Nicky Law - Interesting Comments on a New Playing Style

[chilledbear 16]

http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/football/exclusive-interview-nicky-law-says-mark-warburton-will-get-rangers-playing-total-foot.131765800

 

As Rangers have attempted to huff and puff their way back to the big time, perhaps the greatest threat to Nicky Law's physical wellbeing was the prospect of a crooked neck sustained while he continually watched a series of high balls being hoofed over his head.

 

Putting it kindly, the style of play adopted by Rangers over the last few seasons has been less than aesthetically pleasing, so it does not come as a surprise to learn that the cultured Law is relishing the "total football" aspiration applied by new manager Mark Warburton.

 

"He's been brilliant," Law said. "It's been enjoyable for me and most of the boys, we've got a lot of ball players and maybe in the last couple of years a lot of the games have probably passed us by and it hasn't been great on the eye, we know that.

 

"We're hoping certainly that the fans are going to see a more expansive game and an exciting game, and with the way the manager wants us to play, there's no doubt that it will be. Training has been excellent and it's all geared towards what they're wanting from us in the games. It's been enjoyable but it's been difficult as well of course, as all pre-seasons are.

 

"We've had to do a lot of thinking, which sounds daft, but there's always things he's looking for from you and we're getting used to his ideas. It's new to what we've been used to of course, it's total football, but the lads are enjoying it even though we're a long way away from where the manager wants us to be."

 

Law's point may have been punctuated by a 3-2 defeat to the Tottenham Hotspur development squad on Friday, and he has called on the long-suffering Rangers support to give the players time to adapt to Warburton's methods as he attempts to provide them with a better quality of football.

 

"The key word will be patience, particularly with the fans," Law said. "Hopefully they'll see over the coming months that we are trying to do things the right way, but there's going to be mistakes, as there was in the game on Friday. That's going to happen and it will for the foreseeable future, you'd imagine.

 

"It's not going to be an overnight thing, it's going to take time. [Friday's game] was the first game where we've tried to implement the manager's ideas and what he wants from us, and of course it wasn't perfect, but I could certainly see improvements and you could see little bits of what we've been doing in the game so that's pleasing.

 

"It's high-risk football if you like, it's all on the ground, but as the season goes on we're certainly hoping that we'll get stronger and stronger as the games come and go.

 

"I'm sure over the next few weeks we will see some new faces, which will help of course, and I'm sure that they will be players that the manager has identified can come in and play the style that he demands, which will improve us I'm sure."

 

To that end, Warburton has already recruited three new players that he feels will help him implement his favoured style of play. With the arrival of Danny Wilson, Rob Kiernan and Wes Foderingham, it is clear that Rangers will be looking to build from the back next season. Law has been impressed by the calibre of his new teammates.

 

"They're really good lads and they fit into the philosophy of the manager," he said. "They're ball-playing players even though it's a goalkeeper and two centre-halves.

 

"Everybody knows what Danny can do, he was excellent last season leading Hearts to the title and he's been excellent since he came in. You can see his quality and he's fantastic on the ball, which the manager obviously wants as he likes us to play it out from the back.

 

"Big Rob has impressed everybody. He's a big lad and he's got two great feet. I think some of the boys are still trying to work out what foot is Rob's preferred one, because he plays with both and he's so comfortable in possession.

 

"Wes has also come in and done great and he will provide great competition for us in goals, so the three that have come in so far have been very good, and I'm sure that the manager will be looking to add more players of that quality.

 

"It's all positive signs and we're all looking forward to the next couple of weeks and getting some more game-time under our belts, so that when the real games come around we'll be more used to the manager and his ideas and we'll be ready to go."

 

Whether the Rangers squad can successfully marry Warburton's ideals to achieving the consistency of result required to win the Championship title remains to be seen. Law admitted: "We need to be on a level probably that Hearts were last season, losing just one or two games in the league all year, that's the standard and we know that.

 

"Last year at times we probably did too much talking and didn't show enough on the pitch. Our job this year is to take that out on the pitch and be more consistent, which I'm sure we will be."

[Anchorman 0]

Some of it is very encouraging. Some of it sounds like its trial and error as to whether we will accumulate the necessary amount of points over the initial months.

[Rousseau 9,373]

The first sentence got a laugh from me. It sounds very encouraging. Many think Law is piss poor, but perhaps the reason the games did pass him by was because "he [was] continually [watching] a series of high balls being hoofed over his head"?

[der Berliner 3,247]

Has got some "excuse-ish" tone, this article. As if Law did not perform as well as he could because of the long balls flying over his head. My main chagrin with him was that he was more often than not chasing shadows and not getting the ball (once he got him) forward (quickly) enough. Which oftentimes slowed the game down considerably and caused some fellow players to try the "catching the opponents out" type of long ball passes. Generally, we were poor at either (putting long balls up to Miller or Clark was hardly a useful strategy). That said, it was hardly the case that we preferred just one tactic, neither does any other team. We lacked creativity galore to break better teams like QotS up, who set out a neat defence and knew how to counter-strike. That is what we need to counter this season and one of the main things has been adressed: the defence. Now it is time for strikeforce-rebuilding.

[gisabeer 409]

I beg to differ with mr law. I lost count of the opportunities he had to make a telling passin countless games. His main problem is that he has very little vision for the position he plays. Hope warburton sees this and deals with it.

[BalooBear 7]

Love hearing things like this about players and even more so when the player is a defender.

 

"Big Rob has impressed everybody. He's a big lad and he's got two great feet. I think some of the boys are still trying to work out what foot is Rob's preferred one, because he plays with both and he's so comfortable in possession"

[bennettse2025 0]

Very promising stuff though I read the first couple of law's paragraphs as "don't expect us to beat hibs"

[Anchorman 0]

Ring any bells? We are going to be fitter, stronger.............

 

http://sport.stv.tv/football/clubs/rangers/231107-nicky-law-rangers-will-be-a-totally-different-side-to-last-season/

[pete 2,499]

Ring any bells? We are going to be fitter, stronger.............

 

http://sport.stv.tv/football/clubs/rangers/231107-nicky-law-rangers-will-be-a-totally-different-side-to-last-season/

 

Well they say if you say something often enough it will become fact.

[Gribz 743]

Ring any bells? We are going to be fitter, stronger.............

 

http://sport.stv.tv/football/clubs/rangers/231107-nicky-law-rangers-will-be-a-totally-different-side-to-last-season/

 

I kind of get the impression it will be different this season however lets see. I can see law being one of the players who will benefit from the new schedule. If anything they all have to impress.