match thread (image) Rangers 2 - 1 Hibernian (Edmundson 45; Hagi 83)

[Frankie 8,101]

3 minutes ago, Rousseau said:

The issue for me is the attacking positional structure; the positions, or zones on the park, that the players have to occupy.  

 

Guardiola has a rule that no more than two players should be on the same line, vertically. For example, if Kent is in the left half space (channel), then whoever plays behind him, say Jack, can't be on the same line; he must move diagonally or wide. This opens passing options and makes it more difficult to defend. 

 

For me, too many players keep playing in the same space. 

 

I thought last night we had good coverage: Tavernier wide right, Hagi in the right half-space, Aribo in the left half-space, and Kent wide left. Davis sat deep, alongside Arfield, but with Arfield having more license to get forward. 

 

Barasic was clever: when Kent was wide, he would come inside a little, and then overlap when Kent came inside. That's the movement and occupation of space that we need. 

This is exactly it.

 

Opposition sides are flooding the half-spaces with as much as four players when we go wide and it forces us back more often than not.  As such, both Barisic and Tav need to come inside more often and Kent also needs to work on his positioning.  Hagi seemed to grasp this in the second half and that's why he was better.  Aribo also made more of an effort to get in the box and that was key to us forcing Hibs further back meaning we could win the turnover quicker.

[compo 6,043]

Watching Hagi last night at times reminded me of a player I would have loved at Rangers  Alex Edward's a very clever inside forward who in my opinion never got the big club he deserved 

[der Berliner 3,196]

In case someone missed it ... the bear hug on Alfredo ...

 

 

 

 

[Rousseau 9,265]

It's a standard yellow. 

 

I really cannot comprehend how he's not been booked. 

[Uilleam 5,358]

1 minute ago, Rousseau said:

It's a standard yellow, at least. 

 

I really cannot comprehend how he's not been booked. 

Madden was waiting for Morelos to react to the wrestling throw. This would have allowed him to issue a yellow card to Stevenson, and, of course, a red to Alfredo. That our Colombian striker failed to respond (and was ushered away by another player) rather queered Madden's pitch. Hence his lack of action. 

Corruption or madness? It's beyond run of the mill incompetence. 

[Scott7 5,087]

2 hours ago, compo said:

Watching Hagi last night at times reminded me of a player I would have loved at Rangers  Alex Edward's a very clever inside forward who in my opinion never got the big club he deserved 

What do you mean, compo? He got a move from Dunfermline to the Hibs?

 

Good player. Bit of a temper for a wee guy. Played  in the same team as Stanton, Brownlie and Jimmy O’Rourke right enough.

[DMAA 3,592]

6 hours ago, Frankie said:

This is exactly it.

 

Opposition sides are flooding the half-spaces with as much as four players when we go wide and it forces us back more often than not.  As such, both Barisic and Tav need to come inside more often and Kent also needs to work on his positioning.  Hagi seemed to grasp this in the second half and that's why he was better.  Aribo also made more of an effort to get in the box and that was key to us forcing Hibs further back meaning we could win the turnover quicker

I still haven't seen the game so I can't comment on it, but what really frustrates me about Kent at times is that he doesn't get in the right attacking positions. He doesn't make off the ball runs in behind the defence to stretch them. Others like Aribo and even Arfield are better at getting in dangerous positions but Kent often defaults to a kind of left back position where his pace is useless and he ends up playing a neat and tidy type game where he takes the ball direct to feet and simply passes it back infield.

 

In Kent's defence, I think the system we play is designed to pull opposition defenders inside to provide space for Barisic and Tavernier. You could say Kent is almost sacrificed in a system like that because he is there to distract defenders rather than to actually get through very much. However my counter argument to that is that there is a reason why he has been sacrified, because his final ball and decision making is very often hopeless.

 

All things being equal though the system makes best use of the qualities of Barisic and Tavernier and on a good day makes best use of Kent's qualities which are pace and dribbling but not passing or crossing.

Edited February 6, 2020 by DMAA

[Uilleam 5,358]

12 minutes ago, Scott7 said:

What do you mean, compo? He got a move from Dunfermline to the Hibs?

 

Good player. Bit of a temper for a wee guy. Played  in the same team as Stanton, Brownlie and Jimmy O’Rourke right enough.

A bad disciplinary record, I believe. 

Was Alex Cropley another around that time? Went to the Villa, I think. 

[der Berliner 3,196]

IMHO, Kent has the pace and the trickery to play in and near a main striker. I would not play him as a straight left winger though. I'd try him more centrally with a bit of freedom to move about, not least in games where we do not need 2 holding / defensive midfielders. Get Jones on the wing instead.

 

For some reason we do not utilize the second striker / shadow striker role efficiently enough. In nigh every game there is space between the penalty spot and the goalie that ain't occupied by an attacker when the ball runs loose from a save, failed clearance or the like. It need not to be an outright-poacher. Jason Holt ran in there brilliantly in his first season with us, before being played ever deeper. IMHO, a perfect spot for Stewart. We sure need someone that is willing to shoot. Hagi did that, Stewart at every angle. Too much play in the first half was build-up and attempts at playing through them, rather than having a shot. Same story in the last 3 games in fact. Of course, no-one would talk about this had Aribo and Alfredo sunk their efforts. Still, why does it need games like yesterday - when the going gets tough and the minutes become enemies - that we change formations and throw real attackers on.

Edited February 6, 2020 by der Berliner

[craig 5,195]

6 hours ago, ian1964 said:

Yawn??, ok, if you are happy with the way the club are dealing with these terrible refs then good for you, I'm not.

 

I didn't say I was happy with the way they are dealing with it..... the "yawn" comment was how often you brought it up in just this one thread.  The point was made, we got it first time round.  Mentioning it numerous times in the one thread doesn't change that.

 

FWIW, I think the club should be hounding the SFA and Referees Association both publicly AND privately.  It worked for Celtic and the only way that we will possibly get them to apply parity again is to call it out, ask for "clarification" the same way Celtic did - we have plenty of instances to call upon in the last couple of months.

 

Instead of making wishy-washy statements the club need to risk censure from the SFA/SPFL and start to use more controversial words such as "corrupt" and "cheating".  The censure itself would be worth it to shine a light on the state of refereeing when matches involve Rangers.

 

One fine example just last night - that wrestling move on Morelos to not receive a booking was astounding.  How ANY referee can look themselves in the mirror after that is beyond me.  Scottish referees need to apply the laws of the game - stop hiding behind the "Scottish football is physical" and just apply the damn laws !