Pedro Caixinha has been speaking about how he wants Rangers to control games his way and tipped Josh Windass to reach the top.
Speaking to the Official Site ahead of tonight’s Scottish League Cup tie against Dunfermline, Caixinha explained that he didn’t want Rangers to adjust or adapt to Scottish football, he wanted them to play his way.
‘I would prefer to have much more control in the game. The new players found it different, I spoke with Bruno and he said it reminds me of when I was playing for Porto B, a long time ago and I was playing in the second division. This was the type of football played in that scenario and we need to understand that this is going to be the reality.’
He went on to explain.
‘He said it was because it was a lot of long balls, fighting for the first ball, fighting for the second ball and all the time the ball was in the air. That is the reality and if we don`t want to face it then we need to change the game to have it under our control. So that is one of the points we need to improve on.’
Caixinha went on to say it’s about keeping control of the ball so teams can’t be pacey or physical against us.
‘We learnt that when I was the assistant at Sporting Lisbon, in 2004/05 we faced two English teams, Newcastle United under Graeme Souness and Middlesbrough under Steve McClaren. They were fantastic teams but because they were British teams they were very pacey and physical. The solution we found to deal with it was to keep them off the ball so they could not perform in those conditions. We must control it better, we need to not adapt to the Scottish game but know how to deal with it.’
With the League Cup game being the first full run at silverware for the gaffer, he was expecting a tough tie but he obviously wanted progression.
‘All competitions are important for this club so we are going to going into this game knowing it is the first one of four that can take you to the final. You need to win one at a time and this one is the most important of the season so far because it is a knockout game. We must show all the respect to the opponents and the competition and keep building with wins.’
He went on to add.
‘I know everything about Dunfermline; I don`t leave my homework for others to do. I know they are a good side from the Championship with a good manager and good quality and experienced players. It is important for you to scout the opponent in a specific contest which is similar to the one you will face. I think for Dunfermline that would be their game against Hearts. That let us understand what we should expect.’
Turning attentions to Windass, Caixinha felt that with some solid hard work 23 year old Windass had all the potential to be a top star for Rangers in the future.
‘I always like to look to where everybody can improve, whether it is Kenny as the oldest or Josh as one of the youngest. If we have some footage to show them patterns on the training pitch then it can convince them that they need to change that then we do it. Josh is one player that I am keen to change, I`m keen to change the way he sees the game and the way he approaches the game to become a much more complete player.’
The gaffer went on to say.
‘If he can give you all of that and understand the game differently and get him to understand another moment of the game which is defensive then he`ll improve. If he understands you need to be switched on all the time and work on the concentration levels then I will be glad to help him. He knows that and I know that and we are working together. He is a very good prospect, he has a huge physicality when he accelerates and goes forward but we need to control those situations depending on the moment of the game. hen you have three games in a row and show the same actions and patterns then you can see that things are really going in the right direction.’
