How James Sands' 'very clever' defending propped up positive PSV possession

Last week, he was tasked with defending man-for-man in a high line as his side combatted the transitional threat of Union Saint-Gilloise.

When PSV turned up at Ibrox a week on, Giovanni van Bronckhorst opted for a more measured approach.

“Obviously you want to start well, but you’re playing against a good team, it’s not like every game we can dictate and do what we want,” the manager said post-match.

“You have to pick your moments when you feel like they can be attacked. Those are the moments you have to be sure you’ll score goals. In the moments that are difficult, you have to be compact and make sure they’re not going to score against you. That’s European football.”

Rather than press high and force the issue, his side looked to open up the visitors in possession. It’s been customary to see the Ibrox side opt for a man-orientated defensive approach in recent months, stopping the opposition from having a free man on the ball and sitting high up the pitch.

Rangers allowed Union only 3.7 passes per defensive action, and that number rose to 11.15 against PSV. Showing the hosts were far more intentional in choosing when and where to press.

Against Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side, Connor Goldson and Sands both remained in the backline to deal with the physical threat of Luuk de Jong. In the main, it was Sands that PSV tried to isolate de Jong up against, aiming to use the forward’s superior height and physicality as an avenue through the defence.

On occasions, this worked. In this example just after half-time, de Jong beats Sands in the air and plays in Ismael Saibari, who evades Goldson and Borna Barisic, before firing just past the post.

But those moments of exposure were few and far between, generally the American held his ground.

“He’s a very clever player, his football intelligence is there,” van Bronckhorst told the Rangers Review post-match.

“He’s very smart when defending. He knows when to duel and when not to. It’s not easy to play against a striker like de Jong, with his height and physicality. I’m really happy with him.”

If we look at Sands' defensive actions map, the height of his involvement stands out. More often than not he was proactive in his duels while choosing to hold his ground in the right moments.

In this example after James Tavernier gets wrong-sided by Cody Gakpo, Sands picks his moment to cut out the attack as the last line of defence.

In this example, the 22-year-old gets tight to de Jong as PSV try to break forward, before making a tackle.

Later in the game, the defender is similarly quick to steal ahead of his marker and prevent a dangerous turnover from progressing forwards.

The below is a good example of van Bronckhorst’s ‘knows when to duel’ judgment. That might sound strange on the surface, but if Sands presses de Jong aggressively in this situation, the defence could become exposed.

Instead, he adjusts his positioning to counter the threat of Joey Veerman’s run and intercepts following de Jong’s backheel.

And below, with Goldson having been pulled into the midfield and de Jong attacking the space behind, Sands quickly adjusts his positioning to compensate.

In possession, the US international's quality has never been in doubt since arriving last January. He is not hugely progressive and that has limited his time at the base of midfield, but in a game such as Tuesday, his ability to circulate the ball and create in the first phase of possession was vital.

91 of 95 passes found their target and although distribution was often side-to-side, Sands was facilitating ball progression down either flank while retaining Rangers’ balance all the time.

It’s perhaps no coincidence that along with last weekend’s visit of Union, when Sands also played at centre-back, Tuesday’s game saw the highest pass completion rate at Ibrox under van Bronckhorst, 84 percent.

Ben Davies is likely to be Goldson's first-choice partner this season, but Sands' showing on Tuesday demonstrated the intelligent defending and dependable distribution he brings to the table.