match thread (image) [FT] Rangers 3 (Morelos 43, 90+4; Tavernier 84 pen) - 1 Rapid Vienna

[Walterbear 557]

16 minutes ago, rbr said:

Frankie , apart from his Morelos nonsense , I can't disagree with much of what he said written , it's only an opinion , but I thought we were rank rotten in the first half , our first shot on goal was when we scored , that midfield 3 simply gives me the fear , it doesn't work , we play far to often Lat and don't get in betweenness position lines .

 

2 nd half was totally different  and the ending as I said earlier left me hoarse. , a proper Ibrox European night , but we need to improve in midfield , again any money we have for transfers in January need to go to a proper centre mid .

I agree with that. I was hoping stevie g would make a change more quickly. I can’t agree with him that we were outstanding for 90 minutes. I thought we were very good in the second half but not with so much craft when we basically ran them off their feet. 

 

However Rapid were a very clever team and quite cynical and at all times I felt (even in the first half) that if we could get a lead we could give them a going over. I think there was a nervousness in the first half as the players worked out Rapid and then Stevie obviously had wise words at half time. Should take a lot of confidence from that and hopefully our players start to learn that they are the 2nd half team in terms of capability. 

[DMAA 3,603]

22 minutes ago, rbr said:

apart from his Morelos nonsense , I can't disagree with much of what he said written

I’m the same actually. However I think there’s normally an unwritten agreement that newspaper match reports needn’t focus overly on the negatives and dampen the mood when the game ended so well. 

[DMAA 3,603]

4 minutes ago, Walterbear said:

I thought we were very good in the second half but not with so much craft when we basically ran them off their feet. 

Exactly. Keeper was pretty much untested until the penalty. And Rapid were without their two best centre backs. So I think there’s a lot of exaggeration there but hopefully it’s deliberate and aimed at boosting morale. 

[BlackSocksRedTops 3,473]

1 hour ago, Frankie said:

Morelos was well onside - nonsense from Grant who is clearly hurting.

Agreed. It was not even close.

[Frankie 8,148]

41 minutes ago, rbr said:

Frankie , apart from his Morelos nonsense , I can't disagree with much of what he said written , it's only an opinion , but I thought we were rank rotten in the first half , our first shot on goal was when we scored , that midfield 3 simply gives me the fear , it doesn't work , we play far to often Lat and don't get in betweenness position lines .

 

2 nd half was totally different  and the ending as I said earlier left me hoarse. , a proper Ibrox European night , but we need to improve in midfield , again any money we have for transfers in January need to go to a proper centre mid .

That midfield three does work - that was obvious from their second half showing.

 

They just need to maintain a higher intensity and offer more belief like they did in the second half compared to the first.

 

The good news is with Jack, Rossiter and Dorrans all pretty much available now too, we have plenty of options if player A or B doesn't do that.

[Ser Barristan Selmy 222]

46 minutes ago, rbr said:

Frankie , apart from his Morelos nonsense , I can't disagree with much of what he said written , it's only an opinion , but I thought we were rank rotten in the first half , our first shot on goal was when we scored , that midfield 3 simply gives me the fear , it doesn't work , we play far to often Lat and don't get in betweenness position lines .

 

2 nd half was totally different  and the ending as I said earlier left me hoarse. , a proper Ibrox European night , but we need to improve in midfield , again any money we have for transfers in January need to go to a proper centre mid .

I agree that we were really poor in the first half. We finished the game extremely positively though and showed some character.

 

We were playing a pretty mediocre European side last night though.

[rbr 1,247]

Just now, Frankie said:

That midfield three does work - that was obvious from their second half showing.

 

They just need to maintain a higher intensity and offer more belief like they did in the second half compared to the first.

 

The good news is with Jack, Rossiter and Dorrans all pretty much available now too, we have plenty of options if player A or B doesn't do that.

Yeah I get your point , but in the first half the 3 were basically in a line again across the pitch , no one was breaking ahead  , and again like Livingston we were just moving from side to side with no penetration  , personally I prefer when we play 4-2-3-1 , then 1 of the 2 can beak forward and we can play more of a diamond .

 

However , I'm just a fan , and I'm more than happy with where we are going , I just get frustrated when we make things tough on ourselves . They were not a good team no matter what anyone says .

[Frankie 8,148]

22 minutes ago, DMAA said:

Exactly. Keeper was pretty much untested until the penalty. And Rapid were without their two best centre backs. So I think there’s a lot of exaggeration there but hopefully it’s deliberate and aimed at boosting morale. 

I don't think anyone is saying it was the perfect performance.

 

The first half was workmanlike, fairly comfortable but we rarely threatened.  The second half we dominated but our final ball and/or decision-making was very poor and it's something we need to work on.

 

The reason people are so happy is that we all wanted a reaction to Sunday's dreadful loss and we got it.  Not just with the win but the manner of it: we went a goal down to a clearly offside opener but didn't feel sorry for ourselves.  We then went on to show a hunger and steel after the break to get a well deserved three points.

 

Yes, we're still far from the finished article and a work in progress but the bigger picture is very positive.  To go ten matches unbeaten in Europe is pretty much unprecedented for any Scottish team (bar our own in 1992/93).  Yes you can question the opposition quality but we're not as good either.  

 

I'm all for realism and tempering expectations but now and again we can let loose and enjoy ourselves.

[ian1964 10,410]

I never seen the match, but I did see the SG post match interview and he was positively buzzing about his teams performance and delighted with every single player who he himself said no player was below an 8 in ratings! I think I will believe him, fantastic result and he has his team improving all the time

[BlackSocksRedTops 3,473]

21 minutes ago, Frankie said:

That midfield three does work - that was obvious from their second half showing.

 

They just need to maintain a higher intensity and offer more belief like they did in the second half compared to the first.

 

The good news is with Jack, Rossiter and Dorrans all pretty much available now too, we have plenty of options if player A or B doesn't do that.

I thought Ejaria was the stand out last night. He's always on the turn and looking to get forward which I like. It doesn't always come off but if you keep knocking at the door you'll get something (the penalty for example).

 

Looking at the bigger picture, my biggest "concern" is how narrow we are and our use of wide players/full backs. If Kent and Candeias (or whoever) are playing in this narrow formation we really need to get our full backs hitting the byline (as Man City utilise so well). I said it another post but I cannot recall any occasions in the last few games where our full backs actually hit the byline and get crosses into the dangers area (back post/6 yard line/penalty spot). If we can crack that Morelos would score a barrel load.

 

Another thing I have noticed, is that there are too many times of late when we have resorted to the hopeful "floaty" ball into the box which drives me friggin crazy. Another bug bear is McGregors distribution. I noticed a few times last night Goldson having a go at the keeper because he was too keen to go long. This was after Goldson making an angle for a pass with no one around him. It's giving up the possession too easily for me.

 

Anyhoo, it was a great win and 2nd half display. Well Done Rangers

Edited October 5, 2018 by BlackSocksRedTops