Bruno Alves has literally been there, done that and read the book. He probably owns several t-shirts too.
The Portuguese international doesn’t need any introductions and certainly, as much as he’ll be as keen as anyone to make an impact, doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone at Ibrox.
Having become an early summer arrival at Rangers Alves was given almost an hour during the pre-season friendly draw with Marseille on Saturday.
Pedro Caixinha made Alves his first summer signing but he only linked up with the Light Blues a week ago but has already made an impact on the boss, who has told the Official Website how instrumental his presence at Ibrox could be.
‘Bruno is just with us for one week, he arrived one week from today. He`s being a quiet boy, just observing and just getting to know everything around him, but he`s that type of leader that doesn`t need to express too much.’
Adding: ‘Just his presence makes all the guys understand what is going on. In just a small conversation, a one v one situation, everybody understands. So that`s the type of leadership Bruno has, more by his presence, and you ask me if I want more from him, I want a little bit more communication and also coaching from the back because he is seeing all the game.’
Alves is someone the boss wants to ‘represent’ him on the pitch and was a footballer Caixinha feels was needed at Rangers.
‘I really want Bruno to represent me on the pitch, definitely. That`s one situation that I`ve been talking with him about and he`s going to do it very easily. Bruno, when he just touched the first ball against Marseille, everybody was happy with him, everybody was happy with his leadership. He`s a great boy, a great man that this club needs, especially having at the back that sort of leadership and experience and understanding of the game.’
Looking back on that 1-1 draw with the French club Caixinha went on to praise the performances of Graham Dorrans, who made his Rangers debut, along with Ryan Jack, himself arriving from Aberdeen, and how much of an influence he feels they can have.
Another positive from Saturday’s draw was the combination of James Tavernier and Daniel Candeias on the right, both are attack minded players who will work offensively together as well as defending as a unit.
Caixinha said: ‘I think they are two players who have more or less the same characteristics and they have that sort of interaction because they understand each other. It`s always good for you to have an offensive full-back and an offensive winger on the same side and when it comes to defending both of them are also involved.’
