Steven Davis, rest-defence and Rangers - how his anticipation and positional intelligence protects Rangers high up the park

Words spoken by Steven Gerrard upon the Ibrox return of Steven Davis in 2019.

Originally arriving on a six-month loan deal from Premiership outfit Southampton, perhaps even Davis himself would not have envisioned playing such a significant role at the club two-and-a-half years into his second spell in Glasgow.

In the season that Rangers secured a historic 55th league title, he was outstanding. The 36-year-old was a fundamental part of the side's success offensively and defensively in their unbeaten campaign.

However, without a trusted understudy he was also irreplaceable in most starting 11s. Bongani Zungu was brought in on loan as a backup but never convinced. Ryan Jack’s persistent injury troubles meant Gerrard could not field the ‘Jackamara’ double-pivot he had during the opening months of 2020/21, comprising of Jack and Glen Kamara, to rest Davis later in the campaign.

READ MORE: Rangers' midfield evolution, the 'free eight' position and why links with Joey Veerman spark excitement

When he did start on the bench, Rangers tended to struggle. From December onwards he missed out on the starting 11 twice, in a stuffy 1-1 draw with Hamilton and the disappointing 3-2 Betfred Cup defeat against St Mirren.

Such dependence resulted in him making a quite remarkable 59 appearances last season for club and country, 4742 minutes of football.

And while it would be naïve to suggest the Northern Irishman won’t be able to match those numbers this season, it would be even more so to presume that a succession plan of sorts is not in place.

But what is it about Davis that makes his absence so keenly felt? 

What is Davis’ offensive role?

Davis is fundamental to the way Rangers build up, whether that be by playing through a press or breaking down a team.

When opponents sit off the Rangers backline and allow them to bring the ball forward, the 36-year-old will often rotate with Kamara into the defence or space normally occupied by a full-back to gain possession in an area where they can progress the ball forwards.

The shape Gerrard deploys in domestic competition normally features a double pivot at the base of midfield. This allows the third midfielder, Joe Aribo or Ianis Hagi, to push high along with both full-backs. Davis and Kamara protect space centrally, and any which is vacated by either full-back when Rangers are in possession.

Here is an average positions map from the 2-1 home win over Hibs last season. Davis wears number 10 and Kamara 18.

Against teams who press the Ibrox side high, whether that be in Old Firm games or in Europe, Rangers will often build up more frequently using their full-backs, whether that be through Davis or Kamara bouncing the ball out towards them or by receiving directly from the centre-backs.

Sometimes that means Davis is tasked with creating space by pulling markers away from passing lanes and acting as a decoy, at other points he has to receive the ball under pressure and try to play through the opposition press.

The Northern Irishman is the conductor of this team. It’s no surprise that since he moved back to Ibrox, his side has fared much better against the low block they come up against week in week out domestically.

“[To] try to link the defence and the midfield and start the attacks for the team,” was the way Davis described his deep midfield role to Sky Sports last season.

“It is just getting those initial passes off in tight areas and trying to break the lines then play through the pitch.”

“Playing through the pitch” is the key attribute he brings when on the ball. In Gerrard’s first season, the player at the base of midfield was often more of a ‘destroyer’ than ‘dictator’. Whether that be Ross McCrorie, Ryan Jack or Lassana Coulibaly.

Having a player with his ability as the No.6 has been one of the most important developments in this team’s evolution.

Here is a comparison of Jack, Coulibaly and McCrorie’s offensive passing numbers from 18/19 compared to Davis’ last season, all from domestic competition. As seen, he passes the ball forwards and into the final third more often than his predecessors. 

He is excellent at deciding when to slow the tempo down and retain possession and when to be incisive in Europe.

Rangers were impressive in their first season on the continent under Gerrard, but became far better with the ball when Davis featured as the six from season 19/20 onwards. In possession, they were particularly impressive against Porto at home and away.

That trend continued last season where again, Rangers went toe-to-toe with a top Portuguese outfit, this time Benfica. The inch-perfect lofted ball to Ryan Kent that led to Nicolas Otamendi’s red card in a 3-3 draw is an example of the quality Davis brings against high-level opposition.

His talent on the ball was summated by current PSG boss Mauricio Pochettino, who managed Davis at Southampton: "The talent of him I compare to football people like Xavi and [Andreas] Iniesta.

"You put him in the same level as this type of player because of this capacity to play football, be a playmaker, the intelligence to read the game, his capacity to run. I think to compare Christian Eriksen to this type of player too, they make your team better.”

That’s no slight compliment from one of the world’s most sought after managers who has worked with midfielders such as Marco Verratti, Philippe Coutinho and Eriksen.

The below goal was used to exemplify the benefit of having two ‘finishers’ in Rangers’ front line, compared to previous seasons, in our piece on the evolution of Alfredo Morelos.

Morelos drops deep, Alex Iacovitti who is marking him decides to drop with his man but in doing so leaves space for Rangers to exploit. Davis receives the ball from the Colombian and makes an incisive pass through the lines for Tavernier to assist Kemar Roofe.

“[I’m] trying to bounce it off somebody to create a bit of space and disrupt their backline,” explains the 36-year-old when commenting on the goal.

“Morelos has came off, the player’s came with him [and] that’s left the gap in behind. Tav’s running [and] there is an area for me to try and slide the ball in.

“Coming up against teams who play low blocks you have to try and find those gaps and move them and disrupt their backline.”

That last line sums up why Rangers are now so efficient at breaking down teams in the SPFL.

With Davis as the deepest midfield player and possessing such excellent technical attributes, he is able to exploit these gaps in the defence which are created through intelligent movement and often last just seconds. 

Davis is always thinking forward, which means when a rare gap in a compact defence rears its head he is on hand to exploit it.

What is Davis' defensive role?

“I didn’t really have good memories of him because he was always a pest to play against.”

"The talent of him I compare to football people like Xavi and Iniesta." 🤩

Mauricio Pochettino, Steven Gerrard and Virgil van Dijk are among those who have paid tribute to Steven Davis as the midfielder prepares to become Northern Ireland's most capped player. 👏

— Sky Sports (@SkySports) October 8, 2020

Further praise, this time from Gerrard, reflecting on the times he played against Davis during his Premiership career.

One of the midfielder’s most underrated traits last season was the manner in which he helped maintain Rangers’ high line through ball recoveries and positioning. Or, to recycle Pochettino’s compliment, his “intelligence to read the game”.

We all know how good the champion's defence was last season. They conceded a mere 13 goals in the league, a record-breaking total. Davis played a big part in this, allowing Rangers to maintain pressure on teams and by stopping counterattacks before they'd started. 

In domestic competition last campaign, almost half of the 11.39 recoveries he made per game on average were in the opposition half, preventing opposition teams from carrying the ball up the park and therefore maintaining his side's offensive pressure.

Further, Davis averaged 5.5 interceptions a game in Scottish football last season. A few matches stand out for the number of times he regained the ball.

Against Livingston in March, when Rangers all but secured the title, he made 17 recoveries and eight interceptions. In a 2-1 victory at Pittodrie last January 16 recoveries and 10 interceptions. In the 1-0 Old Firm victory last new year, 16 recoveries and nine interceptions. He made 15 recoveries in five other matches.

Rest defence is a concept that refers to the structure of a team when they’re in possession. In basic terms, it’s making sure that when a team loses the ball they’re well placed to either counterpress and win possession back quickly, or retreat into a shape that protects against the threat of opposition counterattacks. Even when a team are attacking, they’re positioned to defend and prolong their period of pressure.

Crucially, this allows the attacking team to maintain pressure when they win the ball and not give the opposition an opportunity to relieve it. 

Here is one example of how Davis’ positioning helps his team to maintain pressure.

A cross from Ryan Kent is cleared into a central area. Two Ross County players attempt to recover the ball and counter, but they are unable to beat Davis to the ball who anticipated a loose ball.

He recovers possession and lays the ball off to James Tavernier.

Crucially, he then covers the space vacated by Tavernier to protect the threat of Ross County countering down the right side, ready to repeat the covering role he has just fulfilled.

As mentioned above, focusing on defensive shape even when trying to break a team down allows Rangers to recover and recycle possession and not give their opposition a chance to relieve pressure. The rest of the Rangers midfield, see Kamara bottom left, shift across to protect the centre.

Here is another example. A cross is cleared by Livingston defender Jack Fitzwater, in this first frame the ball is invisible due to yellow seats, but the defender has not yet made contact.

Davis has already anticipated the clearance however and gets a head start on Craig Sibbald who is flat-footed and watching the ball. 

He is able to recover possession and start another attack for Rangers by recycling the ball back to Connor Goldson. Again, restricting the opposition from attacking while also maintaining Rangers' pressure as they seek to break down a defence.

When not on set-pieces himself, Rangers' No.10 also fulfils a similar role when his side have a corner. His game intelligence means he always seems a step ahead of opposing midfielders.

Despite racing Alan Campbell for the ball here, a player who at 23 would be expected to win in a foot race, his anticipation allows him to recover possession.

How will Rangers line up when Davis is rested this season?

Steven Davis’ contribution to Rangers last season was huge, reflected by his Scottish Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year award.

With the ball he is a high-level technician, as alluded to by Pochettino, and as shown his anticipation and positioning allows Rangers to win the ball back quickly and maintain pressure on their opponents. As Gerrard suggested, he's a "pest" to play against.

The Ibrox side is currently pretty bloated in terms of midfield numbers with Ryan Jack, Steven Davis, John Lundstram, Glen Kamara, Nathan Oforbah, Scott Arfield, Joe Aribo and Stephen Kelly all on the books. Of that group, Davis, Kamara, Jack and Kelly are natural deep-lying midfielders.

If Jack has recovered over the summer from the injury set-backs that hampered him last season and Kelly does not go out on loan, this should offer Rangers the cover they did not have at the end of last season.

Jack has improved considerably as a footballer since Gerrard’s first season.

Last campaign, in an admittedly smaller sample size of 1287 minutes, he averaged 15.52 passes to the final third and 32 forward passes per game. True, this did feature a few games where he was on the right of a three in midfield, but this shows a considerable rise in his intention to play forward and through.

READ MORE: 'Own the ball, own the pitch': Michael Beale's Rangers tactical philosophy explained

Kelly is clearly thought of extremely highly by the Rangers hierarchy.

He has enjoyed successful loan spells at Ayr United and Ross County in the Championship and Premiership respectively over the past two seasons. 

There was plenty of hype over the 21-year-old during Gerrard’s first pre-season when he was awarded a new three-year contract. He’s signed a new deal since then, which runs until 2023.

His pre-season has featured impressive moments, certainly enough to prove he is of the standard required. Given Davis is undoubtedly first-choice in his position, it seems to make sense to keep Kelly at the club this season to provide cover.

Davis will undoubtedly play a high number of games for Rangers again this season.

Players of his quality aren’t cheap and as shown, he is still performing at an extremely high level.

The return of Jack and emergence with Kelly should make Rangers less dependent on Davis however, particularly with a view towards next season when he is out of contract.