Giovanni van Bronckhorst's Rangers blueprint: Analysing his 'seven routes to victory'

"I was not happy with the result yesterday and I can see some things I want to change or that we have to be better at," he said. “I’m sure we can help by getting some information and details across.”

24 hours earlier, evidence of the scale of his task lay strewn across the Hampden turf. Rangers were picked apart by Hibs in three surgical attacks. They appeared a broken team playing within a predictable tactical system that was increasingly being exploited.

Many questioned whether the new management team would be able to change all that much before the winter break, with a heavy catalogue of matches starting that midweek in late November.

Signing off for a premature winter pause, just two points have been dropped across nine fixtures and a 100 percent record remains in the league. Over that month-long period, vital principles were reinstated, new tactical ideas showed their value and a tricky run of ties were successfully negotiated.

In an attempt to encapsulate the range of changes made throughout, The Rangers Review’s game-by-game recap digs deep into the van Bronckhorst tactical blueprint to date.

Livingston 1-3 Rangers: 28/11/21

The Toni Macaroni arena is a hard place to go, especially on the back of a taxing European performance.

Despite this, Rangers made relatively light work of their opponents in a display that saw shades of Gerrard’s previous approach complemented with early principles van Bronckhorst had introduced. A greater percentage of long balls and an increased pass length had both featured in the squad’s 1-0 and 3-0 wins at the tail end of 2020/21.

The main notable difference a week into the new era was where those passes were targeted. Scott Arfield and Joe Aribo both ran beyond the forward line to great effect, the former opening the scoring with a dink over Max Stryjek and the latter benefitting from another adaptation.

The width which was clear that midweek against Sparta Prague led to the side’s second of the day. With Ryan Kent playing unfamiliarly wide, he attracted two men and released a pass into the subsequently less congested centre. 

The rediscovery of width in attack was refreshing, revitalising previous stale rotations that asked so much of either full-back and became predictable to defend.

Hibs 0-1 Rangers: 1/12/21

Two weeks on from the encounter at Hampden, Rangers' man-orientated defensive approach offered a recovering defence more protection and limited the impact of Hibs' tactical ploys.

Take this example, Josh Doig runs onto a Ryan Porteous switch and Ianis Hagi’s back-tracking gives James Tavernier greater protection. Under Gerrard, the wide centre-midfielder would have been tasked with shuttling out to support either full-back, but this system became slightly unstuck against wing-back systems.

As Ryan Porteous floats a ball to Josh Doig, Hagi’s backtracking offers protection to the narrow Rangers back four.

It wasn't just defensively that this wide approach proved useful. Kent’s position as highlighted above allowed him to attack from outside to in, as had proved so profitable against Prague, chopping infield to earn the game-deciding penalty kick.

Rangers 3-0 Dundee: 4/12/21

The first home league match was an indicator of how van Bronckhorst would combat the low block.

Borna Barisic had struggled without his left-sided partner Kent earlier in the season. Van Bronckhorst’s arrival, and the change in wide forwards, has altered the demands placed upon either full-back. To compensate for two advanced midfielders, Barisic played inverted in the build-up against Dundee, creating a ‘3-1’ structure that gives support and numerical superiority in the first phase of build-up.

As detailed at the time, Barisic’s final third involvement has dropped. He is being asked to "arrive instead of occupy" attacking zones, which has benefitted his overall game. The Croatian, like Tavernier, also appears to be performing better defensively in part because of the increasing defensive activity either winger is asked to undertake.

Hearts 0-2 Rangers: 12/12/21

Many thought the introduction of a second deep midfielder was par for the course for the trip to Tynecastle. Refuting the narrative that the battle must be won prior to any game-defining quality earning the points, Rangers’ attacked early and sealed their win through two swift attacks.

READ MORE: James Sands scouted: What Rangers supporters can expect from Giovanni van Bronckhorst's first signing

Kent, Sakala and Aribo were the Tynecastle Space Raiders, exposing their hosts’ adventurous approach with devastating direction.

Both goals originated through the natural width seen throughout the month of December. For the opener, Kent’s wide starting berth earned him room to turn Taylor Moore and clip a left-footed ball into the area.

The threat of a repeat opened a corridor between Moore and John Souttar for Aribo to travel down and add a second, the former remaining tight to Kent and leaving room centrally in the process.

This direct approach maximised the space Hearts had to defend. Whereas previously sides could afford to vacate wide areas in favour of crowding the middle, Sakala and Kent occupying the zones Tavernier and Barisic would have previously taken up made that tactic far too risky.

Rangers 2-0 St Johnstone: 15/12/21

One very noticeable change since late November has been found in Rangers’ build-up play. Reliance has increased on Connor Goldson to step into midfield with the ball, with two centre-midfielders no longer rotating into the backline to progress moves.

Goldson's responsibility in possession was called upon against a deep-sitting St Johnstone side. With space open next to Kamara, the defender played much of the game 30 yards from the St Johnstone goal – threading neat balls into Aribo.

Calvin Bassey’s mobility to step into midfield and retain pressure had been evidenced as a useful attribute prior to this tie, but his aggressive ball-winning earned the corner that broke the deadlock just before the break.

The pair used possession wisely throughout to ensure the low block was unlocked.

Rangers 1-0 Dundee United: 18/12/21

Sitting in the Ibrox press room after this tie, van Bronckhorst revealed his side prepared two systems for the game as they didn’t know how Dundee United would line up. That in itself shows the stark difference between his approach and Gerrard’s.

This tie offered the first sign of a potential systemic issue. The hosts moved Kamara up to No.8 with John Lundstram playing as the No.6 – throughout the whole game United’s two forwards managed to block off passing lanes into the deepest midfielder which led to some stale build-up play.

"If we don’t have Kamara available in the build-up it means someone else is. I think we lacked a bit of bravery, especially from the back to commit into midfield," van Bronckhorst said.

“We were just passing, passing. If we could not find Kamara we just passed it back. If we don’t find Kamara, we need other players to commit themselves. Today we didn’t do it as well as before. That’s why we struggled a little bit, especially in the first half.”

READ MORE: John Souttar scouted: Why Rangers-linked 'overlapping centre-back' is perfect Connor Goldson replacement

Tavernier's penalty earned all three points but without Aribo higher up the pitch, Rangers' limitations in build-up were revealed. 

Rangers 2-0 St Mirren: 26/12/21

“You have to find spaces which are very limited,” van Bronckhorst said after this Boxing Day win. Rangers had to first create space then chances against St Mirren, how else can you approach a defensive structure this deep?

Tavernier played an inverted role against Jim Goodwin's side. By timing runs in the right half-space, the Rangers captain opened up room for Scott Wright to constantly create one-v-one duels against Scott Tanser. Pushing ahead of the St Mirren midfield instead of remaining in the red-highlighted conventional place.

“You have to have players comfortable playing on the lines because you want to stretch them with width," the Dutchman said on Sunday.

“Scott [Wright] in that position is very good. He brought exactly what I wanted him to bring."

Instead of using full-backs to stretch the pitch, van Bronckhorst uses wingers in an attempt to inject pace from wide areas which forces teams to defend with a wider shape and therefore give up more central control.

Conclusion 

It always seemed apparent that van Bronckhorst would vary and evolve the tactical blueprint Gerrard and Beale developed over three years at Ibrox. And while the side isn’t unrecognisable stylistically from two months ago, the Dutchman has started to imprint his ideas all over the pitch.

The winter break will offer him some valuable time to further adapt the team to his principles.