If there’s something that annoys me about some detractors of Giovanni van Bronckhorst, it’s that they roll out the excuse of “I don’t know what his philosophy is or what he’s trying to do” – a claim based purely on the fact that he doesn’t try to do the same thing every game.
The same fans yearn for Michael Beale to return, and yet, he was the first-team coach in charge when we were failing to beat St Mirren and St Johnstone in the cups and struggling at both ends of the park when the 2021/22 season kicked off, we had become boring and predictable, at least we knew what the plan was though….
Gio is a pragmatist, defined as:
“Dealing with things sensibly and realistically in a way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations.”
He looks at each game and assesses what players he needs to complete the task rather than trying to design something that will work for every situation. How often did the Steven Gerrard/Beale 4-3-3 come unstuck against the low block?
Wanting us to be more expansive could be a valid complaint as could his reluctance to drop certain players or give others more of a chance but not being able to pigeon-hole how he wants us to play is flaky at best. Against Napoli, he deployed John Lundstram in a deeper role and we were almost 5-4-1 without the ball which changed to 3-4-3 in possession with Scott Arfield pushing up to support the attack and, until James Sands red card, it was working perfectly – we could easily have been in front.
Take Walter Smith or Alex McLeish when they were Rangers managers, for example, they didn’t have a defined philosophy other than to do what it takes to win. Both changed formation several times during their respective tenures but there were never strict systems of play.
There’s a recurring theme with Gio, when we are playing well and winning, the complaints go quiet, but one bad result and the same arguments resurface.
I’d rather have a manager who has shown that he can learn from his mistakes than one that lost games against Hamilton at home and against Aberdeen twice in the cups playing a style that opposition managers knew how to set up against.