What went wrong in Rangers' 20/21 League Cup exit?

However, there was undoubted disappointment among the Ibrox faithful that it wasn’t capped off with silverware, as St. Mirren and St. Johnstone ended Steven Gerrard’s quest for domestic cup success in the Betfred Cup and Scottish Cup respectively.

In this tactical analysis piece, I delved deep into the reasons behind Rangers' exit in the Betfred League Cup.

St. Mirren 3-2 Rangers

Firstly, it’s important to set the context of this game. Rangers had just come off a relentless league and Europa League schedule, topping their European group the previous week with a 2-0 away win in Poznan.

Their trip to Paisley (December 16) was their eighth game since November 22 and it was in the midst of a frantic Christmas schedule that would encompass crucial league fixtures against Hibernian and Celtic.

READ MORE: How will Rangers fit James Tavernier and Nathan Patterson in the starting XI?

Given this, Steven Gerrard elected to rotate, leaving Steven Davis, Glen Kamara, Filip Helander and Borna Barisic on the bench, with Cedric Itten replacing the suspended Alfredo Morelos. St. Mirren, meanwhile, were largely full strength.

Rangers typically build-up in a back three, with Steven Davis, slightly in front or adjacent on the same line as the two centre-backs. With the Northern Irishman rested, Bongani Zungu assumed his responsibilities while Calvin Bassey replaced Barisic at left-back.

The most prominent change from Gerrard for this game was the use of Calvin Bassey. Both Rangers full-backs – predominantly James Tavernier and Barisic – are typically pushed high during build-up and, as noted, Steven Davis often drops in to form a three-man defence depending on the numbers in the opposition’s first line of defence. However, against St. Mirren Gerrard instructed Bassey to tuck infield while Tavernier was instructed to stay high and wide. Instead, the width on the left was held by Ryan Kent and therefore Rangers’ shape during the build-up phase resembled something like below:

Opposition defensive structure

What St. Mirren did effectively, however, was nullify the attacking threat of Tavernier on the right flank, aided by their 4-5-1 defensive shape and the roles in which certain players performed.

Brandon Mason was deployed on the left to man-mark Tavernier in all phases in order to halt the Rangers captain’s ability to facilitate play from right-back. In fact, Mason’s man-marking task on Tavernier was so extreme that it led to Connor Goldson’s opening goal, as evidenced below.

Mason should narrow inside when Goldson initially strides forward and takes out Ethan Erhahon with his run, but he is so rigid in his occupation of Tavernier that, as the Rangers right-back vacates the penalty, he creates a void in the St. Mirren backline for the centre-back to stroll into and put Rangers ahead.

Meanwhile, the role of St. Mirren’s lone striker defensively, Jon Obika, was also critical. The Buddies forward would often arc his press to block off the passing option to Goldson and therefore the right-hand side of the pitch, leaving Leon Balogun with the responsibility of bringing the ball out of the defence on his weaker side. This is illustrated in the example below, as St. Mirren nullify Rangers’ build-up play from defence.

Obika presses Balogun in possession while keeping Goldson in his cover shadow to force the Nigerian international to stride forward with the ball.

Connolly (circled) then closes in on Balogun as he dribbles forward to provide 2v1 pressure in St. Mirren’s favour. As St. Mirren are set up man-orientated defensively in midfield, Balogun is forced to go sideways to Bassey before the left-back goes backwards again to McGregor to restart the move.

Rangers’ positional attack map below shows the impact St. Mirren’s defensive structure had on Tavernier’s ability to affect the game on the right-hand side.

The knock-on effect from allowing Balogun on the ball was evident as Rangers often struggled to play through St. Mirren’s midfield line, but it also limited the effectiveness of Cedric Itten as a focal point.

Balogun is comfortable bringing the ball out of defence for Rangers but he is naturally right-footed and, as Obika’s press was forcing the defender onto his left, it was cutting off the angle to play directly into Itten. In fact, it was a misplaced pass with his left foot which sprung St. Mirren forward for their second goal on the evening, which this analysis will touch on shortly. Filip Helander’s natural left-sidedness would have allowed Rangers to progress the ball more efficiently from defence.

Rangers’ ball progression struggles were also exacerbated by the inclusion of Zungu – or rather the loss of Davis – who had come in for his first start under Gerrard. Initially, St. Mirren had elected to sit off the midfielder, predominantly to allow their midfield to play deeper and guard the space between the lines in which Ryan Kent and Kemar Roofe enjoy dropping into.

As noted, St. Mirren’s defensive shape tilted Rangers towards the left but Zungu contributed very little in allowing Rangers to circulate the ball out to the opposite side as the single pivot. The midfielder was uncomfortable receiving with his back to goal and he was hardly economical in his use of the ball during the period in which St. Mirren afforded him time and space.

In the example below the midfielder has the opportunity to sustain pressure on St. Mirren when he receives a pass from Goldson under little pressure.

However, he makes a meal of his first touch which buys the St. Mirren midfielder extra seconds to close him down and force Rangers backwards, allowing the opposition to squeeze up.

Bassey’s role

The other upside to St. Mirren’s guiding Rangers towards their left – and St. Mirren’s right hand side – was that it allowed them to quickly spring the rapid Dylan Connolly down the sides in transition.

It seems that Goodwin had anticipated Barisic to start for Rangers and Connolly would perform a similar man-orientated defensive role to Mason on the opposite flank. However, given Bassey was instructed to tuck inside to form a back three in possession it inadvertently played into St. Mirren’s hands, allowing Connolly to stay high and immediately threaten Rangers’ defensive line with his searing pace in transition.

READ MORE: Alfredo Morelos' Rangers tactical evolution analysed

Bassey endured a difficult evening against the Irishman, who was constantly looking to position himself between Balogun and Bassey to run across the left-back’s blindside. The Englishman was guilty of getting too tight to Connolly in an early warning sign in the first half, before his lax positioning when Ryan Kent turned over possession allowed Connolly to ghost in behind and cut across him to clumsily draw contact.

In the second period it was evident Bassey was instructed to be less aggressive against the winger as Rangers survived a scare when he delivered a cross that beat Allan McGregor and drifted onto the crossbar. However, it was St. Mirren’s second goal where Bassey’s involvement came under the microscope, although it was equally vindication of Goodwin’s defensive game plan.

Barisic immediately replaced Bassey after the concession of the goal, and it was little wonder Connolly’s influence waned thereafter. Partly it was a result of game state given St. Mirren were now protecting a lead but it was also the product of Barisic operating as with more attacking license, staying high during build-up and forcing Connolly back deeper into his own half.

Failing to utilise Kent/Aribo tandem

Rangers also moved to a double pivot immediately after Jamie McGrath’s second goal with the introduction of Steven Davis to play alongside Zungu in a 4-2-3-1. This build-up structure, effectively creating a box and allowing the full-backs to stay high, helped Rangers’ ball progression – again, as did the game state – in the final 35 minutes.

It was interesting, too, to note the route of Rangers’ equaliser, stemming from a quick give-and-go between Joe Aribo and Kent to win the free-kick.

There had been early signs of the partnership being capable of prising St. Mirren open down the inside left channel. In the example below Marcus Fraser (highlighted) was very aggressive against Kent when the winger drifted to the touchline, neglecting to show Kent either outside or inside into the traffic and instead stalling his progress to allow the midfield to shuffle across and gain 2v1 defensive situations against the winger.

This opened the left half space for Aribo to exploit with his direct runs – Doyle-Hayes (highlighted) shuttles across to double-up on Kent - and the pair linked nicely in the first period, albeit fleetingly, before combining to win the set piece in which Rangers equalised through Davis.

Game management

A common theme, however, through both cup exits for Rangers has been their inability to manage frantic moments. Immediately after equalising through Davis, St. Mirren gained instant territorial advantage when Tavernier miscontrolled the ball unchallenged in his own defensive third and allowed St. Mirren a throw-in.

Rangers would regain possession before Glen Kamara turned over the ball inside his own half as Rangers broke forward in search of a winner with four players ahead of the ball.

St. Mirren would eventually win the corner which led to Conor McCarthy turning the ball in, unmarked at the back post.

Summary

It was a game that Rangers were ultimately very unfortunate to come away from as the losing side.

St. Mirren had five shots (including the penalty) and scored from three of them. In fact, they did not manage a single shot from open play in the first half.

However, the decision to block the route to Tavernier and limit his ability to facilitate play from right-back paid dividends through the deployment of Mason and Obika blocking off the lateral pass to Goldson during build-up play. It was a tactic Hibernian boss Jack Ross would mimic when his side visited Ibrox on Boxing Day shortly after, using Josh Doig in a similarly advanced wing-back role to pin Tavernier deep and hinder Rangers’ chance creation.

In part two released tomorrow, The Rangers Review analyse the other cup exit from season 20/21 at the hands of St Johnstone.