“He wants a lot of us running forward to cause mayhem because a lot of bodies are in and around that area so it’s just to cause confusion for defenders.”
Cause mayhem. In two words, the normally less than loquacious Joe Aribo has summed up his contribution to Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s Rangers team with the same level of unerring accuracy he’s brought to his recent shooting.
And it’s fitting that this unexpectedly perfect encapsulation of his role comes at a time when he appears to be at his most liberated out on the grass.
The Nigerian international has always had the technical toolkit to be a top player, that much has been obvious from the first moment he padded the Ibrox greenery.
Fleet of foot, remarkably flexible and mobile yet with the physical power of a heavyweight boxer; it’s always been a case of when Aribo would truly impose his quality on Scottish football rather than if.
Playing all over the pitch, from left-back to right-wing under Steven Gerrard, you always sensed he just needed to find a position to make his own.
This wasn’t helped as the natural free spirit, who honed his skills in cage football, tried to mould his tendencies to marry with the Gerrard vision. Rarely, if ever, has Scottish football seen a more tactically drilled central trio than the Scouser’s.
It’s why midfielders struggled over and over again to fit the system, from Bongani Zungu to John Lundstram - the sight of a new signing struggling to adopt the myriad complexities of Bealeball has long been on the verge of becoming a meme. Even the peerless Steven Davis took months to adapt after arriving from Southampton.
Aribo never looked fully comfortable within the rigid structures placed upon him and even this season, when the shackles came off to some extent, has always looked like a player with more potential than the end product might suggest.
Many would point out he’s been Rangers’ best player this season so far - but, with two goals in four games and performances to blow your socks off, he’s suddenly moved up into the gear many predicted he had, but was yet to fully demonstrate.
Since van Bronckhorst arrived, it seems clear he has seen something of the classic number 10 about Aribo.
The 46-year-old has stuck with the basic outlines of a 4-3-3 but so far his midfield has been a much more creative hub than we’ve seen in recent seasons. Against better teams like Hibs and Sparta, it’s been two holding with a 10 in front, while Livingston and Dundee have had to contend with two attack-minded players with Glen Kamara anchored to protect.
This is enabled because, while the full-backs can still go forward, they are no longer the creative fulcrum of the team. As such there is less onus on intelligently covering their forays into enemy territory.
Suddenly, an area that was extremely drilled, rigid and complex has been decluttered to the point of simplicity.
This is a significant difference from the Gerrard era, and it’s been a timely intervention. Teams had slowly but surely started to find ways to inhibit well-established patterns of play and this season’s fixtures had mostly been attritional affairs with few chances. Rangers had become, dare I say it, a touch moribund to watch.
Four games into the GVB era and the same squad are immediately posing their bewildered opponents totally different questions. Dundee, like Livingston before them, had so few answers on Saturday, you began to wonder if they'd even assessed the question. Truth be told, this was a three-goal shellacking and if six had been taken without reply it wouldn’t have been in any way flattering.
So where has this sudden improvement come from?
While there’s always a temptation to get granular, at its heart there’s a simplicity about the new manager’s philosophy.
It’s all very Dutch in its straightforwardness. Square pegs go in square holes. Wingers take on their man and hit the byline. Strikers get into the box. Attacking midfielders create from the middle. Defenders defend.
Now, don’t get me wrong, everyone enjoyed getting into the weeds of the layered complexity and careful formulation of the last regime’s blueprint.
But while Gerrard and his coaches are clearly gifted drillmasters, perhaps it was a philosophy with a shelf life.
After all, everyone needs the liberation of a little mayhem in their lives once in a while.
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