match thread (image) [FT] Spartak 4 - 3 Rangers (Eremenko o.g. 5; Candeias 27; Middleton 42)

[ranger_syntax 4,322]

3 minutes ago, 917 said:

We don’t have any more points in the league than at this stage last season, when we finished with precisely one more point than we finished the season before. The time to judge is the end of the season, but Warburton didn’t get anywhere near as much money as Caixinha & Gerrard. Which is why he left of course.

 

 

 

 

 

[MacK1950 2,378]

What a crap result thanks to mickey mouse defending,

1)Flanagan totally outclassed again,when will Gerard learn .

2) Again caught try to play ball out of defence when it should have been lumped up-field or into stands.

3)Tavernier caught out again with poor positioning at cross balls.

4) Gerard too late with subs.

 

Dreading Sunday now v the juggernauts .

[cooponthewing 1,139]

22 minutes ago, MacK1950 said:

What a crap result thanks to mickey mouse defending,

1)Flanagan totally outclassed again,when will Gerard learn .

2) Again caught try to play ball out of defence when it should have been lumped up-field or into stands.

3)Tavernier caught out again with poor positioning at cross balls.

4) Gerard too late with subs.

 

Dreading Sunday now v the juggernauts .

Agree with everything except your last sentence MacK?

[Gonzo79 15,294]

Very disappointing. We let the match slip from our grasp.

 

Gerrard needs to pick a central defence and stick with it and we need a creative midfielder.

Edited November 8, 2018 by Gonzo79

[Unicorn 206]

Defended like puddings.  It’s not that long ago we couldn’t beat Alloa after multiple attempts so I’m not going to get too downhearted about losing narrowly in Russia.

[buster. 5,196]

13 hours ago, buster. said:

 Too much chopping and changing in central defence and Jack IMO although there may well be issues we don't know about.

 

Opportunity for Middleton, let's hope he takes it !

Said prior to KO that there is too much chopping and changing with the central defence and those midfielders in front of them.

 

Is there physical issues with some of the players ?

Is Jack at less than 100% and unable to play 2 games a week at the moment ?

Is it because of a rotation policy ?

Is it an obligation/policy wrt giving loan players gametime ?

Is it that the manager picks his players thinking about individual games ?

 

Is it a combination of the above ?

 

----------------

 

Over the years, I've seen that consistency of positive results often runs parallel to consistency of selection.

 

It's impossible to play the same XI twice a week, for weeks on end but I think it's better to try and get as close to it as possible in certain areas of the pitch.

 

We are about to go on another International break and when the action resumes we'll be going into a month or so of an extremely heavy glut of difficult fixtures that will go a long way to shaping this season. It will be a real drain on the squad and rotation will definately come into play but I'd like to see a settled central defence with Jack playing in front of them in as near to all the games, as possible.

 

[DMAA 3,658]

I’m going to go against the grain on the central defence and say I don’t think a little bit of rotation is or should be a problem. We’ve got 3/4 good central defenders and with a heavy fixture schedule none of them should be frozen out. There are problems with the defensive coaching by the looks of things because we are leaking unnecessary goals. 

Edited November 9, 2018 by DMAA

[Rousseau 10,634]

I'm gutted.

[compo 7,044]

To take the lead three times and lose is pretty poor all good teams have a settled defence get it sorted and once it's fixed only injury should be the reason to change it .

[Rousseau 10,634]

The defending was criminal at times, but outwith individual mistakes / poor decision-making (Goldson going with the outside of the foot) or pure flukes (deflection), I felt like it was more down to the wide midfielders, or even central midfielders that cost us defensively. 

 

Flanagan was exposed time and time again, because Middleton didn't track his man. It was the Full-back that was getting in behind; that's Middleton's job, not Flanagan, who's covering the winger.

 

For the 1st, Tavernier was caught inside, but there was an overload of 3 against 1. Where's Candeias or a central midfielder to cover?

 

For the third, again Tavernier is caught under the ball, but again it's the Full-back, so it's not strictly his man. 

 

4th was a pure fluke, starting from the ball squirming out from Arfield's (?) tackle in the build-up.