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Weak link in Van Bronckhrost system picked out by Miller

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Giovanni van Bronckhorst was never going to make wholesale changes the moment he stepped foot in the door and yet we have already seen a positive influence on performances due to subtle tweaks to the system.

Part of the reason that we have been successful recently under Steven Gerrard was that everyone knew their roles in the 4-3-3 shape that he preferred to set the team up in, however, it could – at times – also be our down fall as teams knew how to set up against us and how to make life difficult.

With Gio in charge though, it looks like we will be a lot more aggressive in the final third; Alfredo Morelos playing higher and more central, Ryan Kent not dropping deep into midfield to start attacks and Joe Aribo, in particular, being given license to get into the box and score goals – it’s a refreshing change to see such talented players having the handbrake taken off.

There is a downside to this and, speaking to The Daily Record, Kenny Miller, has identified where Rangers will need to adapt to make the new system a success:

“The negative to that system is that I think it’ll be really hard for Davo (Steven Davis) and Glen Kamara to deal with everything right across the pitch in midfield.

“Because they’ve got a man less there, compared to Steven’s 4-3-3 system.

“You can’t ask them to shuttle wide for the entire game, it’s too hard as a two.

“It’ll be interesting to see what Gio does but the wingers will have to work harder in those areas.

“The positive is that you can put more pressure on the ball higher up. And that was a noticeable thing against Sparta particularly in the second half.

“They pinpointed the Prague defender Panak because they identified him as a weakness.

“They got at him and put him under pressure.

“That’s how they got the second goal. They did it again in the middle of the pitch later on which started another attack. And it’s easier to do that with a recognised trio behind the striker.

“It could have been Kent, Aribo or Hagi – any of them can play there. And it does suit all of those players to be flexible in that area.”

Out of the two, it appears as though Kamara is going to be the first name on the team sheet in midfield until the new management team has a chance to properly assess the options that they have – John Lundstram and Ryan Jack two players who are capable of covering more ground and assisting at both ends of the park.

Last season we saw Jack play on his own in the middle of a three with Scott Arfield and Aribo either side of him, similar to the work load that Kamara had against Livingston and it produced some of his best performances – the 4-0 win over Aberdeen at Ibrox the perfect example of what h is capable when given the responsibility.

Davis isn’t going to be around forever and won’t be able to play every week with the increased demands on him, however, as we saw on Sunday, he isn’t going to be the right type of player either, it may be that Jack or Lundstram are brought in for the more physically demanding games – we’ll soon get a better idea with a trip to Easter Road next up on the fixture list.

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