcar at LM, he then drags him out of position for Dorrans, Wallace and Miller to exploit.

And (b) it allows teams to pack in as many of their best players as possible. AC Milan seems to be the most extreme example, discarding width altogether to allow all those creative players to fit into the middle of the team. In Rangers' case, it allows us to play Kranjcar, Dorrans, Miller and perhaps even Pena, when a standard 4-4-2 would demand that we drop 1 or 2.

Asymmetry also takes into account a player's individual characteristics. Where does Ronaldo or Ronaldinho play? On the wing? No.10? Striker? It's none of the above. In a standard formation they'd be wingers, but neither stayed there for long. It works firstly because of their natural ability, but also because their teams found the right balance -- mainly by playing three in midfield and deploying rampaging full-backs to compensate and exploit the space created.

We've now got workmanlike midfielders and strong defenders in Jack, Dorrans and Alves, so we can get away with players playing in unorthodox positions; we have the balance. In our most recent friendly against Sheffield Wednesday, Windass stood out in a LM spot. Again, Windass is not a natural wide player, but his running ability and inside position will create some unique problems for defenders this season; if he has Miller and Wallace's movement to support him. The key is balance.

Whether it works or not for us this season, we can only wait and see. However, Caixinha seems to have found a formation that the players feel comfortable with, while also bringing in some interesting asymmetrical adaptations. Kranjcar's (or Windass) unorthodox role should allow for some exciting combinations on the left side of midfield. At the very least it gets our best players into the same team. The key is balance.

Young PSV play 2nd division NL league football which gives them a huge advantage imo. Rangers should have a team in the lower leagues in Scotland.

What level is that on the league ladder?

He's 23. Not young in my book. He's struggled for a variety of reasons since signing for us.

23 is not young?!

I agree he's struggled, but I still think there's a player in there... somewhere.

I still think there's a good player there in Windass; he's got good running ability, close control and can hit a shot; but he's also a tad lightweight and switches off easily. He's still quite young, though.