How Rangers' half-time shape shift allowed inverted attacks to overcome Motherwell

The reckless tackle forced Graham Alexander’s side to dictate exchanges and set the tempo with the ball when they were primed to disrupt Rangers and pick their moments offensively. Contrastingly, it allowed Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men to play with an element of reactivity that suited the attributes of match-winners Scott Wright and Fashion Sakala.

“At half time, we changed things when we had the ball and defensively and it worked well,” van Bronckhorst told Sky Sports News post-match.

“They (Sakala and Wright) had a slightly diffident role when we went down to 10 men, they caused a lot of danger.”

immediately following Balogun’s deserved dismissal, the visitors reverted to a 4-3-2 formation; Scott Arfield, Steven Davis and Glen Kamara formed a tight midfield three and Wright dropped off the front to provide cover.

Without the ball, the recognisable compact shape which showed play outside was familiar to Rangers supporters. Steven Gerrard and Michael Beale built their team at Ibrox on this off-ball principle.

However, two main issues arose. Firstly, Callum Slattery was able to receive passes unopposed in the defensive midfield role, which resulted in Rangers not disrupting their opponent's ball progression. Notice below that Davis has been pulled out of his own defensive midfield role to close down Slattery because Sakala and Wright are stationed either side of the 'Well No.16, leaving space Connor Goldson has to step up and cover.

READ MORE: How Rangers pressed Celtic into submission with adapted April tactical blueprint

Both Wright and Sakala are easily bypassed in this example because of their team's formation. The team moved from side to side with the pace of the ball, however, Arfield and Kamara were stretched between closing down full-backs and protecting the centre in examples such as the above.

If Wright was positioned in the red circle, Goldson could retain his spot in defence James Tavernier could attend Jake Carroll on the touchline with Kamara reacting to Ross Tierney’s spot in front of the defence. Bear this detail in mind when looking at the changes van Bronckhorst did make below. 

The second issue posed by a 4-3-2 became evident when the visitors gained possession.

Sakala is at his best attacking from the left-wing, because he can run with momentum onto his favoured right foot. When receiving the ball centrally and trying to drift out to the left, the Zambian appeared ineffective.

Here, a simple, lofted pass from Davis bounces off the forward who is playing with his back to goal.

Later, as Rangers attempt to build possession around the Motherwell box, Borna Barisic looks for a bounce pass into the feet of Sakala who instead attempts to spin around the side.

See below the Croatian screams at his front two minutes later for not giving providing an option to play through the pitch.

As a front pairing, Wright and Sakala looked uncomfortable playing with their back to goal, they don't possess the individual attributes of an Alfredo Morelos or Kemar Roofe. In response to this at the interval, van Bronckhorst made a subtle, yet significant, change that enabled the duo to attack defenders in more natural suitable situations. 

READ MORE: The fateful Rangers boot up the backside that turned an Ibrox career upside down - Andy Mitchell interview

Arfield moved ahead of Davis and Kamara to marshal Slattery while Sakala and Wright moved outside, playing as wide split strikers and assisting Tavernier and Barisic defensively on either flank.

This left Rickie Lamie and Juhani Ojala, the Motherwell centre-back pairing, time on the ball which Rangers were clearly comfortable with.

Wright is out of shot in the below image, but notice Sakala and Arfield marking Motherwell’s right-back (Bevis Mugabi) and defensive midfielder (Slattery), Lamie and Ojala have possession but don't possess obvious passing options into midfield.

Crucially, when Rangers had the ball this shape change enabled Sakala to make angled, inverted runs at defenders with momentum, which lead to both goals.

To assist Wright, he picks up the ball in a deep area and, enabled by his starting position outside of Mugabi rather than inside, runs at the heart of the home defence. 

Unlike towards the end of the first 45, Wright can stride onto the ball rather than receive with his back to goal, moving outside to in like Sakala on the opposite wing. 

The exact same theme repeated itself as Sakala won a penalty Tavernier converted to secure all three points.

Given Morelos will miss the season’s remainder through injury and Roofe is sporadically availible, Sakala and Wright will have to play their part if success is to be achieved in May. Van Bronckhorst’s Fir Park formation change demonstrated how to get the best out of both individuals.