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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Graeme Young

Brian Laudrup sees Rangers 'disharmony' as he fears Gio van Bronckhorst admission was unwise

Iconic former Rangers star Brian Laudrup reckons his former team need to rediscover their desire ahead of the visit of Napoli.

The Danish wing king has been left miffed by the displays against Celtic and Ajax, which he reckons lacked fight and anger. He wants that to change ahead when Luciano Spalletti's high-flying Napoli side. The Europa League finalists need a result if they are to find a spark in Group A. The clash with the Serie A title challengers comes after Gio van Bronckhorst 's admission that his side will struggle to mix it in the Champions League.

That comment is something Laudrup reckons van Bronckhorst will regret amid his ongoing quest to get Rangers roaring again. Speaking to the Daily Mail, he said: "After the Ajax game, Van Bronckhorst spoke about needing hundreds of millions to compete in the Champions League. His comments have caused a lot of debate. I don't think they were the wisest things to say in public.

"Last season, Van Bronckhorst's team took on Dortmund and Leipzig two Champions League drop-outs and got the better of them. Okay, the standard in Group A might now be even higher but Rangers have previously shown they can compete against teams with considerably bigger budgets. No one expects them to win the Champions League. Or be in contention for the latter stages. That's stating the obvious. But the least you expect is for them to put up a fight within games.

"Each time you have a defeat like the last two, it becomes harder and harder to climb the mountain again. But Rangers must haul themselves up. They badly need a performance offering signs of improvement. And a stabilising result. Most fans would accept a draw tomorrow night as long as the performance was there."

Laudrup lavished Rangers en route to their thrilling run to Seville. But the 53-year-old doesn't see the same togetherness that helped his former team to one penalty shoot-out away from Europa League glory.

He added: "There was so much unity about Rangers towards the end of the season. Within the squad and among the fans. Now, it looks as though there is disharmony in the way the team plays. They have to find that harmony again as quickly as possible. I know from experience that it can change in one game. One big performance and result against a club like Napoli would restore belief to players and fans and make it a lot easier to move on from there and back into the Premiership."

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