How Ryan Kent and Rabbi Matondo can still solve Rangers' right-wing problem

His side reached the knockout stages of the Europa League to kickstart the road to Seville, defeated both Edinburgh clubs away from home and won six league games of a possible six. In terms of result and performance, it was the strongest domestic run enjoyed by the Dutchman to date.

In the three games following the winter break his side took two points from a possible nine and lost their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership after a 3-0 Old Firm defeat. That result saw Celtic go top of the division and never drop off and also led to a restructuring of the formation he had initially implemented.

Van Bronckhorst had played a 4-3-3 with two high wingers stretching the play and advanced No.8s running beyond.

After the Old Firm defeat, the shape was more asymmetrical with one wide winger on the left, an inverted right-sided forward and two holding midfielders instead of one.

As Rangers look to really kick-start their domestic performance levels after the current international break, is it time to return to the duel-winger approach? And could playing Ryan Kent from the right and Rabbi Matondo from the left be the answer?

Van Bronckhorst’s decision to play with two wingers stretched defences, maximised one-v-one duels and created space between the lines during his early matches as Rangers manager.

“When you’re playing against a team that is defending really deep with five defenders I always try to play with wingers who can keep the width and pace,” he said after introducing Scott Wright against Dundee United in a 1-0 win last December.

The issue he has faced every since is quality. Wright does not provide end product on a consistent enough basis to make the position his own, Fashion Sakala looks more comfortable on the left and Matondo is yet to make an impact.

The Welsh international has predominantly started from the right flank and looked sharp in pre-season. However, in competitive football he has looked unnatural on that side/

When the 21-year-old was signed this summer, Sporting Director Ross Wilson said “We wanted to invest in a wide player this summer and we are excited with what Rabbi will bring to our group.”

Presumably Rangers identified Matondo as a player who could offer van Bronckhorst the option of playing with two wingers. Is there a possibility, therefore, of playing him on the left, where he looked more natural against St Johnstone, and moving Kent to the right?

Kent played as more of a No.10 than a winger under Steven Gerrard. Van Bronckhorst, meanwhile, has gone to the opposite extreme and utilised the ex-Liverpool man exclusively as a creative threat wide on the left touchline.

To demonstrate this, look at the 26-year-old’s successful dribbles in the 2021/22 season…

Compared to 2020/21 when he played centrally under Gerrard...

Notice a significant decrease in activity on the right-hand side last season.

The point is, the positions a right-winger would assume are not alien to Kent and under Gerrard, they were in fact relatively familiar.

Kent has not been at his best this season, far from it. There have been calls to drop him due to a lack of ruthlessness in front of goal but would a more sensible plan be to change his role? Given his strength on either foot, he could provide a natural balance and come inside on his left-hand side or hit the byline if stationed on the right. While occupying central pockets when necessary. 

In addition, it should increase the player’s goal return. When playing wide left, Kent simply does not score with anything resembling regularity. Look at his shot map from last season as evidence, when 90 percent of his minutes came from playing wide left.

He scored two goals from 66 attempts. Notice the majority are clustered on the left-hand side and either blue (resembling low xG chances that offer little chance of a goal) or grey (blocked by defenders).

This trend has continued into this season.

Kent’s best goalscoring season, 2020/21, featured a far more varied shot map given his free role in attack.

Narrowing the search down to goals alone, you can see that the attacker is more prolific from central locations when not restricted to shoot after chopping infield from the left-wing.

Playing Kent from the right may not be ideal, but if Matondo's minutes don't come from that side of the field then what is the alternative? In seven league games, Rangers have already played Wright, Malik Tillman, Arfield and Matondo from the right.

Given van Bronckhorst has rarely moved Kent from his wide left perch, perhaps such musings are more hypothetical than realistic. But after a number of slow performances domestically, a return to early ideals could provoke a positive reaction.