WHY do Rangers play their best football on the European stage?

It’s a conversation that’s dominated supporter conversation once again in recent weeks. Following a remarkable 4-2 win over Borussia Dortmund points were dropped at Tannadice and after last week’s progression to the last eight in Europe it took a Connor Goldson equaliser to avoid dropped points at bottom-placed Dundee.

Is it as simple as saying this squad is better when playing against the ball rather than with it? Do key performers prefer to attack space rather than opponents? Is it something to do with the reduced expectation when starting as the underdog?

This isn’t a new discussion.

Cast your minds back to the two-legged 2019 victory over Braga; followed closely by defeats against Hamilton and Hearts. Giovanni van Bronckhorst has inherited rather than built a squad, both personnel and performance-wise he is working with the spine of a team created and curated by Steven Gerrard over a three-year period.

To this point, the Dutchman has managed to imprint his own stamp on the team’s style and performance. As a manager he is more reactionary to the opposition and has regularly helped change the course of games by altering system, unlike Gerrard who rarely strayed from his formation and favoured introducing variation through individualism.

Familiar problems have arisen under both regimes this season; defensive errors, a lower tempo domestically compared to on the continent and not enough goals.

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One of the reasons for this season’s underperformance is surely rooted in squad cycle issues. It’s no secret in modern football that given the intensity of schedule and dogmatic approaches utilised by the modern-day manager, a three-to-four year rotation is needed on the pitch or in the dugout.

And while this has likely fed into the league form this season, it’s a Gerrard principle that perhaps answers the overarching question regarding this side's Jekyll and Hyde repetition.

When asked by Match of the Day’s Gary Lineker to summarise his footballing philosophy early in his Aston Villa tenure, Gerrard said: “I’ve been lucky and blessed enough to play at a decent level throughout my career with a lot of top managers. I’ve tried to absorb, learn and grow and take on the real, strong information that I’ve learned myself, i.e. your distances and your shape and how you want the team to look out of possession.”

There’s two key areas to address here. Firstly, Gerrard references his team's style out of possession rather than in possession. The defining feature of his tactical set-up at Ibrox was the 4-3-3 mid-block's compact nature which led to a record-breaking defensive campaign in 2020/21 and notable results in Europe. Judging by his answer it appears that for Gerrard, everything his team does is based on their off-ball work. 

Secondly, Gerrard cites the managers he has worked under as the fount of his managerial knowledge, and this is key. He played in a Liverpool team that was generally punching upwards, fighting with rivals who could out-spend them in Chelsea and Manchester United. Under Rafa Benitez in particular, Liverpool had to focus firstly on their out of possession work to provide a platform with the ball. Their 2005 Champions League triumph being a perfect example. 

The way he views football as a manager is shaped by his experience as a player. At Ibrox he regularly discussed the vitality of team shape, distances and 'moving with the speed of the ball' when defending in Europe. Anyone who watched his Rangers team will have recognised the Benitez-like principles that conditioned his approach. 

The situation Gerrard inherited at Ibrox had similarities to his playing days in regards to punching upwards. Rangers needed the revenue from European qualification to build their squad and had significant ground to make up domestically. By firstly being hard to beat they progress through the knock-out rounds of the Europa League and provide the revenue required for domestic success.

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What he and Michael Beale achieved in Europe, starting with a weaker and smaller squad than the current contingent, doesn't garner the respect it deserves. Working against a huge budget deficiency their team had to be perfectly drilled and designed to earn the results they did.

In terms of individuals, it’s no secret that Alfredo Morelos finds an extra yard or two when the Europa League anthem has welcomed him to the pitch, and while Ryan Kent’s performance over two legs against Borussia Dortmund showed in no uncertain terms just how good he is, his domestic numbers are often used as a stick to beat him with. He plays his best football in space, whether that be isolated against defenders or in transition, and as such often finds his best moments in Europe.

Additionally, the new management has lost the goal contributions of Kemar Roofe and Ianis Hagi since their arrival, who both made a big difference in 2020/21. The 55-winning side overcame the previously-experienced low-block issues by including Roofe or Hagi to the right of the front three, without them the team lacks a goal threat domestically. 

The team that started in one of the club’s most famous ever victories, a 4-2 win over Dortmund, included a starting 11 signed by Gerrard and only two players, Calvin Bassey and John Lundstram, who had arrived at the club after the summer of 2019.

This team very much remains a squad built in Gerrard's image and the occasional lack of tempo or dominance seen in domestic football compared to European nights owes to this fact.

As this summer presents an opportunity to refresh and recalibrate the squad, Rangers are in significantly better shape than 2018, largely thanks to the work of Gerrard. The next team will be built from a stronger position which should offer evolution beyond the Thursday to Sunday drop off.