“I was not angry. For me, it was about finding solutions.”
When the relatively unknown Danny Röhl arrived at crisis club Sheffield Wednesday in 2023, some wondered how this quietly spoken, inexperienced coach would fare in such a testing environment. How would he command respect from players older than himself in the dressing room?
Very quickly, one observer noted that his ability to solve tactical problems and improve players became his route to building respect and relationships. On one occasion, when his side were two goals down and a man down at home to Stoke, Röhl arrived in the dressing room with a solution he had formed on the bench during the first half. There was no ranting or raving, but instead a calm proposal of solutions to the problem. Wednesday would go on to draw the game 2–2.
This encapsulates his impact at Ibrox and yesterday’s Old Firm win. Röhl has proven himself to be a problem solver for his players, and this was the most meaningful example yet of the German “finding solutions” rather than enacting the stereotypical half-time hairdryer, as he explained above. With his notebook out after 35 minutes, Röhl crouched and formed a plan with his assistant, Matthias Kaltenbach, and the seed to turn the game on its head was planted. A game Rangers had been fortunate to trail by only one goal would end 3–1 in their favour.
Wilfried Nancy’s side broke through Rangers’ press and exposed the visitors’ frailties when building attacks repeatedly before the break. But the dogmatism of the Celtic manager meant that when Röhl changed the script in the second half, there was no answer.
“I look to my players, what is best for them. And it’s never about what is best or the perfect world for me,” Röhl said in his pre-match press conference when discussing his tactical approach.
After a first half in which Röhl’s plan did not work, here is what changed at half-time.
What went wrong before the break?
Rangers’ approach from the off could be distilled into one image, as shown below.
Manny Fernandez and Nico Raskin’s high positioning in the below frame depicts Rangers’ attempts to press aggressively. They wanted to lock on man for man and regain possession in high areas, but several issues quickly surfaced.
When your deepest midfielder and centre-back are dragged into these positions, you are going to be in trouble if your press is broken. Both then have huge distances to cover if they are turned. On this occasion, it worked and trapped Celtic to one side of the pitch, forcing them long, but that was a near-isolated example in the first half.
Celtic played well with the ball under pressure. Slick, contrasting runs, both deep and long, caused problems, and most importantly, they consistently created overloads in the middle of the park as fluid rotations pulled apart Röhl’s pressing shape. Too often, Rangers committed a number of bodies into advanced areas but failed to apply pressure on the ball, leaving them vulnerable to the dangerous runs of Kenny and Yang.
Again, on this occasion, it didn't lead to trouble, but issues were not far away.
The issue with a pressing approach like this is that as soon as one mistake is made, your opponent is through on goal. Rangers do not boast particular pace at centre-back at the best of times.
Indeed, just minutes in, Rangers were exposed when Thelo Aasgaard received a yellow card for a tactical foul. Luke McCowan, the left wing-back who frequently drifted infield, was through on goal otherwise. Fernandez had pushed high on instruction, following his man into midfield, leaving this huge gap but one mistake and Celtic were through.
Note that below, Celtic have found an extra man in midfield by inverting their left wing-back in McGowan.
Yang’s goal typified Rangers’ confused marking responsibilities when they dropped into a deeper block. Their pressing approach was oriented around individuals in an attempt to limit Celtic’s passing options, but because they were constantly a step behind and chasing shadows, the centre of the pitch was left dangerously unprotected and confusion reigned.
Too often, one of Celtic’s midfielders was able to receive the ball in these areas as Rangers’ man-for-man intensity dropped and their lack of compactness was exposed. Confidence seemed to weaken too with each Celtic attack.
Below, Moore is staying wide because his 'man' to mark is Anthony Ralston. After the break, that would change and Rangers would leave the wide man free to flood the middle.
Pressing in this fashion can be hugely effective when you are on the front foot, but when retreating, defensive shapes can easily be pulled apart. Added to this, as Röhl suggested post-match, his team did not play forward quickly enough to exploit the openings they did manage to create.
Perhaps just as importantly, the visitors could never establish control in possession because Jack Butland consistently kicked long and there appeared to be no clear plan to build through pressure. Time and again, the away side found themselves on the back foot because they could not turn Celtic by breaking their press. Kasper Schmeichel completed 88 percent of his first-half passes, in stark contrast to Butland’s 63 percent.
What did Röhl change?
Asked about his half-time intervention on Sky Sports post-match, Röhl said: “I was not angry. For me, it was about finding solutions. We changed into three midfielders, we pressed them in a different way, and from the beginning you felt they could not get through. They couldn’t find the free man they normally want to find. We were much better organised and then, after ball-winning situations, we played straight forward.”
Instead of pressing man for man, with Fernandez stepping out from centre-back to match Celtic’s midfield numbers, Röhl switched to a flat 4-3-3. This was a move away from his usual asymmetrical back five, with Djeidi Gassama moving from wing-back to winger.
Rangers now pressed more cohesively as a unit, matched Celtic’s numbers in midfield, and the home side were stunted because they could no longer “find the free man”. When possession was regained in high areas, the visitors attacked forward quickly.
Most importantly, the orientation of Rangers’ press changed. Rather than following individual opponents, the focus shifted to flooding the space around the ball in a compact 4-3-3. This meant protecting the centre first and moving as a team, even if it occasionally left Celtic with a free man out wide that was sacrificed for one of the wingers becoming an extra body infield.
In the second half it was Rangers who overloaded the middle of the pitch.
There were fewer gaps to exploit and the centre of the pitch was deliberately congested, forcing Celtic into wide areas. Now it was the hosts who were on the back foot and, indeed, before Moore’s late clincher, it was Röhl’s side who had Celtic pinned in their own half, unable to escape for a sustained period.
The way Rangers regained the ball and started the attack that led to their opener derived from pushing Celtic wide and winning back possession after crowding the middle.
Notice again as Dujon Sterling regains possession, Celtic do technically have a free man in possession but because Rangers are pressing around the ball, that three-vs-two is on the far side and well out of reach. Out of sight and out of mind.
Mo Diomande’s introduction from the bench also had a significant impact. It is no coincidence that he thrives in highly technical games, as opposed to routine league fixtures. Diomande is at his best when pressed and can struggle when required to break down deep blocks. His relationship with Raskin, in particular, complemented by Barron’s energetic forward running, mirrored a midfield combination that worked so well in the previous meeting at Parkhead.
For both the first and third goals, Rangers benefited from Diomande’s willingness to receive the ball under pressure and drive forward with neat flicks and turns. Crucially, his introduction also allowed Raskin to move from the No.6 role into a more advanced No.8 position.
Look at the still below, taken seconds before Moore’s strike, and contrast it with the image of Aasgaard’s yellow card earlier in the match. In the second half, it was Rangers who flooded the middle, won second balls, and played forward quickly after regaining possession. Again, Celtic have a free man, but it's out wide. That means Rangers are the team with an extra man in the middle with every player narrow.
Moore, wide in the first period, is now acting as a No.10 with Rangers' front three crowding around the ball.
What else made an impact?
Tactical changes only provide the structure. Röhl has previously lamented his team’s inability to turn fine margins in their favour in big games, and here he needed big players to step up. Jack Butland and Youssef Chermiti did just that, the latter in particular, after a costly error from the former. So much of this day was about the big No.9, who was simply excellent.
Chermiti has felt like a metaphor for much of what has gone wrong at Rangers during large parts of this season. Here, he was a welcome protagonist.
The build-up to his second goal provides a clear example of how Röhl’s revised pressing focus worked, and how individuals rose to the task. It encapsulated “pressing in a different way”, stopping Celtic from “finding the free man”, and “playing forward quickly” after regains.
As Ralston takes a throw-in to Callum McGregor, it is Rangers who create the overload around the ball. Celtic cannot progress because they cannot find the free man.
Chermiti then presses superbly to win a two-versus-one. Note Barron’s run. Although he does not touch the ball, his immediate forward movement is vital. It draws the attention of Austin Trusty and creates the time and space Chermiti needs to score.
Butland’s recovery from his error, Sterling’s outstanding performance just weeks after returning from a long-term injury, Moore’s composed finish, and Gassama’s two important passes from the right that led to goals, an area of his game that has improved markedly since Christmas, all merit special praise.
This performance underlines why observers feel Röhl connects so well with modern players, despite being only 36 and relatively inexperienced as a manager. Sources at the club maintained confidence in his ability to handle the glare that comes with this job. Rangers did not need a hairdryer treatment. They required a cool head and solutions. This group of players did not need to be told to get back into the game; they needed to be shown how.
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