He thinks deeply and boxes cleverly.
In fact, Gio van Bronckhorst is the kind of manager who filters every word long before it ever leaves his mouth. But now the pressure is beginning to build, it does feel as if the Rangers boss might be in danger of putting his foot in it at all the wrong moments. In the immediate aftermath of last week’s shellacking in Amsterdam, van Bronckhorst offered up a plea of mitigation which was completely lacking in any kind of self-awareness.
By admitting his squad is not lavishly enough kitted out to stand a chance of competing against Europe’s elite, the Dutchman infuriated large sections of his most staunch supporters who took his words as a verbal throwing in of the towel, just one game into their long-awaited Champions League return. That’ll still be hanging over him tonight when he sends out his team to face Napoli at a heaving Ibrox. Should it all go so horribly wrong again against the rampant Italians then van Bronckhorst will find himself under even heavier fire.
So it was curious then that yesterday, while bullishly defending his own philosophy on how the game should be played, he also succeeded in cranking up the pressure on himself with another admission that could come back to haunt him before the week is out.
“Being a Rangers manager or a Rangers player, two defeats in a row is not acceptable,” is how he phrased it on the back of those crushing back-to-back losses to Celtic and Ajax. Van Bronckhorst added: “That’s something different than putting your philosophy aside. We’ll go out tomorrow with the same philosophy and try to win the game.”
Even so, his frank appraisal prompted one obvious question. If he accepts two defeats on the bounce is ‘unacceptable’ where does he go if Napoli dish out a third? The same Napoli that smashed four past Liverpool? Given the mood among the home support has been fairly volcanic over the last 10 days, it all points to a manager and a team staring at a crossroads together.
Emerge from this tie with pride intact and a performance to rekindle last season’s Thursday night epics under the lights and van Bronckhorst will buy himself some badly-needed breathing space. But capitulate for a third time and feel all hell being let loose. Van Bronckhorst though, doesn’t seem the sort to panic. Asked if now might be the time to think about a change in his own strategic planning he said: “No, there is nothing to change about our philosophy.
“Two weeks ago we qualified for the Champions League. Everything was fine. Everyone was praised – the team, the staff, the club. We were doing well. Two defeats later it looks like we haven’t performed in the last couple of years. That’s the dynamic of football. I’m not changing anything about my philosophy, how I want to play. Of course there is a lot of room for improvement.
“The most disappointing thing about the last two games is we didn’t perform.
“That’s the disappointment I have, for sure the players have it because we have talked about it. That’s something that has to change. Losing two games against good opponents – you don’t play every year in the Champions League. The level we’re facing in this couple of months, we have never endured that in the last 12 years.
“Of course, it’s going to be tough. But I don’t understand why we have to put our philosophy on the side. We can go to Ajax and play with 10 defenders and try to keep the zero but we’re not improving as a team like that.
“I’m sure the opponent we faced against Ajax was also for my team an experience they won’t forget. The big learning point is to do it differently tomorrow against another quality team in Napoli.
“For sure, we faced heavy defeats. We talked about it and now is the chance tomorrow to get a good result. The mood is good in the sense we have been together for a couple of days, we’ve had more training sessions than we are used to having before games. But tomorrow is time to perform.”
With Allan McGregor back in goals it may feel a bit more like last season’s Europa League run. But van Bronckhorst knows his players will have to get their fingers out in all areas of the pitch if they are to keep the old timer out of serious harm’s way. Starting with the art of defending set-pieces.
He said: “Set-pieces are definitely one of the things we haven’t done well in Europe. We conceded against PSV and also against Ajax last week so yes, we have given a bit more attention. But also with all the other things we have to improve.
“If you see the last two games the disappointment was also in the performance of the players. The level we reached wasn’t the level we normally have.
“In the Champions League, you have to reach your level as a person – as a player, also as a team – to get a result. I am confident after the week we have had, the preparation and the experience of the game last week, we will be in a much better place. But of course there’s a time to perform and that is tomorrow starting at 8pm.”
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