Subtle change in philosophy?

[craig 5,199]

I am wondering if anyone else has noticed a subtle change in our philosophy in that I am seeing much more of the ball being played out from the back this season.

 

Yes, the long ball is still there but when the ball gets played back to McGregor I always moaned in disbelief when he hoofed it up the park almost every single time the ball came to him.

 

This season, though, there seems to be much less of that - seems that when McGregor has the ball at his feet he is primarily looking for one of his defenders to play it to such that we can start from the back and in possession.

 

I much prefer playing it from the back as you start with possession - rather than lumping it up the park hoping we get a head on it and then retain possession.

 

Is anyone else seeing this or am I trying to see something that isnt there ?

[Frankie 8,183]

I think we have tried to play a bit more from the back but when under pressure (either via what is happening in the game or impatience from the home Ibrox support), we quickly resort to a more direct route.

 

I've no issue with the long ball but too often Jelavic is isolated so we have no-one near enough to win the 2nd ball or offer support.

[Jim1955 12]

I've noticed that, but would be happier if the threw the ball, rather than kicking it, the way Smeichel did at Man Utd. When Smeichel got the ball in loose play, rhe next attack was on.

[Guest Dutchy]

I thought we'd always been trying to play from the back, just sometimes the invention is missing, or the pressure gets to the team and the ball is booted up the park. I've just been reading about Danny Lenon's St Mirren playing Aberdeen of the park from my collected Winners over the past few weeks.

 

Funny how teams that pass the ball have more success than teams that hoof the ball up in the air. I think Rangers are masters of passing in defence, so much so that some great strikers seem to think its anti-football. Well if he can't score, he would say that, wouldn't he.

 

Never has there been a better testimony to our passing game at the back.

[der Berliner 3,286]

Then again, Rangers have been the most dangerous when they can hit teams on the counter, for, despite all people claiming otherwise, we have some pacy folk in Jela, Naismith, Davis, Wylde, Wallace, Lafferty and even Edu. No idea about Bedoya and McKay, but methinks they are said to have good engines too.

[Guest Dutchy]

Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing McKay, he could fit in well, by the sound of things.

[Stimpy 0]

Big Goain against Aberdeen was collecting nearly every ball from McGregor, as was Bocanegra when the big man went off injured.

 

What we need is more movement from the midfield and strike force to utilise it better. Also, quicker passing as there was times against the sheep that players moved into space for the simple pass and were ignored or missed out. By the time they were spotted they were marked. I'd put this down to a few of the players not being used to each other. Time should heel this!

[Zappa 0]

A slight change yes, but it's still not enough for my liking. The long punt from McGregor should only be used at the right times, not as something done quite regularly.

 

I really want to see us taking more short corners and free kicks as well because there's a much higher chance of scoring by staying spread out around the box and stretching out the opposition defence. When there's 18 or 19 players all crammed in the box there's far less chance of scoring. Watch any top quality team in the world and you'll see them taking a huge percentage of their corners and set pieces short rather than piling everyone into the box and making it crowded in front of goal and thus harder to score. Until our coaches start teaching this we'll never ever be a top quality side.

[craig 5,199]

A slight change yes, but it's still not enough for my liking. The long punt from McGregor should only be used at the right times, not as something done quite regularly.

 

I really want to see us taking more short corners and free kicks as well because there's a much higher chance of scoring by staying spread out around the box and stretching out the opposition defence. When there's 18 or 19 players all crammed in the box there's far less chance of scoring. Watch any top quality team in the world and you'll see them taking a huge percentage of their corners and set pieces short rather than piling everyone into the box and making it crowded in front of goal and thus harder to score. Until our coaches start teaching this we'll never ever be a top quality side.

 

I dont think that punt is used nearly as frequently as it was under WS.

 

Re short set pieces, you need to factor in that we have little confidence in moving the ball around to get better openings. I am not a proponent of lumping the ball in for the very same reasons as you, but we just dont have enough players with the cunning guile to be able to create something from short set pieces.

 

Another thing we lack in that regard is unpredictability. It is always a corner lumped into the box. I suspect that will continue with Goian in the ranks.