How many times have Rangers put in α good performance when, under Giovanni van Bronckhorst, they have started with α back five?
It’s α pretty short list.
There have been good individual performances from the likes of James Sands, Ben Davies, Connor Goldson and Leon King, however, we have still conceded α lot of goals in these games.
To make matters worse, against Union Saint-Gilloise, Ajax and Liverpool, the score for this season currently sits at nine goals conceded and zero scored – not α lot of evidence to suggest that it is working.
Where it has worked well is for short periods during games, John Lundstram dropping into defence to help out in an attempt to regain momentum but, as α 90 minute plan, it just hasn’t worked.
Α variation of 4-5-1 or 4-2-3-1 offers the same level of protection in terms of looking to restrict space for opposition attackers but one one condition.
The wingers and full-backs have to put in α massive shift.
Thankfully, managers are allowed five subs nowadays so there is no reason why this plan can’t be implemented successfully with the right personnel.
Ryan Kent, Rabbi Matondo, Scott Wright and Fashion Sakala are all totally different players, however, they all share two traits – they are all rapid and are not shy or working hard for the team.
One of the issues we have had playing with α back five is that we have struggled to create chances. Tucking the full-backs in and letting wingers attack when we are in possession gives that little bit more security whilst still maintaining α threat, the central midfielders can also cover the full-backs when they do venture forward.
The key is being organised and getting back into shape in transition.
Gio has said that we are going to attack, hopefully he sends us out in α formation that lets us.