WHEN Allan McGregor was beaten all too easily by Jordan Roberts during Motherwell’s 2-2 draw at Ibrox earlier this month, all attention turned to the 40-year-old’s lack of aggressive positioning.
The No.1 had made a number of errors in previous weeks and criticism was warranted. However, when asked post-match about the form of his goalkeeper, Giovanni van Bronckhorst instead referenced a misplaced pass played by John Lundstram that led to the chance.
“We didn’t do well tactically,” he said. “We passed to players we never pass to when we build in this way.”
But why? Surely the above pass is relatively conventional, it’s not a cardinal sin like playing across the face of goal, or selling the goalkeeper short. Why does the manager not want Rangers to get the ball up the pitch in this manner?
The answer is two-fold. Firstly, the centre-back to full-back pass isn’t progressive, it doesn’t move the team closer to goal and as seen repeatedly under the Dutchman, direct routes into the final third are favoured.
Additionally, the sequence offers the opposition a perfect opportunity to try and press. Using the touchline as an extra defender if they can win the ball back with the defence stationed to attack, rather than bunkered-in to defend, goals like Roberts’ at Ibrox can follow.
Given a full-back is normally playing on his favoured side (a left-footer at left-back and vice versa) there is an opportunity to steal the ball while the defender attempts to allow possession to run across his body.
This played out against Motherwell. Kaiyne Woolery manages to steal the ball while Bassey waits for it to reach his favoured left-hand side; given he’s uncomfortable taking the initial touch on his right and driving inside the pitch. With the home side positioned to attack they’re cut through too easily and concede a soft goal.
As discussed previously, when Rangers only play with one deep midfielder and their full-backs don’t come inside the pitch they can struggle to build play effectively. This was evident on Sunday at Dens Park in the first half when poor pitch positions made the visitors too easy to press before a change of shape.
READ MORE: How Rangers can accommodate Kemar Roofe's 'penalty box proficiency' in misfiring 4-3-3
Take a look at the passes Bassey played to Ryan Kent before the interval, yellow indicates failure and red success.
Notice they’re straight, there’s no angle, no space to overlap or staggering of positions; making the job of the Dundee defence easier.
In both frames below you can see as the ball travels to Kent he has an opponent racing to pressurise him, ensuring he picks up the ball with his back to goal and is only able to turn in one direction. It’s a completely different prospect to getting on the ball with a yard or two to run at the opposition defence.
In fact, the great modern full-back Dani Alves is quoted as saying the following: “Pep Guardiola hates the full-back to winger pass because it doesn’t offer progression.”
After the interval, Tavernier’s increased attacking freedom resulted in Bassey playing more centrally, which offered two advantages. Firstly, it improved the angle of passes into Kent’s feet, compare the second-half passes played from the left-back to left-winger to his output in the opening 45.
Bassey’s positioning dragged an opponent into the middle, freeing up space on the wing, while also providing the necessary space for the Nigerian to overlap which in the below example below buys Kent room to run forward.
Tavernier’s underlaps proved decisive and as shown by the pass maps and screengrabs, Bassey’s link-up play with Kent was more successful after the break.
You can see the difference in the below first and second-half pass networks. The larger circles indicate more passes along the back four with the visitors unable to play through before the interval; after the break Tavernier is higher, Bassey is playing more narrow and the connecting line to the players ahead of them is stronger.
A 3-3 draw against Ross County earlier this year is remembered only for the concession of a late equaliser, but behind at the break on that occasion van Bronckhorst’s similar half-time alteration changed the tie. The first-half and second-half pass maps demonstrate this.
With Borna Barisic moving inside the pitch, Tavernier making underlaps and Amad isolated on the right-wing, the Ibrox side were able to play through opposition pressure with better passing angles and pitch positions.
The equaliser just after half-time offers a good example. Barisic forms a back three which stretches the first line of opposition pressure, see Jordan White can't get across to close down Connor Goldson's pass.
Goldson is about to play his pass out wide to the isolated Amad in this frame, but notice that's only possible because Tavernier has rotated inside and opened the passing lane, instead of remaining in a flat back four.
By receiving an angled pass with a yard of space, as opposed to a straight pass with a man on his back, Amad is able to beat his man and take a shot before Tavernier converts from his high position.
READ MORE: How Rangers downed Dundee with James Tavernier's untraceable underlap and half-time tinkering
It should be noted that van Bronckhorst has settled on a system recently that has improved worked consistently. The asymmetrical 4-2-3-1 creates numerical overloads to build play down the right before switches of play over to the left allow Kent to attack an isolated full-back, see an example from the Scottish Cup trip to Dundee a week ago.
However, Sunday demonstrated that if full-backs are pressurised and the defence is flat this system has deficiencies.
The role of the full-backs has of course changed since Steven Gerrard departed for Aston Villa. A look at Bassey and Tavernier’s touch maps under the old and new regime shows the former is spending less time in the opposition half, largely owing to his spell at centre-back, while the latter has retained his attacking influence and increased his underlaps.
As a general rule of thumb when Tavernier and Bassey play to either side of a flat back four, Rangers' 4-3-3 looks predictable and stale. And while the 4-2-3-1 has worked well with a two-man midfield, it does at times look better suited to European football than domestic football.
The role of the full-backs has changed but Rangers' attacking fluency is still dependent on their positioning. Brining Tavernier and Bassey infield, in their highlighted respective roles, could prove fundamental to title success.
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