match thread (image) [FT] Rangers 3 - 1 FC Midtjylland (Morelos 14, 49; Ojo 39)

[DMAA 3,658]

19 minutes ago, Frankie said:

I think you're being unnecessarily harsh on Katic.

 

I'd agree one of his biggest flaws is his positioning however, in some ways, it's a strength as he's mobile enough to cover and that's when he's usually dragged out to help Goldson and/or whoever is playing at full back.  It doesn't help we're chopping and changing left-back as well.

I’m not saying Katic isn’t playing well, but it’s been four games in a row where he’s played well but then made a big mistake which has cost goals or created a good chance for the opposition. Of the three we conceded in this tie he was directly responsible for two and what is worrying is that it was the exact same thing, needlessly closing down the ball while leaving his man wide open in a goalscoring position. Goldson certainly saw it that way last night. The good thing is that he has the makings of a top player and the tactical side of the game is teachable, I just think in the meantime it’s important to get Helander fit to bed him in and hopefully allow us to concede fewer goals. He is 26 and an experienced centre back who wouldn’t make these kind of mistakes. 

Edited August 16, 2019 by DMAA

[Frankie 8,570]

1 minute ago, DMAA said:

I’m not saying Katic isn’t playing well, but it’s been four games in a row where he’s played well but then made a big mistake which has costs goals or created a good chance for the opposition. Of the three we conceded in this tie he was directly responsible for two and what is worrying is that it was the exact same thing, needlessly closing down the ball while leaving his man wide open in a goalscoring position. Goldson certainly saw it that way last night. The good thing is that he has the makings of a top player and the tactical side of the game is teachable, I just think in the meantime it’s important to get Helander fit to bed him in and hopefully allow us to concede fewer goals. He is 26 and an experienced centre back who wouldn’t make these kind of mistakes. 

Like I say you can expect the same thing from Helander as he likes to defend very high up the pitch.  Perhaps he'll be less aggressive is areas closer to goal but I think Katic is playing with confidence and that's why he's so keen to close people down.

 

As a unit I think our centre halves have done very well so far this summer and if I were to offer criticism it would be to the full backs and midfield who have lost their positional discipline a bit too often in some games for my liking.  However, again that comes from us being so attacking and open in our play and we can't argue with the goals and points for column so far.

[DMAA 3,658]

12 minutes ago, Frankie said:

Like I say you can expect the same thing from Helander as he likes to defend very high up the pitch.  Perhaps he'll be less aggressive is areas closer to goal but I think Katic is playing with confidence and that's why he's so keen to close people down.

The Rugby Park mistake was an example of trying to win a ball high up the pitch and totally missing it but the two Midtjylland mistakes were basic poor decision making. The first one was worse because one of our players was already on the man with the ball and Katic left his man wide open to close down a player already covered. This second one came from the Flanagan mistake but it was a very poor decision to close down a man so wide whilst leaving his own man in the 6 yard box, inexplicable really. FWIW I think Goldson should have been a little more alert and moved over but he was preoccupied with man marking Kabba. It probably is confidence as you say but those lessons need to be learnt, don’t leave your man wide open in a goalscoring position! Especially when their midfielder is literally looking for a pass to play, don’t hand it to them!

Edited August 16, 2019 by DMAA

[Rousseau 10,640]

10 hours ago, Bill said:

I though Davis did well at times but faded badly as the game entered the final quarter and was caught in possession more times than is healthy. As for Jack, the loss of control of the ball after he went off probably suggests he's currently the keystone of our midfield, not Davis.

I wasn't talking about this match specifically, but in general. 

 

I'm a big fan of Jack. 

[Bill 13,717]

11 hours ago, rbr said:

I actually found tonight  incredibly frustrating, at times some of our inter play was brilliant , we can take the ball in tight and play our way out so easily it beautiful to watch , but when we sprung forward our final passes time after time were either under or over played .

 

I know I’m being ultra picky and the Danes are a decent team but we play slack like that later on and we are getting punished for it .

 

Thought both CBS were excellent , don’t know really what all the fuss is over Goodson ,thought he was tremendous tonight and big Nico was excellent also , poorest performers imho were both full backs , but you can’t play brilliant every game .

 

Last point , if Ojo can find a bit of dig and aggression he will go on to be some player , just feel he needs to want it more if that makes sense .

While much has improved, I've got to agree with this. Seems to me it's been some time since both fullback positions performed well at the same time.

 

I'll also risk criticism by suggesting Andy King might be necessary cover in midfield, where really good recent performances seem incapable of being continued throughout 90 minutes. Every game seems to have a spell where we lose control of the ball and our momentum drops significantly.

Edited August 16, 2019 by Bill

[WorthingBear91 157]

 

[pete 2,499]

1 hour ago, DMAA said:

The Rugby Park mistake was an example of trying to win a ball high up the pitch and totally missing it but the two Midtjylland mistakes were basic poor decision making. The first one was worse because one of our players was already on the man with the ball and Katic left his man wide open to close down a player already covered. This second one came from the Flanagan mistake but it was a very poor decision to close down a man so wide whilst leaving his own man in the 6 yard box, inexplicable really. FWIW I think Goldson should have been a little more alert and moved over but he was preoccupied with man marking Kabba. It probably is confidence as you say but those lessons need to be learnt, don’t leave your man wide open in a goalscoring position! Especially when their midfielder is literally looking for a pass to play, don’t hand it to them!

Sorry the only one I see here making the right decision is Katic. Katic has to go to him. If he stays with his player the attacking back can run in on goal. Goldson is standing watching instead of moving across. Tavernier is marking Goldson and could have taken Koby if Goldson made an effort to get to the other player. Kamara is a mile from his player. Davis is watching and Docherty had seen the man at the back post but is too late to get to him to play a part. Blaming Katic for this is a joke. If anybody has made a wrong lazy decision here it is Goldson.

[Gaffer 1,665]

1 hour ago, pete said:

Sorry the only one I see here making the right decision is Katic. Katic has to go to him. If he stays with his player the attacking back can run in on goal. Goldson is standing watching instead of moving across. Tavernier is marking Goldson and could have taken Koby if Goldson made an effort to get to the other player. Kamara is a mile from his player. Davis is watching and Docherty had seen the man at the back post but is too late to get to him to play a part. Blaming Katic for this is a joke. If anybody has made a wrong lazy decision here it is Goldson.

I agree Pete.  Goldson has to move across and trust his team mates to take up the positions behind him.  These are the times when Goldson needs to demonstrate leadership and make good decisions.  I still think Goldson was man of the match last night, but on this instance he made a poor decision to stay.

 

This particular incident however is being blamed on Flanagan but I didn't think he did much wrong.  He played a good solid pass to Jones but Jones turned away to start a run.  If Jones keeps his eyes on the ball (which I think he has to under the circumstances and given the threat), he'd halt his run and protect the ball.  However these things happen.

[der Berliner 3,747]

It was but one blip throughout the game ... which could be analyzed, but we should not overdo this. If everyone would play perfect football all game, we wouldn`t have any goals ...

 

Essentially much like Killies goal against us (which Arfield's tackle set in motion, methinks), it came from an incident that got wrong. We had a few in those minutes, but handled their period of pressure well enough. Perhaps wee lost a bit of bite with Jack (and I thought Arfield would be pulled instead of him) while Docherty needed to find his feet. Likewise, the Danes were no mucks and the scorelines probably do them not much justice, as opposed to Hibs on Sunday.

[pete 2,499]

50 minutes ago, Gaffer said:

I agree Pete.  Goldson has to move across and trust his team mates to take up the positions behind him.  These are the times when Goldson needs to demonstrate leadership and make good decisions.  I still think Goldson was man of the match last night, but on this instance he made a poor decision to stay.

 

This particular incident however is being blamed on Flanagan but I didn't think he did much wrong.  He played a good solid pass to Jones but Jones turned away to start a run.  If Jones keeps his eyes on the ball (which I think he has to under the circumstances and given the threat), he'd halt his run and protect the ball.  However these things happen.

I agree to a a point with the flanagan ball but he could have taken another touch and pulled the player away from Jones and I think that is what Jones was expecting. One thing I will say though is that Jones made totally no attempt to get back and track. As I said in another thread a leak is not always where the drip is.