Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Caixinha goes back to basics
RANGERS manager Pedro Caixinha has gone “back to basics” over the international break in a bid to i mprove his team’s defensive record.
The I brox men have scored 17 goals in eight Ladbrokes Premiership games this season, more than any other team other than l eaders Celtic, but their goals-against column of 11 is five higher than Aberdeen and bigger than both Hearts and Motherwell.
Caixinha has prioritised his back-line ahead of t h i s ev e n i n g ’s trip to St Johnstone, who have also conceded 11 goals, and he is more confident after two weeks to work on the area.
The Portuguese coach s a i d : “We w e r e m o r e focused on the details this week because we make the analysis that we cannot concede so many goals and concede goals the way we are conceding them.
“We need to get back to the basics of defending. That’s what we have been focused on. The boys did great the previous week when we trained much more intensively.
“This week we have focused on the principles of what we want and expect from the game. What we expect i s: don’t l et the opponent play their own game, and we want to play our game.
“After these couple of weeks, I think we are much more solid as a team if we defend better and concede less goals, because the difference of t he goals scored is almost nothing from the teams that are leading the league.”