Sometimes, you can see how much a goal means to a player and Mikey Moore’s face in Dundee yesterday was one that shared as much happiness as it did relief.
The 18-year-old hasn’t had it easy since arriving on a season-long loan from Spurs in the summer. Now, however, he’s starting to show why so much excitement has surrounded his name as a young player.
Operating in a role that better suits his strengths and benefiting from the confidence instilled by new head coach Danny Rohl, Moore enters this international break in a far better place than the last one after his first goal for the club on Sunday.
“I think it was a difficult start for me and I don't think I showed anywhere near what I know I can do. Mentally, it's been unbelievable for me because it's a massive club and I think it's strengthened me up a lot because the first bit was probably the toughest time I've been through,” he said, speaking after his side’s 3-0 win in Dundee yesterday afternoon.
“I'm feeling a lot more confident, I'm getting used to the league, used to my teammates and the manager's helped me a lot as well. He's come in and he's given me confidence and belief in myself.”
Technically, Moore played in the same position on the team sheet yesterday as in the Falkirk game a month ago, which seemed to illustrate his early issues. However, the role Moore was given at Dens was far more suited to his strengths, with license to move inside and players around the attacker, better suited to his list of strengths.
Look at where Moore made his passes and carries that day against Falkirk. He was wide and isolated, rarely impacting the game in the final third and often running down blind allies glued to the touchline.
Contrast that to Moore’s passes and carries against Dundee. Although he started wide in his own half, the England Under-19 international would often drift inside the pitch when his team reached the final third.
“I think it helps me being in that role, I always want to be involved in the game as much as possible and I like to get in those pockets,” Moore said post-match at Dens.
“I think I can affect the game in both ways, either wide or centrally, but maybe I need to improve a bit more when I'm wide and affect the game more, when I'm centrally, I'm doing well. I've had a lot more chances in front of goal and I've had a bit of freedom to move across the pitch.”
Although, as the player identifies, he can impact the game from wide positions, Moore is a more natural operator when close to teammates and involved in the game. He isn’t a powerful straight-line runner who wants to be glued to the touchline delivering crosses. Moore is at his best when playing with individuals around him who stretch the game, allowing him to knit together moves when drifting infield.
Too often, he’s jumped from role to role, unable to develop any consistency or relationships, thrown into the final third and expected to just make things happen. Similarly, Djeidi Gassama hasn’t benefited from shifting away from the left-wing spot that is so obvious his best zone. The build-up to his goal in Dundee was simple: a well-timed forward pass from Thelo Aasgaard and an overlapping run from Jayden Meghoma. However, it's the type of situation he’s not been presented with enough in recent weeks to score a trademark goal.
Moore’s strike at Dens was a perfect example of the environment around the player allowing him to showcase his strengths. It also showed the benefit of Rohl shifting away from a back three and tailoring his approach to the opponent. If Martin was trying to, generally, fit players into a system, we’ve seen Rohl fit his system to players so far. The German has stressed he is not a coach bound to one shape and with three domestic wins on the bounce, his flexibility and pragmatism quickly have Moore and others feeling the benefit.
In the build-up to Moore's goal, Derek Cornelius fires a pass into the midfield to find Danilo, cleverly positioned behind the Dundee midfield but too deep for midfielders to pick up.
Why does this matter? As Danilo drops the ball to Nico Raskin, who fires it wide to James Tavernier, Dundee have to move backwards instead of pressing forward. Allowing the visitors to build into the final third.
Moore has initially been picked up by Dundee left-back Samuels, but with Tavernier stretching the pitch and offering width instead of Moore fulfilling that role, he can drop inside, too deep for centre-back Billy Koumetio to track him.
Now, with Rangers having built their way into the final third and disrupted Dundee’s defensive shape, Moore is where he wants to be. Dropping from his starting position on the right to get on the ball facing play, he can overload the middle, given his direct marker in the initial phase, Samuels, is still on the left.
Dundee have a load of bodies on their left, where Rangers have just moved the ball away from, leaving the visitors with an overload in the middle…
…Before moving the ball quickly to their own left, where the space is. Although Moore started this move as the ‘right-winger’, his freedom to move out of that zone and link play centrally sees him score from the opposite flank.
Moore ought to have had a second goal on the day too, which would’ve added a third before the break. With a license to roam across the pitch and move unpredictably, complemented by Gassama staying high and wide on the other flank, Rohl got his set-up right again.
Predicting that Dundee would sit in a low block, he moved away from a back three shape, which the head coach has said he’ll play when facing two strikers, but not necessarily against a deep-lying defence.
Moore’s start in Glasgow is a reminder of how difficult a place Ibrox can be to develop, something that Youssef Chermiti is learning at the moment. Amad Diallo, now one of Man United’s finest players, hardly played at Rangers in the months before he joined Sunderland and became the Championship’s best player. Fabio Silva wasn’t missed, yet the Portuguese striker was good enough to be signed by Borussia Dortmund this summer. Even Malik Tillman, now at Bayer Leverkusen, wasn’t universally popular despite such a material impact during his loan from Bayern Munich.
To Moore’s credit, he didn’t hide even when things weren’t going his way. Climbing off the bench to help create an equaliser against Dundee United and even playing at left-back in the final minutes of a scrappy win against Livingston.
“I think there's a lot of pressure for a young boy coming from the Premier League and coming here, but as long as I'm improving myself and I'm helping Rangers go win games and picking up goals and helping the team, that's all that matters for now,” he added.
“The club's massive, the fan base is unbelievable, to be honest, they're special. It's been a crazy experience and now I just want to keep improving and playing as well as possible for the fans and for the club.”
Having signed a long-term contract with Tottenham on his 18th birthday, Moore’s talent wasn’t in question when he joined and his assertion of jumping at the chance to move north instead of staying in England, in an environment that may have proven less of a risk, wasn’t merely lip service.
Rangers previously made an ambitious attempt to sign him before he committed to Spurs when still a youth player. During Michael Beale’s tenure, the player’s representatives even visited Ibrox to discuss a move that would’ve seen Moore play senior football as soon as he was eligible. Connections to members of the coaching staff had opened the door to the possibility alongside the allure of the club, though Moore ultimately stayed in London.
There will be no question of the youngster staying on any permanent deal this time, such is his potential. Rangers signed Moore to make an impact now and under Rohl, they’re starting to feel that benefit.
Share