Why are Rangers playing so many long balls?

The next lowest total Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side recorded was 77 percent away at Hibs, when they played the final 20 minutes with just nine men. So why such a drastic drop last weekend from their 84 percent average and does it speak to wider, systemic structural issues or was it a one-off?

Truthfully, somewhere in between.

Not including crosses, 22 percent of the open play passes that Rangers attempted against Motherwell were categorised as high passes, a far greater share than the 8.5 against Livingston, 16.7 against Hibs, 12 against Celtic and 12.6 against Hearts.

Long passes that bypass the midfield can be an effective method of generating opportunities but only when supplemented with the option to also build through midfield more methodically. 

Direct distribution has been a facet of van Bronckhorst’s 11-month spell at Ibrox. And the aforementioned Hearts game is a perfect example of the tactic’s effectiveness when held up against the trip to Fir Park.

There were real similarities between the two games as shown in the below pass networks.

Remember, these graphs depict the average position a player attempts their passes from. The bigger the circle, the more involved they've been, while the colour depicts their importance in generating chances. 

Notice both the full-backs and wingers stretching the pitch, with the No.8s and Antonio Colak not all that involved in possession. 

Colak’s second goal against Hearts offers an example of how quick, direct attacks that bypass the midfield can prove effective.

John Lundstram, dropping into the defence, arrows a pass to Rabbi Matondo on the right wing. With the two side’s shapes highlighted below, Rangers have totally emptied the midfield.

Due to Hearts playing a high line and committing men forward, the accurate pass can take five players out of play and create a dangerous final third moment.

What’s more, Matondo has space to receive the ball because the opposition full-back knows if he gets too tight then a midfielder, as Scott Arfield is demonstrating on the opposite flank while being tracked by Cammy Devlin, could burst through the highlighted centre-back to full-back gap.

Leon King’s early diagonal to Ryan Kent against Motherwell created a similar situation, with the opponents man-marking in midfield. King’s pass took out the midfield and generated a dangerous moment in the attacking third.

From the other side, so did Ben Davies’ ball to Matondo.

Not only can these passes generate quick attacks if pulled off correctly, they allow a winger to attack with the luxury of space, given the opposition are not in a low block.

Why didn’t this have the same desired impact in Lanarkshire? The answer is two-fold. Firstly, Kent and Matondo had poor afternoons and having been able to generate assists from the passes received at Tynecastle, failed to maximise the potential of similar moments.

“You have to make the right decision in smaller areas, that's why you need players who can create chances in these moments,” van Bronckhorst said when speaking about his side’s style of play in midweek, perhaps making reference to his winger’s poor showing.

Secondly, the accuracy of these long passes was left lacking and the volume was too high. Against Hearts 54.5 percent of high passes and 85 percent of all passes were accurate. Against Motherwell, that number fell to 31.8 percent and 70 percent.

Simply put, Rangers were overreliant on direct passes and as a result the surprise effect was lost. Rather than taking out the opposition midfield, the tactic bypassed their own.

“The last game it was, against Hearts it was much better,” van Bronckhorst said post-match when asked about his side’s struggles to build play.

“There we controlled the game more and were much sharper in going forward, especially from the back.”

Direct distribution can be a weapon for Rangers, but only if it's an element of the side's build-up play and not their sole method of progression.