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

The question on everyone’s lips is - how do you improve on the best league campaign the club has had in over 100 years?

Well, with some difficulty. You only need to look a few hours south to Liverpool to see what can happen when a team wins such a momentous and emotionally draining title then attempts to defend it the season after. It remains to be seen how this title will impact Rangers mentally, but as far as personnel upgrades during this off-season, quality additions appear to be coming to fruition.

Coming out of last season, if there was one area of the Rangers team that most fans would quietly agree needed a small amount of replenishment and refreshment, it would be the centre of midfield. A lack of tried and trusted cover combined with all too regular injuries to Ryan Jack and Scott Arfield, whittled Rangers down to the bare bones for longer spells than they would have liked.

Cast your mind back to this time last year and the generally accepted 'big game' midfield selection would comprise of Steven Davis, Ryan Jack and Glen Kamara. All three players do their best work from deeper midfield areas and all are very similar stylistically which has its pros and cons.

They were incredibly adept at ensuring a formidable presence in possession resulting in Rangers being very hard to break down in central areas and less exposed to counterattacks, but the midfield penetration needed to break down defensive teams could be lacking.

Throughout last season this trio only started one game together, the 3-3 draw away to Benfica in the Europa League group stages. Steven Davis and Glen Kamara made 49 and 51 appearances respectively out of a possible 56, but the third midfield slot in season 20/21 was shared most often by Scott Arfield and Joe Aribo. Their role could be described better as a ’free eight’ in a move designed to add more creativity and attacking intent from the middle of the pitch.

The free eight would be akin to a hybrid of the roles Glen Kamara and Ianis Hagi currently play in the team, with this player retaining the ability to float between the central midfield and attacking areas of the pitch as they see fit.

As both Aribo and Arfield’s natural inclination is to get forward and support the attack, this has given Rangers a new dimension centrally and has resulted in some outstanding goals such as Arfield’s first in the 2-1 win against Galatasary and Joe Aribo’s virtuoso goal from the right side against Ross County in January.

It is perfectly realistic that Glen Kamara could play as regularly and to the same level as last season, provided his fantastic performances at Euro 2020 do not see him spirited away to the English Premier League before the closure of the transfer window.

But what of now 36-year-old Steven Davis? It feels like the same question has been asked ever since Davis re-joined the club in early January 2019 and he’s continued to answer them time and time again.

Whilst we can appreciate the outstanding season Davis had last time out - deservedly scooping the Scottish Football Writers Player of the Year award - sporting director Ross Wilson and manager Steven Gerrard cannot be accused of resting on their laurels when it comes to bringing in reinforcements to the middle of the park.

Nnamdi Ofoborh was recruited from Bournemouth on a free transfer to add some youthful depth to this area of the pitch and home-grown talent Stephen Kelly has marked his return from a promising loan spell at Ross County with several encouraging performances during the pre-season campaign.

With Kelly not turning 22 until April 2022, this could still be a season too early for him and another loan may benefit further with a view to a first-team squad place next summer. Unfortunately in Ofoborh's case, he will have to wait a while for his debut with Gerrard confirming that a potential issue has been found as a result of a standard ECG heart test and further tests are ongoing.

The second new addition in central midfield this year is 27-year-old John Lundstram who joins on a free transfer following the expiration of his contract at Sheffield United. Despite a mixed campaign for the Blades last year which ultimately ended in relegation, this is considered a coup for the club as Lundstram was coveted by several clubs down south and his move to Rangers has been met with great anticipation.

Lundstram joins a fairly packed central midfield with Davis, Kamara, Jack, Arfield, Aribo and Hagi all playing in the middle of the pitch with varying degrees of regularity throughout the last campaign. However, as mentioned, injuries have taken hold at times therefore adding a player with the durability and physical characteristics of Lundstram is certainly a welcome addition.

Midfield Flexibility

Steven Gerrard has hinted during pre-season that there will be further tactical tweaks and evolutions due to teams becoming more attuned to how Rangers set up.

The manager has hinted at the possibility of right-backs James Tavernier and Nathan Patterson playing together in the same team, and fans were given a sneak preview of a two-man strike force in the 4-1 Old Firm win towards the end of last season.

Therefore, it's only natural to consider that defence and attack are where any changes would take place.

As mentioned above though, throughout last season the midfield three displayed flexibility and adaptability that has not always been associated with Rangers under Gerrard. Kamara and Davis were the cornerstones of this.

This Statsbomb radar compares Kamara & Davis’ performance from last season and ranks them against 11 key metrics for a central midfielder from 0-100%. If the shape reaches 100% on a specific metric as it does on xG Build up, then that player is the best performing player in this position in the league.

As the number six or deep-lying playmaker, Steven Davis' primary role in possession is to ensure clean ball progression during Rangers attacking build-up. As you can see, Davis does an outstanding job of this, particularly when passing or running with the ball into the oppositions defensive area (deep progressions). He also contributes well to the team’s chance creation, even if he isn’t the player making the final pass or shot on goal (xGbuildup).

Davis' positional awareness and game intelligence is a key factor of his role when out of possession and allows Rangers to make use of his passing range, but also utilises aspects of his play in a more traditional defensive midfield role.

He’s not tasked with breaking from his deep position and pressing the opposition into losing the ball. Instead, he plays to his strengths and is key in anticipating danger nearer to the Rangers goal and either intercepting a pass or tackling the attacking player to regain possession.

In this example from Rangers 4-1 victory over Celtic in May, Celtic right back Jonjo Kenny managed to isolate Jack Simpson on the left touchline and force his way into the box thus creating a good quality opportunity in a 3 vs 3 situation.

As Kenny entered the box, Davis was alive to the potential for a cutback and sprints back into position at the edge of the area, perfectly positioned to pick up any loose scraps that appear.

Sure enough, Kenny pulled the ball back in anticipation of Ryan Christie having made the run into the box. He did not and was Davis who intercepted the ball and removed the danger.

Kamara is best described as a tactical chameleon, capable of playing anywhere in midfield and adapting seamlessly to any situation or tactical role. In the early seasons under Gerrard, Kamara was deployed as a number six from time to time as the deepest lying midfielder, but on more than one occasion his defensive awareness and decision making when picking passes in those key areas left a lot to be desired.

Last season, when combined with a deeper midfielder in Steven Davis and a more attacking midfielder in either Arfield or Joe Aribo, he came into his own.

Kamara’s skill set is not hugely different to that of Steven Davis, although his creative passing is something that could be improved if this was required for his tactical role. Where Kamara excels is providing a solid base for the team to attack.

Played primarily on the left side of central midfield, the graph above gives an overview of Kamara’s defensive activity in the SPFL last season and shows just how active he is in these areas. Given Gerrard’s propensity to have his wider central midfielders act as lateral cover for the onrushing full-backs, this role has been vital in ensuring Rangers are not left overexposed when opposition teams win the ball back and attempt to counter.

Kamara’s relationship with Borna Barisic and Ryan Kent make that left-sided triangle an absolute force of nature, so perfectly balanced and difficult to play against.

In the example above, Barisic played a short pass into Kamara’s feet who was occupying the area of the pitch usually reserved for Ryan Kent. Kent dragged Kenny out to the touchline to create the space for the pass into Kamara.

Kamara received the pass and drifts out wide, taking Kenny and Ryan Christie with him and leaving Kent free in a dangerous area of the pitch. On this occasion, Kamara delayed his next pass slightly and was forced back to Barisic.

However, this is a good example of the positional rotation Rangers use on the left-hand side of the pitch and details the almost telepathic understanding that Kamara, Barisic and Ryan Kent have with each other.

On several occasions last season, Kamara was utilised on the right side of central midfield with Aribo taking his place on the left. This tended to be a tactic in bigger games or if players such as James Tavernier or Kemar Roofe were unavailable on the right-hand side and Kamara’s defensive nous was required to help plug any gaps that could appear.

He is the glue that holds the team together, always available to take a pass in dangerous situations and has that innate ability to stick his leg in to intercept a pass when an opponent is counterattacking.

When Scott Arfield and Joe Aribo played in central midfield as the right-sided number eight, both players performed this role in a slightly different way depending on their natural inclination and skillset.

As a more natural attacking number 10, Joe Aribo does his best work in possession as a very proficient dribbler, capable of moments of magic in the final third. Arguably, Arfield does most of his best work out of possession, using his energy and positional sense to provide a balance on the right similar to Kamara on the left.

What separates the two is Arfield’s ability to break forward regularly and contribute goals and assist in the final third as you can see from the graph below. Scoring contribution is defined as the sum of goals and assists each player scored per 90 minutes in the league last season.

In the match against Galatasaray, we saw just how effective Arfield could be with his off-ball running and awareness from the middle of the pitch. Picking the ball up in the middle of the pitch from Morelos, Arfield funnelled it wide to Tavernier then made his run into the space vacated by Galatasary’s midfield pressure.

Tavernier drilled an aggressive pass through the lines which was dummied by Morelos and found its way into Ianis Hagi in the number ten position. Hagi took one touch to set himself and another to cushion a perfectly timed pass through to Scott Arfield, who breaks the offside trap and slots the ball home to give Rangers the lead.

There are several examples of Rangers utilising this third man run concept throughout last season with Hagi & Arfield both heavily involved. This combination of skill and positional rotation can be such a vital part of breaking teams down, especially when you have such decisive quality on the ball as Hagi does, coupled with Arfield’s ability off the ball and in the penalty area.

It’s tough to pick just one aspect of Joe Aribo’s style of play and use it to describe him as a player. His languid sock-down style is not automatically assumed to suit the Scottish leagues, yet in his two years at Rangers, he’s become a crucial part of the team.

His defensive work in the traditional sense of tracking runners and positioning himself to intercept counterattacks is not at the level you would expect it to be as a central midfielder in this league but he more than makes up for it in other ways. One of his strongest skills in key games is his ability to use his excellent close control of the ball to keep possession in tight areas and give the team a breather.

In the 5-0 win against Ross County in January, Aribo sealed the win with this sumptuous goal to make it 3-0 just before half-time. Picking the ball up in the right-hand channel from Tavernier, Aribo took it to the byline before facing up to Charlie Lakin. He slalomed past both Lakin and covering defender Connor Randal before stroking the ball into the far corner of the net. It was a wonderful finish and showcased exactly what Aribo can bring in that central midfield role against teams who will come to Ibrox content to sit deep and fight for everything.

The next evolution

Whilst all four regular central midfielders discussed had excellent seasons as a unit and individually, it could be argued that there are still two missing components in central midfield that could take the club onto the next level, particularly in Europe.

Rangers have some outstanding passers in Jack, Kamara and Davis who are excellent at retaining possession and do a better job at contributing during attacking build-up play than they are given credit for.

Firstly, if Rangers were to add a player who had a more extensive passing range, this could arm them with a vital weapon to cut through the opposition quickly and effectively. Secondly, as Ross Wilson has outlined, adding more physicality and dynamism in midfield could help to raise the team's overall level of quality in line with the sizeable step up to potential Champions League football.

22-year-old Heerenveen and Netherlands Under-21 central midfielder Joey Veerman has been linked with Rangers for several months, but as yet there is no concrete sign that any transfer is forthcoming.

Veerman is a very exciting prospect, signed for 500k in 2019 and has quietly become one of the better midfielders in the Eredivise over the last two seasons. He can best be described as a playmaker, not quite a defensive midfielder, not quite a number ten but with the ability to control games from deep and utilise his passing skills to break defensive lines. Sounds perfect as a free eight at Rangers, right?

His passing range does make him stand out against his peers, both with the variation of passes he attempts but more importantly with his ability to execute them. Veerman has that ‘vision’, the innate ability to see the picture before it has been painted that very few players have in their locker.

In last season’s Eredivisie, Veerman ranked in the top 2% of all Eredivise central midfielders on several key metrics such as Deep Progressions, xG assisted and successful dribbles.

These are all vital strengths required when playing as a free eight in Rangers midfield set up. Most people will be familiar with metrics such deep progressions and successful dribbles, but explanations have been linked to provide more detail. xG Assisted is probably the most well-known of these three and it's arguably the metric that most interest us when discussing a creative player.

You may have heard of xG Assisted being referred to as Expected Assists, they are the same thing.

As we know, a goal is nearly always scored as a result of an assist by another player and this concept is similar for expected goals. Each shot on goal is assigned a ranking (xG) and therefore this correlates with the final pass before the shot on goal. It's worth remembering that Glen Kamara received an assist for Kemar Roofe’s goal against Standard Liege despite Roofe picking up the ball, beating three men and lobbing the keeper from his own half. It's crucial to be aware of context when discussing any kind of statistic, even the most basic ones like goals and assists!

xG assisted essentially measures a player's creativity in the literal sense as it tracks how many times they pass the ball to their teammate and a shot on goal occurs. The most creative Rangers player in terms of chance creation last year was Ianis Hagi with 0.28xA per 90 minutes.

Joey Veerman accumulated 0.25xA per 90 in the Eredivise last year which would put him second in the list for Rangers last year, slotting in behind the Romanian. This means on average he creates a chance for a team-mate that results in a shot on target 50% more per game than Joe Aribo (0.16xA per 90) and 150% more than Scott Arfield (0.10xA per 90). It’s a pretty significant increase in creativity from a similar area of the pitch.

For Heerenveen, Veerman is usually deployed on the left of a midfield three, the same position as Glen Kamara currently occupies for Rangers. Veerman is not a dribbler in the mould of a Joe Aribo and you won’t see huge amounts of direct running à la Arfield, it all comes back to that passing range time and time again.

Whether it be through balls, long switches of play or passes direct into the opposition's penalty box, he has them all in his arsenal. The left-sided central midfield role allows him to showcase that passing range from deep whilst allowing for his defensive deficiencies to be covered by other players.

From watching Veerman and reading up on his style of play, his strength out of possession would be a slight worry as he’s not naturally suited to the defensive side of the game, particularly when it comes to tracking runners and sensing danger. Despite his height at 6ft 1", he’s not adept in the air and isn’t suited to defending on the ground either, but the hope is that the tactical role Rangers might give Veerman - and the midfield partners - will cover for these deficiencies and allow him to play to his strengths. He is only 22 and defensive awareness and positioning will improve as he gains more experience so it’s not a major concern at this stage.

One player who could provide a nice balance to Veerman's creative style would be John Lundstram. Physicality is another aspect that Ross Wilson has spoken about as a priority skillset to add to the squad this summer. With injury concerns around Jack and Arfield, the addition of Lundstram will add power and energy and could also solve another obvious weakness within the current midfield complement.

Despite his contractual issues and Sheffield United’s on-pitch woes last season, there are some positives to be taken from Lundstram performances. The most obvious ones would be his ability to pressurise the opposition into errors resulting in a turnover of possession. Lundstram pressured an opponent on roughly 20 occasions per 90 minutes last season which puts him in the top 25% of central midfielders in the Premier League.

Given Ianis Hagi’s style of play, it’s maybe surprising to see him feature so high on this list of top pressers at Rangers last season but his off-ball work can be very undervalued due to his lack of pace and the perception around what an old school number ten should be. With just under 15 pressures per 90 minutes for both Hagi and Arfield, it’s clear to see that Lundstram could certainly offer more energy in this area if required in a tactical sense.

Given the role Lundstram was assigned at Sheffield United in now departed Chris Wilder’s heavily structured formation it's not clear whether Lundstram will be used deeper as part of a double midfield pivot or if he will look to play as more of a traditional box to box midfielder capable of contributing in both a defensive and offensive capacity.

He performed both in his time at Sheffield United but was more commonly used on the right side of central midfield which is where he played during Rangers pre-season friendly against Arsenal last week.

In this game, it was noticeable that Lundstram was not providing defensive cover to Tavernier who was being overloaded at will by Flo Balogun and Nuno Tavares culminating in the latter scoring a terrific goal to level the game at 1-1. We can’t read too much into friendlies at this stage, but this is a key aspect of both wider central midfielders' tactical role at Rangers by looking to create that triangle with their full-back and right-sided attacker and as this was arguably one of Lundstram's main strengths at Sheffield United, this should not be an issue moving forward.

He does like to get forward and support the attack with an average of 20 passes in the attacking third per 90 minutes which puts him in the top 15% of Premier League midfielders last season.

Whilst this activity in the final third doesn’t quite result in him being a prolific creator or goalscorer from the middle of the park, Lundstram’s underlying creative numbers suggest that akin to Scott Arfield, he could certainly have an impact bursting into the box throughout the season. When you consider the differences between Rangers & Sheffield’s overall tactical approach and how much more of the ball he is likely to see with Rangers, there is certainly the potential to see an increase in his attacking output.

The Rangers midfield is a far different beast now to the one that started last season’s domestic campaign.

The addition of proven quality like Lundstram - and the potential spark of magic that Veerman could provide if signed - would certainly meet the requirements laid out by Ross Wilson as a key strategy for this transfer window.

With both capable of playing in a number of positions, Rangers now have the player quality to switch freely between a deeper midfield two as a double pivot and the standard deeper-lying midfielder paired with two number eights. It will be interesting to see how frequently this changes from game to game given the midfield numbers now at Gerrard’s disposal but one thing is for sure, the level of flexibility and quality in the middle of the park cannot be understated.

If nothing else, it makes the process of just picking a midfield three for each game a pleasant but incredibly difficult prospect for Steven Gerrard.

These are nice problems to have.