Caixinha makes the call on his captain(s)
ONE question that was answered at Ibrox on Saturday was who would captain Rangers. Against Marseille, Lee Wallace retained the armband and remains favourite to stay on in the role.
But with many advocating the imposing Bruno Alves as skipper – including SportTimes’s own Derek Johnstone, who reckoned Alves, as one of Pedro Caixinha’s main signings, is the natural choice – is Wallace’s leadership only on a temporary basis?
Manager Caixinha did little on Saturday to clarify the situation. Indeed, the Gers coach threw ever more names in the hat as to who will lead the Ibrox club on the pitch this term.
In addition to Wallace and Alves, Caixinha listed Kenny Miller, Saturday’s goal hero Niko Kranjcar and Graham Dorrans as all having leadership potential.
Caixinha said: “We will have a group of five captains. Lee is the one who will wear the armband, but who wears it is not important, the important thing is that I know that I chose those five for their character. They have the maturity, the leadership and of course the experience to spread to the others what they want and what they need.
“I want those players to not only be players but extensions of myself and be also assistant coaches and players at the same time on the pitch. They know the standards and what I want is for us to always be focused on those.”
What was noticeable at Ibrox against Marseille was just how much speech-play Alves entered into with the rest of the back four, but especially with fellow centre-back Fabio Cardoso.
Most of the time he was calm and collected. But equally, once or twice, he was visibly more animated, particularly when defending set pieces. It will take a brave man to ignore him – with or without an armband.
AFORTNIGHT from now we’ll be reflecting on the opening weekend of the Premiership season, a day after Rangers will have played their opener against Motherwell.
Until Saturday, after their early European demise and a couple of unconvincing closeddoor games, the general feeling was that Gers might go in to the game at Fir Park undercooked.
After drawing with Marseille at Ibrox on Saturday, however, there was a sense among Rangers fans, players, and the manager that they are now headed i n the right direction.
Certainly, Pedro Caixinha appeared happy enough with the first outing for what, at present, would be considered his first-choice XI, as did new midfielder Graham Dorrans.
A Gers fan all his days, playing at Ibrox was everything he expected, and, maybe a bit more from what is still a new line-up.
“It’s no secret I have been a fan of the club my full life so for me to get an opportunity to come here is great,” admitted the former West Brom and Norwich City star.
“It was good to be out there. I enjoyed it. It wasn’t my best performance personally, but I thought we did well as a group and a team. We were really solid, with and without the ball. We were comfortable for most of the game. It was a good, positive performance.
“They [Marseille] were good, but I felt we were comfortable in the game. We stayed in good shape, were solid and kept them in front of us. They didn’t cause us too many problems.
Most were satisfied with the amount of control the home side exerted when in possession, and even at times when Marseille played keep-ball because there wasn’t anywhere for them to go, the unspoken concern must be the lack of punch up front.
Rangers do appear to have more control and less panic, with the ball and in defence, probably because in terms of their shape and formation, everyone knows what they should be doing.
The only observation on that would be that the backline need to decide who they are taking their lead from, in terms of the line they hold. A couple of times while Bruno Alves was pushing them high, the fullbacks were two yards behind. Teams in more urgent circumstances, other than a pre-season friendly, would latch on to that.
However, while Rangers were in a comfort zone for the most part, this isn’t the way to play at 0-0. Getting ahead, even by just a goal, is beginning to look a real issue for Rangers.
On Saturday, from open play, you could count the opportunities on one hand.
Kenny Miller was industrious enough, but is he a creator or a taker? Eduardo Herrera was present but incorrect in some of the positions he was taking up. And no-one really read Nico Kranjcar. His movement is limited (although nowhere near the ‘ice hockey goaltender’ I was told to expect by a Croatian journalist this time last year).
But in terms of speed of thought, and seeing and delivering a pass or through ball, Kranjcar was way ahead of his team-mates. Fine-tuning and finding the same wavelength will come through time. But Pedro Caixinha doesn’t have much of that commodity left.
ALFREDO MORELOS was probably the most direct of the attacking options. Within a few minutes of coming on, he caught out Steve Mandanda with a snap shot, which the Marseille keeper fumbled, with Morelos following up his own handy work, only to slip his effort wide of the far stick. The Gers goal always looked likely to come from a set-play, and when it did, Kranjcar’s execution was top drawer. From the foul he drew, the Croatian flighted his free-kick in to the postage stamp corner, Mandanda’s touch insufficient to divert the ball in any direction other than goalward.
Caixinha is still needing a couple of component parts to give himself half a chance of hitting the ground running. And while speculation is abound about who the next arrival might be, an out-and-out goal-getter, a poacher, a jammy sod who will happily hit double-figures just by deflections and in-offs over a season, would top most people’s lists. Forget a McCoist or Negri. A Rod Wallace or the likes might suffice.
MARSEILLE are well in to the preparations. However, while Rangers have assembled almost an entirely new first-team squad, spending pounds, dollars, Euros, pesos and other major currencies, while making loan deals and calling in favours, the Marseille team is worth around £100m. Dimitri Payet, £25m from West Ham in January. Another triumvirate not immediately identifiable by their input on Saturday cost another £40-million-plus, while Valerie Germain, who netted the opener, cost around £10m a few weeks back.
Rangers don’t have that kind of dosh. But it will take serious money to find them a proven goal scorer – more if others are aware of their desperation.