FEW things anger football supporters quite as much as an overzealous goalkeeper, holding onto the ball for ‘too long’.

You only need to cast your mind back a few days to understand why. Zack Steffen, standing in for Man City’s quarterback keeper Ederson, delayed a pass, allowing Sadio Mane to tackle the ball into the net to send Liverpool 2-0 ahead in the FA Cup Semi-Final last Saturday.

A day later at Hampden, with Jon McLaughlin playing ahead of Allan McGregor, tangible anxiety accompanied each pass combination between goalkeeper and centre-back in the watching Rangers support. In spite of some vexed encouragement to simply ‘get the ball forward’ when the margins of mistake became realistic, the 34-year-old remained composed throughout, often coaxing Daizen Maeda to press before passing to the free man.

But why was Giovanni van Bronckhorst comfortable with his No.1 taking such risks on the ball in dangerous areas?

The importance of using the goalkeeper

Steve McManaman’s constant lambasting of Chelsea in their 1-0 defeat at the hands of Man City earlier this year was revealing. The former player couldn’t understand why Thomas Tuchel's side would play backwards with such deliberate regularity and suggested a lack of bravery was the cause. 

In truth, McManaman’s judgement was entirely wide of the mark. Football, particularly at the very highest level, is intensely tactical. A team’s identity without the ball can in some situations be as important as their intention with it; as in a game of chess, one group adjusts to another’s movement in an attempt to manipulate outcomes.

Chelsea passed backwards in a bid to open up the necessary space to form dangerous, direct attacks, just as they had done months earlier to win the Champions League.

Kai Havert’s goal which decided that game is shown in the clip below.

After a sustained period of possession in the opposition half, Chelsea have a throw-in around the halfway line.

City have retreated into a block, so Chelsea pass backwards. Not through a lack of bravery, or invention, but because it’s the smart thing to do. In this instance it stretches the opposition and provokes them to move into higher positions, leaving space available to attack.

Goalkeeper Edouard Mendy chips the ball over City’s press to left wing-back Ben Chilwell after exchanging passes with the right side of the defence, His team can now launch a scripted attack. With two passes they’ve bypassed six players and have Timo Werner and Kai Havertz running vertically into space.

At 41:46, Mendy releases the ball, 12 seconds later the ball is in the back of the opposition net.

As the Rangers Review wrote recently, next season’s No.1 must be comfortable assisting the team in possession. Elite clubs are increasingly using their keepers as something of a third centre-back to bypass pressure, by increasing passing options and stopping the opposition from marking up man-for-man.

Rangers Review:

Rangers Review:

The point in both examples is to demonstrate the direction top clubs are heading. Goalkeepers can be active participants in possession and provide valuable tactical advantages.

The Rangers relevance

Van Bronckhorst made subtlety significant changes to his side’s tactical set-up at Hampden on Sunday, compared to the previous meeting a fortnight earlier at Ibrox.

Playing Calvin Bassey centrally neutralised the threat of Tom Rogic and facilitated a man-orientated approach higher up the pitch. In goals, McLaughlin asserted a dominance over his penalty area that Allan McGregor simply hasn’t this season and as such, lofted, high balls were no issue. Just as importantly, the Scotland international’s dependability on the ball aided Rangers’ plan to play through the press.

As shown in his below pass map, only once did he kick beyond the halfway line,

Rangers Review:

Why was this important? Because Rangers had to counteract the high press they were facing and knew that there was a way to exploit the space Celtic vacated if their goalkeeper could play with composure. McLaughlin did not panic, kick long and give up possession when attackers ran at him. Bodo/Glimt set the template to play through the Celtic press in a Europa Conference League meeting earlier this year, as the Rangers Review covered at the time.

At Hampden, van Bronckhorst’s side lacked some of the athleticism required to properly take advantage of this mentioned space, neither Joe Aribo nor Aaron Ramsey possesses blistering pace.

And Maeda is a quick, aggressive presser who made a number of interceptions during the game.

Simply it didn’t always work, but principally it was still the correct decision. Van Bronckhorst wanted to stretch the first line of Celtic pressure, create greater numbers in the first line of possession and allow his full-backs to join the attack rather than be responsible in the build-up.

Football in Scotland is as tactical as it has ever been. And, whether the requirement is breaking down a deep defence or playing through a high-pressing side, one size does not fit all.

Using a goalkeeper as a safety net to reset periods of possession, play through the first line of an opponent or manipulate a team to move up the pitch and leave exploitable space are all valuable tools that can make van Bronckhorst's Rangers side a more formidable team.