Rangers' goal cluster debacles have Giovanni van Bronckhorst on the brink - Jonny McFarlane

How could a Rangers team that competed with such intensity and organisation in the first half come out for the second looking so meek, easy to contain and tactically confused?

Liverpool ran rampant, cutting a bright red swathe through the open spaces of the Rangers midfield as Giovanni van Bronckhorst's men fell into a sudden collective torpor. It was as if their batteries had suddenly run out.

The only wattage that seemed to remain steady through Ibrox was the floodlights and their intense glow only served to throw starker illumination on the physical frailties of the men in light blue. While Jurgen Klopp's men were mesmeric in their thrusting forays, Rangers retreated into their shell, ultimately causing the worst European defeat in the club's history.

Amid the debris of a shocking half of football, it's impossible to pick out positives, but perhaps we can see some semblance of a narrative throughline for why it happened.

The departure of Connor Goldson through injury towards the end of the first half with a thigh injury was an obvious contributor. The Englishman had not enjoyed a good start to the season but since the international break, he's looked refreshed and confident alongside summer signing Ben Davies. His loss, should it prove to be anything more than minimal, will be dramatically felt given his role as chief organiser of the defence. The Englishman has his critics but that second half is a peek into a Goldson-free future that will surely prompt reflection in even his sternest critic.

Another injury, this time to Ryan Jack in the 60th minute, also didn't help. The combative midfielder was replaced by Steven Davis and suddenly Rangers struggled to replicate the direct approach that brought them so much joy earlier in the game. Liverpool thrive on robbing the ball in dangerous areas and playing through their press requires a level of skill no team in Scotland could hope to possess on their books.

All this doesn't ignore the obvious - Liverpool have class in depth and the ability to hurt any team, let alone one operating in the Scottish Premiership's financial backwater. Their ability to bring on one of the world's best players in Mo Salah is an indicator of the strength that has seen them reach three Champions League finals in five years. In six minutes he claimed the fastest hat trick in Champions League history. He's good, very good but it was far too easy. The Egyptian danced through the reconstructed Rangers backline without looking like he might break a sweat.

Rangers Review (Image: Rangers Review)

While these three factors begin to make sense of a defeat, even a heavy one, the schizophrenic nature of Rangers' performance can't just be washed away as an anomaly.

This is the fourth time this season they have been hit with a cluster of goals in periods that have prompted near-total collapse.

No Rangers manager can rest easy when his team have been thrashed 7-1, but especially when the memories of a 4-0 capitulation in Amsterdam and, even more damagingly, at Parkhead linger fresh in the memory. And like Liverpool, both these games were decided when a cluster of goals went in during a single half. Even the home match with Napoli, while a very different performance that was affected by a red card, saw three goals conceded in the final 22 minutes. While Rangers were always going to find it difficult to compete in such a tough Champions League group, the results have washed away the sheen of European success that remained from a stunning four-year period of sustained growth and improvement in the Europa League.

The manager is a pragmatist who doesn't adopt a clear philosophy from game to game, instead looking to adapt and change to circumstance. While this was workable last season when he took over Steven Gerrard's well-oiled machine and made a couple of key tweaks, there are growing doubts over the sustainability of this approach against a creative, well-drilled Celtic side who are built to destroy low SPFL blocks. Because while European humiliation is painful to cope with, it's the domestic situation that will define van Bronckhorst.

Make no mistake, he's now in a very dangerous position. There are many within the Rangers support who have seen enough to have decided the Dutchman is not capable of moving the team forward. He remains two points behind in the title race. On Saturday, Celtic have the chance to make it five and turn the heat up at Fir Park on Sunday. Defeat, or even a draw is unthinkable.

When you get to the brink, it's almost impossible to yield to the momentum. Van Bronckhorst must do something very special indeed to survive it now.

This piece is an extract from today’s Rangers Insider newsletter, which is emailed out at 4pm every weekday with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from the Rangers Review team.

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