Do Rangers need to reconfigure their attack to suit Antonio Colak?

“[Antonio] Colak, for me, was a waste of time,” he told BBC Sportsound. “If Morelos is playing there, the ball goes into him. Colak didn’t demand the ball.”

In some eyes, it was a needless individual attack amid a collective failure, but its sentiment cuts to the heart of a familiar attitude among football fandom. Doing nothing is far less tolerable than doing things wrong. Endeavour, more than anything else, goes a long way to winning over the hearts and minds of supporters.

At surface level, Colak’s involvement in his first two competitive appearances for Rangers has been minimal. The Croatian received just eight passes in defeat to Union in midweek, following on from the two receptions that he recorded in the league opener at Livingston.

It came to a head on the pitch in Belgium as Rangers chased a goal in the dying embers of the game. As Connor Goldson strode forward from defence, he signals for Colak to drop off the forward line.

However, the Croatian doesn’t read the defender’s intention, failing to gain separation from his marker in time for Goldson to distribute the ball.

The Englishman is then caught in possession on the halfway line, allowing Union to race through on goal for the chance to add their third of the evening.

The sequence was symptomatic of the disconnect between the forward line and the rest of the team in midweek, but it also underlined the contrast in playing styles between Colak and Alfredo Morelos.

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The Colombian has developed into a multi-purpose forward throughout his five years at Ibrox, maintaining a consistent goalscoring streak while also being capable of facilitating attacks with his ability to take the ball in, spread play in different directions, and create space for others.

Morelos is not a stationary central striker and tends to drift into specific areas to help Rangers overload their opponents. The Colombian’s receptions map from his two appearances at Ibrox in the Europa League knockout rounds last season – against Borussia Dortmund and Red Star Belgrade – paints an accurate picture of his role under van Bronckhorst in Europe.

Given Rangers have a tendency to build down the right-hand side through James Tavernier, with Ryan Kent primed on the opposite flank to exploit the space, Morelos is used a focal point to help progress the ball into the attacking third of the pitch.

The early evidence of Colak couldn’t paint a starker picture in comparison to the Colombian. Indeed, this writer noted the Croatian’s reluctance to drop short in search of the ball in the Rangers Review’s scouting report of Colak prior to his arrival at Ibrox:

“He is not a striker who typically drops short in search of the ball, preferring instead to run off defenders into the open space.”

Even when Colak announced himself to the Ibrox faithful with a brace to send Rangers packing in Champions League qualifying last season, he done so playing as a part of a front two, as highlighted in Malmo’s pass map from that evening.

It was his strike partner, Veljko Birmancevic, who turned provider for the Croatian’s opener at Ibrox with a slide rule pass.

READ MORE: The alarming Rangers passing connections responsible for Union Euro horror show

And it is from those areas between the opposition’s midfield and defensives lines where Rangers have lacked a presence in Colak’s first two competitive outings.

Van Bronckhorst’s side were undermined by an inability to connect with the forward line in Belgium and, with Colak reluctant to drop off the forward line and offer a link pass, Rangers struggled without a between-the-lines presence to compensate.

With six players behind the ball at any given moment, it left a void in a crucial area of the pitch to help service Colak.

It raises the question as to whether van Bronckhorst must reconfigure his team in order to accentuate the strengths of the Croatian’s game.

And yet the Dutchman will wonder whether Colak’s performances warrants such radical change in other areas of the pitch. Van Bronckhorst is confident Morelos will be available for the return leg at Ibrox next week and the Colombian, as evidenced last season, provides a better immediate fit in van Bronckhorst’s European blueprint.

The unfortunate reality is that Colak wasn’t signed to lead the line in European fixtures. The Croatian was signed as an alternative to Morelos in stuffy domestic fixtures where Rangers require a predatory forward to provide the difference inside the penalty area.

However, van Bronckhorst was aware of the timescale involving both Morelos and Kemar Roofe’s injury, and the Dutchman ought to be adapting his team accordingly given the significance of these Champions League qualifying ties.

Colak is a square peg in a round hole in his current form and, although Morelos is approaching a return to action, van Bronckhorst must find a solution to the awkward fit.