IT was a short but well-needed summer break after a hectic end to the 2021/22 season, but Rangers are now back into pre-season ahead of the new campaign.
A Europa League final and a first Scottish Cup trophy since 2009 were the highlights last term but losing out on the league title to Celtic will not have gone down well inside the Ibrox camp.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side travelled to Portugal today as they continue to ramp up their preparations for the new season and with Champions League qualifiers to come, Rangers must be ready for action from the off.
Here Herald and Times Sport analyses the key questions and uncertainties surrounding the Govan outfit this pre-season ahead of a huge campaign for van Bronckhort and his players.
The Manager
Giovanni van Bronckhorst replaced the departing Steven Gerrard midway through last year’s season after the Liverpool legend decided to exit Glasgow for pastures new in the Premier League with Aston Villa. It was a difficult time for the Dutchman to take over the reins of the club where he was once a player, but looking back on his half-season, it was an impressive start to management in Scotland.
The Europa League run speaks for itself, while a Scottish Cup trophy added some much-needed silverware to Ibrox trophy cabinet. The Premiership title race was the one disappointment and that is where van Bronckhorst has no room for error this upcoming season. The league title during the 2020/21 season was a huge step for Rangers as they landed their first Premiership crown in 10 years. A Europa League run to the final was a further step, but now consistency and improvement year on year is where they must progress.
With Celtic already in the group stages of the Champions League, van Bronckhorst must do all he can to get his side amongst the elite of European football. Once qualification is hopefully secured, finding the balance of performances in Europe and domestically will be the task at hand for the Dutchman.
The Tactics
Rangers have three main points that they must work on ahead of their competitive season getting underway on July 30. Finding goals from midfield, finding a domestic structure, and getting the balance between direct/patient build-up right are all issues that have cropped up over the course of the van Bronckhorst era so far.
One of the main differences between 19/20 and 20/21 was the addition of Kemar Roofe and Ianis Hagi in the right-sided No.10 role, they brought 34 goals and assists between them. Last term that dropped to 11, so there was a clear lack of goal scoring and creation threat. By the end of the campaign, the team were overly reliant on the goals from Morelos and James Tavernier.
Van Bronckhorst will likely come out of pre-season with his mind set on a traditional 4-3-3 structure. There were some clues to this in the recent win over Partick Thistle. This system was questionable at times last term when teams adapted to deal with midfield runs of Scott Arfield and Joe Aribo and combated Rangers' wide wingers.
Van Bronckhorst also has decisions to make on bringing his full-backs infield. Celtic do similar in order to provide numbers centrally and improve the forward passing options, which looked stale at times for Rangers last season. Van Bronckhorst also has the option to allow Tavernier complete attacking freedom and tuck the left full-back inside to form a back three.
When he initially got the job, van Bronckhorst’s direct ball progression, often going straight from defence to the final third, was effective. Arfield’s goal against Livingston, Aribo’s goal against Hearts, and a later example is the Goldson-Tavernier ball in the build-up to Arfield’s equaliser during the Scottish Cup semi-final win over Celtic. Issues arose when teams sat deep and allowed space in front of the defence and Rangers did not take advantage of it.
Arguably van Bronckhorst’s most positive attribute so far is his flexibility/variation. The one area he needs to improve this is in moving the ball forward. If his team possess the ability to hit space behind the opposition defence or take advantage of the room in front of it, they can become a much harder team for opposition managers to prepare for.
The Recruitment
Rangers have had a relatively quiet summer window so far. John Souttar has arrived after completing his move from Hearts and it will be interesting to see how he is bedded into the Ibrox squad. Connor Goldson was a mainstay in the centre of defence last term, but his partner changed over the course of the campaign. Filip Helander, the now-departed Leon Balogun and Leon King all featured, while Calvin Bassey’s rise as a central defender was hugely impressive. Nikola Katic also returns from a loan spell this summer, so Souttar will have to catch the eye early if he wants to bag a starting XI spot.
Rangers have also been heavily linked with striker Antonio Colak, but it remains to be seen whether he will make the move from Greek outfit PAOK. Attacking reinforcements are desperately needed with just two recognised centre forwards in the squad in the shape of Alfredo Morelos and Kemar Roofe. Uncertainty also surrounds Morelos, with a number of top European clubs said to be monitoring his situation, so Rangers must be ready to recruit further if need be.
The Opposition
Rangers have already got their pre-season matches off to a winning start after defeating Partick Thistle last week. They will now face Alex Neil’s Sunderland in the scorching Portuguese heat at the Estádio Municipal de Albufeira on July 9.
Rangers will participate in just one game in Portugal before returning to Scottish shores to complete their pre-season training. A trip to Blackpool will take place on July 16 before Rangers take on Premier League opposition in West Ham and Tottenham at Ibrox on July 19 and 23 respectively.
The Country
Rangers had previously booked Albufeira for pre-season training last year, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, they were forced to cancel. Portugal will provide Rangers with the ideal temperatures for a warm-weather training camp. Reports have suggested that the country will be struck with abnormally high heat over the next week due to a heatwave hitting large parts of Europe. Searing 46C temperatures could strike the Rangers squad while they are training, so sessions will likely take place early in the morning or late on at night to avoid peak heat throughout the day.
