Well then, where do we start with the shambles that unfolded yesterday and what does it mean in relation to our expectations this season? There is a hell of a lot in that sentence and to be completely transparent I don’t think we should be deciding our season on one game, however it was pretty dire and whilst one game isn’t going to define the season too many more like that certainly will.
I’m going to start with the players on the pitch as they provide the end product we, as fans, judge the team on. Before anyone gets too worried that I’m missing the main issue we will also examine the tactics and formation as well.
Rangers starting line-up and bench
In defence there were no real surprises on team selection with Butland making a steady, if not spectacular debut. He did what he needed to do and other than not saving the shot from Bradley Lyons, he did well enough to earn himself pass marks.
Butland was one of few who earned pass marks on competitive debut
As expected the defenders were Goldson and Souttar, flanked by Tavernier and Barasic. Here is where things went down hill pretty quickly. Goldson and Souttar were OK for large swathes of the game but Barasic and Tavernier were poor. In a system where there is a lack of natural width we really need our fullbacks pushing forward and providing the width but neither were great at getting forward and when they did, they failed to track back to effect when needed. If the plan for this season is width from Tav and Barasic then it’s going to be a long season as both seemed a long way off the marauding fullbacks from the invincible season.
In the middle we saw Raskin, Dowell and Lundstram starting this game. I literally have no words for how disappointed I was when I saw the midfield on the team sheet. Dowell did perform fairly well and as with Butland just about earned a pass, Raskin was meh but the very fact we are still starting Lundstram is a concern.
The fact we started three midfielders like this, rather than having a creative attacking midfielder in with one or two others is a devastating indictment on where we are after spending so much money in this window. This is Kilmarnock in the end of the day and I could tell you with absolute confidence they will be playing the exact same way five years from now, let alone in yesterdays game. Why on earth would you put three battlers in there? All we did was play into Killie’ hands and make this a physical battle which we were always going to struggle with.
Up front was a familiar tale to anyone who watched us last season. The players may have changed but it was the same insipid stuff as we played the ball about the pitch without really creating many chances.
Lammers failed to follow up on his pre-season form
From pre-season Lammers seemed at his best when he had freedom to attack and against Kilmarnock he was back on the half way line, back to goal and not dictating play. We’ve already seen him at his best closer to the opposition box, playing 1-2’s and working into the box so seeing him back at the half way line wasn’t great. Sima still seems to struggle at times and if I’m being honest has been reasonable in some games but has yet to truly dazzle fans. As for Dessers it’s clear he isn’t up to speed yet, in fact I would say he is a long way off it. He needs games to get up to speed as I said in the preview but surely you play Danilo with him, given the Brazilian is up to speed and had a good pre-season. That hedges your bets to cover for Dessers getting up to speed. Instead the combination of Sima / Dessers was deployed and looked woefully unprepared for competitive action against a physical side.
As you’ve no doubt gathered by now my biggest frustration from yesterday isn’t so much the players but the manager as his team selection baffled me and the lack of shape, structure and positioning flat out worried me. First up is the team selection which seemed to be more geared to countering Killie’ plans than playing to our own strengths. With the greatest of respect to Kilmarnock if we show up and play to our strengths we win that game nine times out of ten. To put this into context the rumoured €6m fee for Danilo is just under the reported €6.45m value of the entire Killie squad.
€6m man Danilo is worth nearly as much as Kilmarnock’s entire squad
Then comes the biggest worry of all, the shape of the team was absolutely awful. There was very little cohesion, no idea how we were going to beat the low block that Beale surely remembers from his previous time here, no movement to take advantage of spaces. Put simply the players seemed to rock up at Rugby Park with no idea what the manager wanted from them. Worryingly this follows on from pre-season when the exact same thing was being said. Now you can get away with it in pre-season by talking about fitness, trying new tactics etc but that is past now, now every game matters and it should be strongest team with the best formation and tactics. Whatever yesterday was, it wasn’t that!
There is no time to rest and get over yesterdays performance for the team either. The games come thick and fast just now with Swiss side, Servette, visiting Ibrox on Wednesday for the all important 3rd round qualifier for the UCL group stages. By all accounts we should be favourites to win that tie but Servette didn’t land there by accident and if we make the same mistakes in the same disjointed shape as we did at Rugby Park, Servette are far better placed to punish us for it than Kilmarnock.
Beale has been backed massively in this transfer window, arguably he has been backed more than any other manager since the Dick Advocaat revolution. There was enormous pressure on the Rangers board to provide Beale with what he wanted but in fairness to them they’ve done exactly that. There is no Gio style escape here where fans question the signings, were they really made by the manager and were they the best option. Circumstances led to Beale being given absolute control of his rebuild and whilst that is exactly how it should be it also leaves very little hiding space if it doesn’t work.
On a more positive note though we shouldn’t be getting too carried away after one game. Recently Ange Postecoglou’s start for our rivals was also poor, getting knocked out of UCL qualifying and loosing their first domestic league game 2-1 to Hearts, however they went on to win the league that season. A bit further back the aforementioned Dick Advocaat lost his first league game after spending a whopping €48.1m (as per Transfermarkt) so Beale certainly isn’t down and out just yet.
Beale is extremely well regarded in the game, he is considered something of a scholar and he is widely credited as being the tactics behind Gerrard’s tenure here. Possibly he over thought this one, trying to adapt to Killie, possibly resting certain players for Wednesday’s game. I hope come Wednesday Beale keeps it nice and simple, plays his best players and gives them a game plan they can follow. I’m sure that in the end Beale comes good and when the players understand what he is trying to get across to them it will be some genuinely exciting football but until then we just need to be winning games, the shows can come later.
Beale looking unhappy after an opening day defeat.
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