To cut the gap on Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership, Rangers must avoid history repeating itself against Ange Postecoglou’s side in this Sunday’s Old Firm encounter.
The Gers endured a nightmare opening 45 minutes in February’s 3-0 defeat at Celtic Park, with Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s approach and team selection coming under severe scrutiny.
The Ibrox side have continued to evolve tactically under the Dutchman since that chastening evening, with the introduction a three-man defensive system helping Rangers into the last eight of the Europa League against stiff opposition.
The side will need to channel the promise of their European performances this weekend, and a move to a back three could provide the key to boosting Rangers’ title charge.
Controlling the flanks
Principally, by moving to a wing-back system it will allow Rangers to have greater coverage on the flanks.
Celtic are at their most dangerous when utilising triangle combinations on the sides, with the full-back, winger and ball-near No.8 using dismarking movements to create gaps in the opposition’s defensive block.
Indeed, if we take a look at Celtic’s passing map from their recent 3-1 victory over Livingston, the emphasis on attacking down the sides is immediately evident.
Ange Postecoglou’s side often focused their attacks down the left-hand side, pulling Livingston’s defensive block apart through quick, dynamic movements.
In the example below, Livingston have matched Celtic up, 3v3, on the left.
With Greg Taylor in possession, Jota peels off to the touchline. Keen not to allow the Portuguese to receive and dribble at the Livingston defence, Livingston’s right-back (Nicky Devlin, far side) moves out to the Celtic wide man.
However, with Livingston’s two central defenders pinned centrally inside the penalty area by the movement of Celtic’s No.9 (Daizen Maeda), it opens up a gap for Celtic’s ball-near No.8 (Callum McGregor) to attack the space.
With Stephane Omeonga forced to react, Taylor slips McGregor in-behind the Livingston backline, which eventually leads to a penalty being awarded for handball from the resulting pull-back.
Livi’s man-orientated 4-4-2 defensive shape played into Celtic’s hands that afternoon, but, in a more zonal system with greater coverage of the flanks, it would allow Rangers to eliminate the gaps Celtic seek to create in their opposition’s defensive structure.
As illustrated below, by having Goldson patrolling the half-space it would allow the Englishman to check the late runs from Celtic down the inside of Jota, while also allowing Rangers to maintain 2v1 coverage against Celtic’s No.9 in the penalty area.
Were to Rangers to stick with a four-man defensive line, in contrast, it would leave Rangers light in the middle of the penalty area with one of the central defenders forced to shuttle across. In fact, to counteract this, Livingston kept both of their central defenders narrow, but it allowed Celtic to cut them open down the inside channel with great regularity.
Hibs had great success stifling Celtic’s build-up down the left-hand side in the goalless draw at Easter Road in February, quickly identifying the trigger movements used by Postecoglou's side to advance the ball down that channel.
Key for Rangers will be to avoid lapsing into a deep defensive block for long periods where there is less ground for players to track their runners.
Equally, deploying a three-man central defensive system will also allow Rangers to guard against the late, back post runs which led to Celtic’s third goal in the 3-0 defeat at Celtic Park.
If we take a look at that goal more closely, Borna Barisic is spooked by the aggressive positioning of Matt O’Riley.
As the ball finds its way to Reo Hatate on the left, the Croatian turns his head towards the movement of O’Riley on the edge of the area.
Joe Aribo is slow to get goalside of the Celtic midfielder and, when the ball swings out into the six-yard area, Barisic is caught cold by the movement across the back post by Abada.
By having greater coverage of the width of the penalty area with a five-man defensive line, it will allow Rangers to control the late, far-side runs from Celtic’s wingers.
Stopping the wide supply
What also must be highlighted is that Celtic’s high-energy wing play is facilitated by the aggression of their No.8s during build-up, who often push high in the half-spaces to pin opposition full-backs inside.
By aggressively positioning their No.8s, it allows Celtic to overload the opposition’s defensive line against a four-man defence.
This often allows Celtic’s wingers to receive with time and space to attack the opposition’s full-back in 1v1 situations, a fate which befell Rangers in the 3-0 defeat at Celtic Park.
That evening, Rangers’ wide men (Amad Diallo and Ryan Kent) were instructed to follow Celtic’s full-backs inside when they inverted.
Celtic’s ball-near No.8 (Hatate) is positioned goalside of Glen Kamara and on the toes of the Rangers defensive line, prompting Tavernier to stay narrow initially, which frees up the passing lane straight from Carl Starfelt out to Jota on the touchline.
Tavernier dealt with the 1v1 threat of Jota relatively well on the evening – while Barisic struggled against Abada on the opposite flank – but it was a pattern of play which constantly allowed Celtic to establish attacks in dangerous areas.
Moving to a wing-back system would allow Giovanni van Bronckhorst to counteract this as it would allow the full-backs to detach from the backline and deter passes into the feet of Celtic’s wingers.
The two outside central defenders, meanwhile, can control the half-spaces and therefore the third-man runs from Celtic’s midfielders. By deterring these easy outlet passes for Celtic, it will allow Rangers to sustain pressure higher up the pitch.
READ MORE: Joe Aribo's Rangers 'positional truth' that suggests Steven Gerrard got it right
The role of the outside centre-backs
With this in mind, the role of the two outside central defenders in a potential wing-back system will be critical for Rangers.
Both must be quick to plug the gaps created by Celtic’s dismarking movements down the sides, while there will be an onus on both to be aggressive dropping with Celtic’s No.8s to allow Rangers’ midfield axis to defend higher up the pitch.
Leon Balogun seems likely to start on the left-hand side of the back three, which would make sense considering he is a very proactive defender by nature.
The images below, although they develop in a transitional moment, underline the Nigerian’s front-foot defending.
With John Lundstram covering behind, Balogun can afford to engage with the Borussia Dortmund attacker to quickly recover the ball for Rangers.
The experience Rangers have garnered in a three-man defensive system in the Europa League could stand the team in good stead heading into this weekend.
Dynamic play down the flanks helped Celtic cut the Gers open when the two sides met in February, and controlling those areas of threat will be key for van Bronckhorst’s men.
A three-man defensive system doesn’t quite seem so alien for this group of players than it did under Steven Gerrard and, despite there being issues of communication in the early stages when moving to a 3-5-2 against Red Star Belgrade at home, the benefits were laid bare in a controlled 3-0 win as they quickly adjusted that evening.
A change of system could allow Rangers to lay the ghosts of February's Old Firm defeat to rest.
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