Uefa Cup charm

Rangers’ European run continued last night thanks to another professional and polished display against Maccabi Haifa of Israel.

Domestically it is safe to say Rangers form has been fragmented at best and downright dismal at worst. A position of third in the table is the sum of our fortunes and reflects our erratic results at both Ibrox and on our travels. It is simply not good enough for a club of Rangers history or heritage, and 12 points off the pace in the SPL is a quite pitiful haul so early in the season.

However, when competing against European class teams rather than sides from our own shores, all the drive, commitment, guile and class which is sporadically missing from our league endeavours returns in abundance and we actually look a good side.

Team news last night was the return of Clement to the midfield, Svensson to defence, the dropping of Rodriguez, the dropping of Buffel and the starting of Prso, not to mention the placement of Hemdani in defence alongside the Swede. Furthermore a last minute shock surfaced as late as the teams lining up the tunnel, for Allan McGregor was witnessed in the keeper strip, spelling an absence for Lionel Letizi due to initially mysterious reasons. They were later revealed as injury.

The game did not begin especially well, with Haifa penetrating the backline with alarming ease and a dangerous cross missing Masudi by inches. However, Novo, with the aid of a deflection, put Rangers 1-0 up thanks to a visionary glancing header from Boyd.

A dream start then, and the dominance and class began to belong to Rangers, with Clement pulling the strings at the heart of midfield with a touch of real poise, vision and utter conviction, not forgetting composure; indeed, his hard graft allowed Ferguson plenty of freedom to express himself and drive forward with plenty of craft.

At the back the defence was not massively tested although Svensson’s ill-conceived clearance nearly found its way into the back of the net when given away to a Haifa striker in the box. Nonetheless, when called upon the 2 in the middle were resolute and solid.

At the other end Novo was heavily involved throughout, although his former strike partner Prso continues to struggle with both fitness and physical exertion. Boyd too did not have the best match, missing a penalty with alarming impotence.

However, when Adam stepped up to take the second penalty awarded, there was no doubting the outcome as the ball flew into the back of the net, expertly taken.

The only real sour note of this match was a foolish political activist who stormed the pitch with a view to chaining himself to the goalpost. Quite why these fools believe such actions will ingratiate others to their causes is beyond most sane people.

Full time though, and 2-0 the outcome, a good performance with some particularly commendable performances from Clement, Novo and Ferguson.

However, Le Guen will be forced to note that another clean sheet was achieved by having McGregor in goal. Another unsettled defence without doubt, but apparently buoyed by the stability the Scot gives them. If Letizi returns without McGregor making mistakes, then Le Guen must take a look at himself and explain to the fans why he’s made such an unjustifiable decision.

That said, there were no complaints about the lineup last night; it was attack minded and the only arguable qualms were the absence of Bardsley and Buffel. However, this did not detract from a comfortable European performances; 11 matches now without a defeat excluding the defeat at the Meazza to Inter. Pretty impressive.

Resumption of Europe

Just a flying visit today…

Rangers return tonight to the lion’s den of European competition…

Ok, perhaps this is a tad overblown such is the rather underwhelming nature of the Uefa Cup, but a tournament’s a tournament, and the bears entertain Israeli side Maccabi Haifa at Ibrox this evening.

Domestic form has been wild at best, but hopes are high among many that we can be a different side against foreign teams, a view enhanced by such an excellent display in Italy.

However, lest we forget our dismal showing in Norway and slightly patchy display when we hosted Molde – safe passage in this cup is by no means assured.

Svensson is likely to take his place ahead of the ineligible Papac in the heart of defence, unless Le Guen opts to play Hemdani there, which is unlikely. Martin, Sionko and Burke all remain absentees, but Clement could well feature in midfield. If he does, then Le Guen may indeed want to play Hemdani at the back instead of Svensson.

The fragmentation of the above paragraph shows how futile second-guessing Le Guen actually is. The man will pick his own team and we simply have to hope we can recapture our best form and put the poor performance and result against Motherwell behind us.

We are certainly capable of a good show, but we have to wait and see which Rangers shows up.

Case for the defence

Rangers’ entire team has underperformed, that is of absolutely no doubt. Lying third place in the table only a single point ahead of such luminaries as Aberdeen, ICT and Kilmarnock is testament to how poorly our season has begun.

However, as any good manager or well-informed connoisseur of the game will tell you, the most important segment of any team is their defence.
This forms the bedrock of the side, the base fundamentals which other aspects lean on as a crutch – you cannot have a winning team if your defence is flimsy. Yes, Brazil have famously adopted a ‘score more than the opposition’ mentality, but they are an exception to the rule possessing, as they do, attacking players who seem to belong to another planet.

Back on planet earth though, teams require a solid barrier which the opposition have to fight tooth and nail to breach. Attackers must be marked, closed down and harried intensely, and well-organised defenders know what space to occupy, who to combat, and when to tackle.

Rangers completely lack this tenet of the game, and no matter how many goals our strikers struggle to put away, the defence always lets them down by leaking goals at an alarming rate.

Looking at each of the players in turn reveals a group of disjointed individuals who are oblivious to the notion of a settled rearguard.

At right back we have two alternatives; Alan Hutton and Phil Bardsley. Hutton promised much, but suffered a horrendous leg break in a home game against Kilmarnock, and on his return has failed to aspire to the same level. This was never more in evidence than his dreadful display in Villarreal.

Bardsley is arguably a better player with a touch more poise and class, but his recent training ground spat seems to have harmed his chances of starting as a regular and it’s possible he is damaged goods as far as Le Guen is concerned.

On the left we have merely one choice; Steven Smith. An honest enough player who gives his all for the cause, Smith is a trier with the right attitude. Unfortunately he lacks the cutting edge required for the top level with a club like Rangers. He is, however, as mentioned, the only player we can deploy there so debating an alternative is a moot point.

And lastly in the centre we have quite a mess. We have 3 dedicated options for this area – Sasa Papac, Julian Rodriguez, and Karl Svensson. The first major issue to be tackled is Papac’s ineligibility for European competition and therefore his enforced absence from our Uefa Cup campaign. This is a problem which would have been avoided had Le Guen merely stuck with Svensson and Rodriguez. Instead, we’re forced to witness chopping and changing with Papac returning for league duty when Svensson occupies his space in Europe.

Further to this is a basic question of form. After emerging as a classy and intuitive defender which followed his poor start, Rodriguez has faded recently, particularly since his diabolical showing at Easter Road. And yet as our first-choice defender he remains first pick, week in week out.

Then you have Svensson, who ironically improved dramatically in form in that same Hibs game yet was immediately dropped thereafter in favour of Papac. Svensson had a stuttering start to his Ibrox career, with obvious discomfort in his new surroundings. However, steadily he has improved, and this was epitomised when he produced a solid and heartening display in Tuscany against Lucarelli and co. However, his perennial position on the bench suggests strongly that Le Guen does not rate him, and certainly not enough to reinstall him in Papac’s place except when there is no choice; in other words Europe.

Finally we have Papac, a player whose signing has introduced more problems than we really needed. Yes, he has shown class and seems to be our best defender at the moment, but his cup ineligibility has totally unsettled Rodriguez, who has in fact had three partners this season; Papac, Svensson and Hemdani.

This constant wheeling and dealing is our biggest bane at the back. Without the bedrock of a settled defence and the same players learning each others’ games, we have total disarray of players unsure if they’re playing, or who they’re playing with.

It has been argued that the quality of defender itself is a big problem, and this comment has merit. We cannot compare Papac and Rodriguez to the likes of even Amoruso and Moore at their best and that is disconcerting.

However, even a decent group of players can still be a good defence if it’s settled. Take Celtic’s defence – not a single player would you consider a genuinely classy defender; Naylor, Caldwell, McManus and Wilson. Yet set them together and keep them together and you have a very solid defence who’s leaked less than half the goals Rangers’ has.

What we need at the back is stability. Le Guen must choose his backline and STICK with it rather than changing it all the time.

Do that, and we are half way to solving some of our problems.