It’s not often I can say I’m looking forward to a visit to Kilmarnock’ awful plastic pitch. From the injury suffered by Jamie Murphy, to the unappealing look of the pitch, it’s fair to say I would happily see us follow the example of the Eredivisie and ban them completely. In this case it’s not the pitch but the return to competitive action that has me looking forward to the trip to Kilmarnock. Finally the games mean something again, the time for tinkering is past and we should see our strongest team at the moment taking to the pitch at 17:15 on Saturday.
Beale begins a new season where there will be no excuses for failure.
When we take to the pitch most fans will be looking forward to a new chapter for Rangers. Our front-line will be unrecognisable from last season but midfield and defence will be less changed. What can we expect to see on the team-sheet and what will our play look like. Firstly I think it’s important to be realistic here. Our style of play isn’t going to be the finished article, in fact it’s likely to be a long way off and I would suggest some patience may be required. Beale was quoted at the recent open training session as saying he wanted "the handbrake off" and full attack.
Cyriel Dessers hasn’t been great in pre-season and looks like he will take a while to get up to speed. That’s not a criticism of the player, merely being realistic with a protracted transfer and starting pre-season later than most hindering his preparation for this season. Regardless if he is fully match ready we need to start him to give him the chance to get fully up to speed. Whilst his sharpness may not be 100% just yet, he has at least been putting the effort in when he has played. On a more positive note, Danilo has had a full pre-season and looked good for Feyenoord, prior to his move. For a full insight on Danilo I suggest you have a read of our brilliant scout report from fellow This Is Ibrox writer, Gus Denholm. You can read that here.
Perhaps the biggest shock from our signings so far has been Sam Lammers. I have to admit, with his numbers I had question marks over this signing but so far he has looked very good. He has a technical ability I’ve not seen for a long time and as someone pointed out the other day he has scored more in pre-season for us than his previous three years. It appears that in the right playing style and getting the right service Lammers could be an absolute diamond of a signing. I’ve gone from fear to hope in very short order with Lammers. It is only pre-season and he needs to replicate the form in competitive action but if he can then he will be very good for us.
Lammers has been a shining light in pre-season, now comes the real thing.
I would expect these three to start up-front for this one but we shouldn’t discount Sima either. He hasn’t been amazing in pre-season either but has been improving each game and was singled out by Beale as one of just two players who took part in every training session since signing. I think we will see Lammers tucked behind Dessers and Danilo, with Sima coming on around the 60 minute mark to run at a tired defence.
In midfield, it’s likely pretty clear for two of the three spaces. Cantwell and Raskin are must haves in there. The real question is if Cifuentes starts or if Beale opts to start Dowell and bring Cifuentes on as a sub. There are no fitness questions around Cifuentes, with him being half way through the MLS season before making the move to Scotland.I suspect this will come down to how quickly he has slotted in with Cantwell and Raskin. I think, from a personal perspective, I would like to see Dowell get the nod for this one and Cifuentes coming on later in the game. Dowell has put in the hard yards in training and will work extremely hard for the team. He has been one of our better players and whilst ultimately Cifuentes wasn’t bought in for a fee rather than waiting for his contract to be up, to warm the bench, it would be incredibly hard on Dowell to be thrown out of the team without at least getting a chance. His pre-season form should have earned him at least that.
Will our new Ecuadorian signing get the nod from the start just days after signing?
Defence will have a very familiar feel and I suspect, other than keeper, Jack Butland, making a competitive debut it will be unchanged from last season. Tavernier will be starting at right back without a doubt. In the middle we are pretty limited as well, with Ben Davies not training due to illness or sorting a move away, depending on who you believe. In some good news Connor Goldson has trained and I fully expect him to come back into the team for this one, plastic pitch or not. Alongside Goldson we will see John Souttar who has also had a good pre-season. We seem to say it all too often as Rangers fans but if Souttar can stay clear of injury he will form a good partnership with Goldson. As with Roofe and others the question is, can Souttar avoid injuries? I certainly hope so!
Barasic has looked shorn of confidence for a long time now.
Without any surprises in the first three positions a lot of fans will be hoping for a surprise at left back. Borna has been a polarising figure for a long time now with a penchant for turning backwards and a lack of physicality that is sometimes brutally exposed in the SPFL. To be fair Ridvan Yilmaz hasn’t exactly set the heather alight either when given a chance but there is at least hope he can still come good, with Barasic that hope is long gone. He will often give an OK performance but other than a wand of a left foot which can still deliver pinpoint balls into the box you will never get excellent performances with him. I have heard some shouts for Dujon Sterling to get the nod on the left, especially with us facing a left footed right back but I would be surprised if Beale goes that route. I think he will stick with what he knows and Barasic will start. It will be interesting to see if the rumoured two or three more incomings (depending on outgoings) includes a left back. This would be a clear indication of Beale' confidence in either of our current options.
My expected line-up at Rugby Park
I don’t see this being a rout as we still have work to do for everything to fully click, along with players working their way to full match sharpness. Killie will likely employ the low block favoured of most domestic teams. It will be interesting to see how our new look attacking line-up deals with this. I do think we will see off Kilmarnock but I could also see some of our historical defensive frailty come to the fore. I’m predicting 2-1 for this game with Danilo and Cantwell grabbing the goals.
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