“I've got an idea of what my Rangers team needs to look like, and hopefully, it's something similar to what the Rangers fans want as well.”
Derek McInnes didn’t give all that much away when discussing how he wants his Rangers team to play after being unveiled as the club’s 22nd permanent manager a fortnight ago, perhaps conscious of the many empty words uttered at previous inaugurations. He did, though, depict a flavour of what his team should stand for and represent.
The 55-year-old, who spoke of his team imposing themselves more readily and not allowing opponents to settle at Ibrox as has become too customary, outlined the ends instead of the means. He didn’t eulogise like Russell Martin, or use a similar “pillar” analogy to Philippe Clement. Instead, McInnes leaned into a wider discussion that has developed in the building over the past few months surrounding a club DNA: a guiding set of beliefs about what a Rangers team should look like, brought to life by a manager but not subject to wholesale change with each change in the dugout, enabling longer-term planning across recruitment, tactics and game model.
Identity is a buzzword in football, but at its core, every good team stands for something, with distinctive core markers. Think of a Steven Gerrard team and you’ll picture a solid shape, a hard-to-beat unit, an occasionally overcautious team in attack. How many other iterations of Ibrox squads have had many, if any, defining qualities at all in recent years?
On the macro level, McInnes wants a Rangers team that epitomises the values of the club, recapturing elements that have been lost. But on a micro level, what might that look like n terms of shape and system?
Rangers' pre-season shape
As the Rangers Review reported on Saturday, official pre-season preparations started with a behind-closed-doors game against Raith Rovers. Another is planned before the squad fly to Spain this week. A 5-1 win saw two different starting XIs in either half, but a consistent 4-4-1-1 shape.
The first-half team featured young goalkeeper Rydnn McGuire, who started ahead of Paul Nsio, Ben Godfrey, Zander Hutton and Tuur Rommens. Both Nsio, a midfielder, and Hutton, primarily a right-back, were out of position. Oliver Antman, Dan Neil, Mo Diomande and Lyall Cameron completed the midfield, with the Finnish right-winger holding wider positions than Cameron on the left. Bojah Miovski played just behind Youssef Chermiti.
The second half saw eleven changes made. Ross McCausland played at right-back, operating more advanced than the natural centre-back Clinton Nsiala on the left, with Dujon Sterling partnering Ross McCrorie. Nedim Bajrami played narrower from the right flank with Djeidi Gassama wide on the left. Calum Adamson and Tochi Chukwuani were the two in midfield, with Danilo playing in the hole behind Ryan Naderi. Naderi scored, with Bajrami, Rommens, McCrorie and Cameron also on the scoresheet.
Limited options in defence – several players are still to return to training – saw creative solutions. With Godfrey arriving at centre-back, another remains on the agenda, most likely a left-sided player. There is the potential for Manny Fernandez to also play on his more natural right side at centre-back this season.
Both teams featured a slight tilt with one full-back providing the width and the other tucking in to protect central spaces. A line ahead, one wide player would do the opposite. This tactical template is similar to the one often used at Hearts last season when, for example, Michael Steinwender or Oisin McEntee played as a converted right-back behind a more natural winger in Alexander Kyziridis. On the other flank, a right-footer, often Blair Spittal, would frequently drift infield ahead of a more naturally advanced left-back, like Harry Milne or Stephen Kingsley.
McInnes lacked a natural right-back and right-wing option, which often forced these adaptations. Milne played as a versatile right-winger in Hearts’ 2-0 win over Martin’s Rangers last September. Hearts signed Jordi Altena in the January window but, coming from Dutch football and being a former winger, he perhaps lacked defensive fundamentals. Meanwhile, their right-wing solution in the January window, Islam Chesnokov, left again just months later, while summer signing Sabah Kerjota featured sporadically.
The right wing is seen as a key position to get right this summer at all levels, and is vital to allow McInnes variation in how he deploys a 4-4-2. Much like McInnes, Rohl lacked a consistent option on the right after Andreas Skov Olsen’s failed loan spell. Seven different players shared the position, with Gassama often shunted into an unnatural role. A player to hold down that role, as Vaclav Cerny managed two seasons ago, would allow for more consistent selection instead of constant shuffling of left-wingers over to operate out of position.
McInnes, the 4-4-2 and key changes
McInnes is expected to play with two strikers where possible and, although there will be some similarities to the 4-2-2-2 Rohl started to develop, there are key differences too.
If functioning as planned, the former Aberdeen manager will attack with width and two wingers, carry a presence in the box, field a midfield two that is versatile enough to sometimes do the job of three, and build the attack on a solid defensive base.
What are the differences from Rohl’s version of the 4-2-2-2? One is the off-ball shape. McInnes has tended to favour a man-oriented system off the ball throughout his career, meaning individual battles are prioritised defensively. That represents quite a shift from the narrow and compact pressing “net” Rohl discussed, a facet of his system that informed a narrower attacking unit.
Another difference is utilising more natural wingers. As Rohl’s formation developed throughout the season, his wide players were more inside forwards than wingers, with full-backs often tasked with forming the width in the final third.
McInnes will likely favour fewer rotations – such as a full-back becoming a winger, a winger rolling inside and a midfielder dropping into full-back – to maintain a clearer structure off the ball and limit the chain of reaction when a ball is lost. Again, what is done on the ball directly informs plans off it and vice versa.
At times last season, Rangers played without a recognisable midfield. Loading the last line of the opposition box so frequently could limit control and leave Nico Raskin with acres of space to cover, like in the below example.
While Rohl started to use two strikers from the 4-2 win over Hearts in March, none of his options were as fluid as Lawrence Shankland, who effectively became an extra midfielder at points for McInnes in his own two-striker system. Shankland is far more adept at linking play than Naderi, for example, who is more of a second-ball winner and channel runner when playing off the front. Interestingly, he was a No.9 during Saturday's bounce game.
Look at the heatmap below, depicting where Shankland received his passes last season. While still scoring regularly, the 30-year-old would make an extra man at the top of the midfield.
At times, there was a sense that Rohl tried to fit players into the system in key moments, after initially adapting his ideas to his team. The 4-2-2-2’s success relied heavily on Rommens and Naderi, for example, and trying to roll it out in a post-split 3-2 loss against Motherwell without either player was a mistake.
There were variations in McInnes’ set-up at Hearts last season. At times an extra man was used in the middle of the park or a back three was utilised. His addition of an extra midfielder at half-time during an eventual 2-1 win against Rangers after the split was one such example of a tweak to his starting system altering a game’s dynamic.
A two-man midfield, and indeed a two-forward system, is somewhat in vogue compared to a few years ago, when three-man midfields reigned supreme. Regardless of what shape they play, though, the move to sign the correct characters as well as the right talents is seen as a fundamental goal of this window. A successful Rangers team needs staying power, game management and individuals to carry, or deliver, big moments.
The one defining problem to solve
Rangers largely scored in transition last season. New arrival Dan Neil presents a helpful starting point among players who should offer a more natural ability to dictate games because, as ever, you can only attack at speed when you attack into space. And space in Scotland, often, must be created artificially.
The unwinding of many Rangers managers has fundamentally come down to their inability to coach a team to be protagonists with the ball. McInnes, like his predecessors, faces the task of building a team that attacks at speed without losing control, can set the tempo with the ball and brings energy and intensity with their own ball possession. A player like Neil should help slow and speed the game up effectively.
Rohl was known to communicate behind the scenes his frustrations in moments with the impatience of the home crowd during build-up – a point he made publicly after the win over Hearts, when he called on the crowd to appreciate that sometimes an extra pass to the side is needed to open up a space ahead.
McInnes’ Hearts were arguably better in the big games last season and struggled on the road. However, if not for a questionable refereeing call at Motherwell on the final day of the season, many of the minor details would’ve been glossed over thanks to a league title. Plus, while their away record left something to be desired, an unbeaten home season was good going.
Set pieces too will remain vital. The club are working on an appointment to McInnes’ coaching staff to replace departed set-piece coach Scott Fry. Hearts and Rangers shared the best output from set pieces last season, nearly managing a goal per game (0.47).
Managers live or die by the quality of their recruitment. As Andrew Cavenagh said at the tail end of the previous campaign, “the best coaches have the best teams”. It’s an obvious but true point. We’re quick to criticise those who don’t coach a team to control matches with the ball, but what if the midfield profiles they’ve inherited don’t enable clean build-up? What if they lack wingers to inject pace? Rangers arguably still have a dearth of one-v-one profiles to go beyond a man and fashion space elsewhere.
Read more:
- Why Rangers signed Ivor Pandur: Standout data, Butland comparison, Hull swap deal
- How Rangers fared in behind closed doors friendly vs Raith Rovers
- Why Rangers signed Dan Neil: Southampton usurp, inside move and fixing a common issue
Fundamentally, what McInnes excelled at achieving early with Hearts was harnessing the emotion of the home crowd and providing a direction for everyone to pivot their energy towards. Shapes and systems are always a visualisation of a core idea, and this case is no different.
Ibrox is so powerful with you and so limiting against you. McInnes rightly spoke of a support ready to come with the team if they see enough to get excited, with ambitions to build a Rangers team that stands for something.
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