Depths of despair
Back to earth with a bump. A shuttering crash at that. That’s the result of excelling in Europe before dismally failing once again in the league.
The Uefa Cup is giving Rangers an escape, a release from the travesties awaiting them in the SPL. While performances against glamorous (Or at least foreign) sides are proving fruitful, useful and almost wholeheartedly convincing, undertakings in the Scottish league reap far less pride.
A 2-0 victory was acquired against Haifa, and once again the bowels of disappointment had been escalated and replaced by a modicum of hope. Yet fast-forward 3 days later to Tannadice, add a couple of minor adjustments to the side by Le Guen, and you have yet another row of ladder rungs breaking and an untimely fall to the ground by an inherently baffled Rangers site, stuttering drunkenly through their league endeavours.
And yet, the first half had proved reasonably competent – Clement pulling the strings in the heart of midfield giving Ferguson joyful freedom to express himself and drive forward (Albeit let down by some incriminating finishing), while Hemdani and Papac seemed stout enough at the back. Unfortunately, this was about as productive as it got – 2 catastrophic defensive errors committed by 2 players not known for their rearguard attributes in Prso and Adam, 2 conceded goals which cost the entire game, and an utterly toothless attack in which wild and erratic shots from the likes of Adam and Ferguson rained in on Stillie’s goal. Or didn’t, hence one of the problems – they found themselves either in orbit or closer to the corner flag than the target.
There was simply no conviction about Rangers, and Utd never seemed out of the game. It’s all very well being able to dominate in possession, but when it’s completely impotent play it will go nowhere. And this being carried out against genuine bottom-of-the-league cannon fodder like Utd is simply beyond words.
An abject concern was the complete lack of poise up front. Yes, the sieve-like defence was pretty horrifying too, but our inability to look truly dangerous coming forward is a real worry. Novo had plenty of running, and even a trick or 2, but they went nowhere. Prso ran on empty as usual and even ended up yellow-carded for his trouble, while Buffel’s inept showing highlighted his appallingly inconsistent nature.
Boyd, being benched, would have been gutted to miss out, believing that he would have taken the chances we got. That said, the chances we got were not even half ones at that.
Then we have to look at Le Guen; why bench Boyd, and why insist on continually unsettling the defence by repeatedly rotating it? This random squad nature is helping no one. Benitez is famous for doing the same thing at Liverpool, but he seems loathe to fiddle with his backline, sticking with Carragher, Hyppia, Riise, and Finnan where possible. And Le Guen too should be sticking with a constant defence.
The only area of the team to enjoy a run is midfield; Ferguson and Adam and formerly Hemdani now Clement; and it is the most stable and reliable area of our team.
The rest is all over the place.
Le Guen looked a broken man at the end of the 90 minutes against the Arabs, and truly perplexed in his post match interview. He seems frustrated, clueless, and unaware of what the SPL needs for success. 2 and half months into his tenure, and domestically speaking Rangers are going backwards from the end of the atrocious Eck era. Surely he has to get it right soon, or the buffer zone he has been in will snap shut and fans will genuinely call for his resignation.
If he thought it was hard at the start of his tenure at Lyon with such a poor points haul there, he really understands what pressure is at Ibrox.
The Uefa Cup is giving Rangers an escape, a release from the travesties awaiting them in the SPL. While performances against glamorous (Or at least foreign) sides are proving fruitful, useful and almost wholeheartedly convincing, undertakings in the Scottish league reap far less pride.
A 2-0 victory was acquired against Haifa, and once again the bowels of disappointment had been escalated and replaced by a modicum of hope. Yet fast-forward 3 days later to Tannadice, add a couple of minor adjustments to the side by Le Guen, and you have yet another row of ladder rungs breaking and an untimely fall to the ground by an inherently baffled Rangers site, stuttering drunkenly through their league endeavours.
And yet, the first half had proved reasonably competent – Clement pulling the strings in the heart of midfield giving Ferguson joyful freedom to express himself and drive forward (Albeit let down by some incriminating finishing), while Hemdani and Papac seemed stout enough at the back. Unfortunately, this was about as productive as it got – 2 catastrophic defensive errors committed by 2 players not known for their rearguard attributes in Prso and Adam, 2 conceded goals which cost the entire game, and an utterly toothless attack in which wild and erratic shots from the likes of Adam and Ferguson rained in on Stillie’s goal. Or didn’t, hence one of the problems – they found themselves either in orbit or closer to the corner flag than the target.
There was simply no conviction about Rangers, and Utd never seemed out of the game. It’s all very well being able to dominate in possession, but when it’s completely impotent play it will go nowhere. And this being carried out against genuine bottom-of-the-league cannon fodder like Utd is simply beyond words.
An abject concern was the complete lack of poise up front. Yes, the sieve-like defence was pretty horrifying too, but our inability to look truly dangerous coming forward is a real worry. Novo had plenty of running, and even a trick or 2, but they went nowhere. Prso ran on empty as usual and even ended up yellow-carded for his trouble, while Buffel’s inept showing highlighted his appallingly inconsistent nature.
Boyd, being benched, would have been gutted to miss out, believing that he would have taken the chances we got. That said, the chances we got were not even half ones at that.
Then we have to look at Le Guen; why bench Boyd, and why insist on continually unsettling the defence by repeatedly rotating it? This random squad nature is helping no one. Benitez is famous for doing the same thing at Liverpool, but he seems loathe to fiddle with his backline, sticking with Carragher, Hyppia, Riise, and Finnan where possible. And Le Guen too should be sticking with a constant defence.
The only area of the team to enjoy a run is midfield; Ferguson and Adam and formerly Hemdani now Clement; and it is the most stable and reliable area of our team.
The rest is all over the place.
Le Guen looked a broken man at the end of the 90 minutes against the Arabs, and truly perplexed in his post match interview. He seems frustrated, clueless, and unaware of what the SPL needs for success. 2 and half months into his tenure, and domestically speaking Rangers are going backwards from the end of the atrocious Eck era. Surely he has to get it right soon, or the buffer zone he has been in will snap shut and fans will genuinely call for his resignation.
If he thought it was hard at the start of his tenure at Lyon with such a poor points haul there, he really understands what pressure is at Ibrox.
posted by RangersMedia @ 1:00 PM
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