Where does Rangers' Glen Kamara fit in Giovanni van Bronckhorst's masterplan?

While his signature would still command significant sums in the transfer market at present, and despite a string of excellent performances as Rangers reached the Europa League Final, the Finnish midfielder’s place in Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s team next season remains somewhat unpredictable and unknown.

Can he command a starting position at the base of midfield? Does he possess a sufficient attacking inkling to play higher up the pitch? What is his best position?

A large part of this uncertainty is in owing to van Bronckhorst’s tactical approach. which has chopped and changed regularly during his time at the club. While bringing great success in Europe, a larger sample size is required domestically to bracket his favoured system and style.

Kamara is too gifted to not be a central figure in next season’s starting 11, but having played at the top and bottom of midfield, where exactly does he fit in?

Becoming the pivot

Kamara became a regular for his country and enjoyed his finest individual season as Rangers won their 55th league title in 2020/21. “He plays an integral role in our system and is vital to our style of play,” commented Steven Gerrard when the midfielder's stay at Ibrox was prolonged last September.

Gerrard would depart for Aston Villa two months later and van Bronckhorst was appointed as his successor. The Dutchman evolved the playing style he inherited and in the short term adopted a more direct method of progressing the ball forward.

During a successful first month in charge, he favoured a wide 4-3-3 with Kamara playing as the single pivot, meaning the sole defensive midfielder, behind two attack-minded No.8s in Scott Arfield and Joe Aribo and generally in line with the slightly less aggressive full-back pairing of James Tavernier and Borna Barisic.

Why did van Bronckhorst opt for Kamara in this position early on? The 25-year-old is a press-resistant midfielder, possessing great strength on the ball, excellent close control and an ability to manipulate and manufacture space. Here’s an example from a 4-3 win against Royal Antwerp in 2021, when Gerrard was in charge.

Receiving with his back to goal centrally, the opposition try to win the ball back in a valuable area.

However, Kamara plays the situation perfectly, holding off a challenge and opening a pocket of space for Ryan Kent, before progressing the ball forwards.

He has allowed his team to move beyond the first line of pressure and build play.

Van Bronckhorst wanted the 26-year-old to fulfil a similar role in his set-up, the difference was that given the manager’s attack-minded midfield, Kamara was often required to complete this task on his own, instead of alongside Steven Davis.

At times it worked well, in situations like the example below, taken from a 2-0 win over Hearts, Rangers can afford to build directly and keep attackers high, because Kamara’s highlighted press-resistant profile enables him to receive under pressure and move the ball forwards.

With Hearts’ pressing man-for-man and no other teammate in view, an excellent first touch and shimmy allows him to evade his marker...

…and find the feet of Morelos.

Why is this important? Aribo’s goal in the same game offers a perfect answer. Given Kamara’s ability to bypass pressure on his own deep in the pitch, Rangers are able to commit an extra midfielder to their attack higher up. Meaning Aribo and Scott Arfield are in a position to run beyond the defence.

READ MORE: Glen Kamara: Rangers' press-resistant modern midfielder

The attacking pair are the most advanced players as the ball hits the back of the net, their positions facilitated by Kamara’s role at the base of midfield.

Problems occasionally arose with just one midfielder designated to progress possession, but Kamara always appeared to be more of a solution than a problem.

“If we could not find Kamara we just passed it back,” van Bronckhorst said after a 1-0 win over Dundee United in December, which was an early example of his direct style coming unstuck and lacking options domestically.

“If we don’t find Kamara, we need other players to commit themselves. Today we didn’t do it as well as before. That’s why we struggled a little bit, especially in the first half.”

The need for change

It wasn’t all plain sailing with just one defensive midfielder. Even if a 3-0 defeat at Parkhead was a structural failure, on occasion Kamara slowed the tempo and surrendered possession cheaply.

“I told him that, for me, he lost too many balls today,” van Bronckhorst said of Kamara after his side defeated St Johnstone 2-0 in December.

“That’s not really how I see him. He wants the ball, he wants to look forward, he’s not afraid when he receives the ball and gets pressured. The players are learning that and improving each game to know which moment needs which kind of play.”

Under Gerrard, Kamara had the security of another midfielder to provide cover if he lost possession, whereas under van Bronckhorst he was the last line before the defence.

As Bassey finds Kamara against St Johnstone, the red marker highlights where another midfielder would hypothetically be stationed under Gerrard.

Kamara spends too long on the ball and loses possession, now, with only one deep midfielder selected, the middle of the park is unprotected. 

We did see van Bronckhorst respond to this issue by bringing Tavernier and Barisic infield on separate occasions, in a bid to protect the centre against transitions.

This also provided a greater range of passing options given opposition teams were starting to discover that if you could stop Rangers’ only deep midfielder, Kamara, from getting on the ball, you could limit the team playing through the pitch altogether.

Ultimately, the lack of a first-choice right-winger prevented this option from being utilised more sustainably and following the defeat against Ange Postecoglou’s side in February, the double-pivot of John Lundstram and Ryan Jack was favoured.

“We needed character, I knew Ryan and John would bring that to the team,” van Bronckhorst commented following the subsequent 5-0 win over Hearts, suggesting that some of the intangibles in Kamara’s game didn't fit the requirements of the manager's adapted blueprint.

Moving up a line

Thereafter, Kamara generally played a hybrid No.8 role domestically, often dropping deep to help build play beyond the first line of pressure when teams marked man-for-man.

Before running beyond the opposition defence when Rangers were attempting to create chances higher up the pitch.

This alleviated him from the responsibility of dictating the tempo at the base of midfield and protecting the centre of the pitch on his own.

READ MORE: Inside Rangers' 'deal of the century' to sign Glen Kamara from Dundee

His goal against St Johnstone in early 2022 was indicative of his new role and his team’s increasingly direct possession.

Connor Goldson strides forward, taking responsibility for getting the ball into the final third.

Notice the gap between Goldson at centre-back and Morelos at centre-forward. It’s telling that Kamara’s instruction is to run beyond rather than collect from the centre-back, highlighted in red, as would’ve likely been the instruction under Gerrard, who favoured a more methodical pace.

The shape of the midfield three in possession below hasn’t deviated all that much from before the post-Old Firm restructure. 

The difference is that given Kamara's flexibility he can drop deep when necessary to progress possession...

...before making forward runs.

With the added structure of Lundstram or Jack alongside him.

This provided midfield flexibility that wasn’t possible when Arfield and Aribo were selected together. Given that the former doesn’t possess the skillset to play deeper in the pitch and the latter was seemingly instructed to remain high.

In Europe, Kamara was used in more of a functional role that took advantage of his strengths when playing with his back to goal. Remember that Antwerp example, when he allowed his team to play through pressure and access space?

Van Bronckhorst utilised this attribute similarly, but higher up the pitch.

Against Red Star Belgrade, he provided a crucial assist for Ryan Kent when playing with his back to goal.

And notably in a home tie with RB Leipzig, he again linked up with Kent to allow Rangers a route through pressure and into the attacking third.

Next season’s role?

It’s likely that Kamara will continue to fulfil the hybrid No.8 role domestically next season, which frees him from total responsibility at the base of midfield and encourages forward movement. Pre-season will allow extended training time to iron out issues experienced last season and improve fluency in key areas of the pitch.

In European competition, Kamara’s role at No.10, playing with his back to goal and offering routes through the opposition with his press-resistant attributes, can again help Rangers punch above their weight on the continent. In keeping with van Bronckhorst’s more direct methods, this tactic simply take place closer to goal and higher up the pitch than it did under Gerrard. 

Having only recently brushed off speculation of a move elsewhere and given he remains under contract until 2025, don't expect Kamara to depart Ibrox anytime soon. While his position has altered since the managerial change, his importance in the starting 11 could reach 20/21 levels once more after a full pre-season.