da wazamba： When you talk about Rangers and Pedro Caixinha, two things are clear; one, the start to his reign as boss Ibrox has been poor by any standard and two, any talk of him leaving the club at this stage is absurd.
da bet7： Yes the result on Tuesday night was tough to take for Rangers fans and justifiable caused a lot of backlash and anger towards the squad and the manager himself. Some were even calling for his resignation, or at least speculating that his days at Ibrox were numbered.
However, that’s not a constructive way to look at the situation. Having just signed almost a full team of players of his choice and style, Rangers need to see this project through now for better or worse.
That’s not to say he hasn’t been getting plenty wrong, he has. The sign of a good manager is recognising his faults and working to address them. Whether Caixinha can do that over the coming months will define his time in Glasgow.
Here are FOUR things he’s getting wrong that we think he needs to address…
The formation is unbalanced
The formation and tactics on display against Progres Niederkorn were confusing to say the least. Ostensibly a 4-2-3-1 in the vein of many teams across the world these days, Niko Kranjcar was dropping far too deep to maintain an effective presence in midfield. Lee Wallace and James Tavernier were too disconnected from their defensive partners to maintain cohesion.
It all resulted in a rather bizarre situation where the intended formation devolved into a midfield with far too many players in it, isolated from both their backline and the striker.
It was evident in both the lack of chances they created and their vulnerability at the back. Alfredo Morelos didn’t have an opportunity all evening and it didn’t improve in the second half when Eduardo Herrera arrived on the pitch. Kenny Miller tried his best as he always does but even he was limited to just a chance or two. A nervous defence was exposed on too many occasions and ultimately the team suffered.
Caixinha needs to bring more structure and a more defined formation to the team soon or chaos will reign at Ibrox well into the new season.
He isn’t handling the press correctly
In defence of Pedro Caixinha, the press in Scotland haven’t given him an easy ride. The lens placed on both the manager of Rangers and Celtic is always extreme and it’s a key factor why some men simply don’t have what it takes to be a success at either club.
Caixinha needs to act fast or he risks losing all credibility in a similar way to what happened to Ronny Deila. Outlandish statements and complicated explanations of tactics and players are all well and good, but when you aren’t getting the job done one the pitch it makes you look foolish.
Added to statements about the culture of Rangers and banning green boots, it all adds up to rather toxic media situation for the manager.
Perhaps he’s been too honest, too open and while that’s to his credit it simply doesn’t fly in Scottish football. He needs to be more restrained and guarded and bring a siege mentality to Ibrox.
If he does that and Rangers start winning, he’ll soon turn around perceptions.
He doesn’t know who his striker is
Between Kenny Miller, Martyn Waghorn, Alfredo Morelos and Eduardo Herrera, Rangers now have an abundance of players who can lead the line for the Light Blues. The only problem is, Pedro Caixinha doesn’t seem to trust any of them to play in the lone striker position.
All four featured in the position at various times across the two legs against Progres with none of them really shining. Kenny Miller gets pass marks but the other three looked a little lost and even Miller seemed to drift from one position to the next in a bizarre free role he is not equipped to perform in.
For us, it’s probably time to try and forge a path with two strikers in the Rangers team. As we’ve noted there’s a real lack of creativity in the Rangers midfielder despite the numbers being there, so it only makes sense to change it up and try and create a partnership.
It’s not as fashionable in football as it once was, and in many cases for good reason, but a 4-4-2 of some sort would likely go down a treat with fans and that’s who Caixinha has to prove himself to right now.
A partnership of Morelos and Herrera sounds workable in theory with the former a pacy player who likes the ball to feet and Herrera seemingly capable of bring a physical presence up front.
Is that the way forward?
Lots of individuals, not a team
At the heart of the issue for Rangers is they simply don’t look like a team right now, and frankly haven’t since he arrived even in the tail-end of last season.
For all the signings Pedro Caixinha has made, none of them look comfortable playing as part of a unit. The faults of Mark Warburton’s team were numerous but they looked like they played for each other at least, much of the time. Even Graeme Murty’s dogged outfit looked to have far more team spirit than what’s on offer right now.
Caixinha now has a month to bang his team into shape and have them work on finding the right team blend of personality, skill and desire.
The individual signings have all appeared to be positive on paper; Bruno Alves, Carlos Pena, Graham Dorrans. But can the manager make them all fit together?