McInnes impressed by tactical nous of ‘brilliant’ Van Bronckhorst
DEREK McINNES shared a dressing room with Giovanni van Bronckhorst during their time together at Ibrox and tomorrow he and the Dutchman will go head to head as managers for the first time when he takes his Kilmarnock side to Govan.
The former Feyenoord boss did not escape criticism from supporters on social media after Rangers’ 2-0 defeat by Royale Union Saint-Gilloise in the first leg of their Champions League third round qualifying round on Tuesday but McInnes does not anticipate an easy ride for the visitors.
He also believes that Van Bronckhorst has not received the credit he deserves for reaching the Europa League final last season. Rangers ended up winning the Scottish Cup but, six points clear at the top of the table in January, they lost the title to Celtic, who consequently automatically qualified for the group phase of club football’s most lucrative tournament, and that slip-up has coloured some supporters’ opinion of the 47-year-old.
“We were friends, of course,” said McInnes. “I really liked him: a brilliant boy and great player, first and foremost.
We all judge players coming in the door straight away and you could see from the first few training sessions how good he was.
“A real technician, elegant, smooth in the midfield and with a goal in him. Very confident and assured and he plotted his career well. Rangers, Arsenal, Barcelona, World Cup finals, European stages. He was a dream of a player and really respected in the dressing room.
“He was laid back and fun as a team-mate but there was a switch and he’d become a competitor and I see similarities as a manager.”
Watching from the sidelines as a pundit and a fellow professional last season, McInnes admits to being impressed by what he saw of van Bronckhorst’s flexibility.
”Very much so,” he said. “Do you know what I’ve really liked about him? For managers, there is this old adage: ‘once they cross the white line, you can’t help your team’ and I don’t believe that for a minute. I actually think he navigated Rangers through the European stages in particular, through certain challenges, through 90 minutes.
“His changes during matches were brilliant. Tactically, he won so many fights and helped his team. The job of a manager is to give your team the best chance to win games and watching them last season – I covered a few games for TV – I thought he was pitch perfect so many times.
“He had to win tactical those tactical battles and I thought he was very good. He would dip from a back three to a back four and making the changes at the right time and recognising and respecting the opponent’s threats as well.
“Clearly, he has the ability to work on two or three systems but that comes down to having a good level of player as well and the players played the biggest part in it. But there is
no doubt the manager helped them.”
As for the stick Van Bronckhorst took for the lateness of his substitutions in Belgium, McInnes replied “That comes with the territory. If you lose a game you get criticised: it’s no different from any other managerial job.”
With Champions League millions at stake, Van Bronckhorst and his players could be forgiven for prioritising the return leg on Tuesday but McInnes, who hopes to sign 20-year-old left-sided central defender Jeriel Dorsett on loan from Reading, is taking nothing for granted.
“Knowing Giovanni and how he works, he sees the importance of every game so we’re not looking at them having one eye on Tuesday,” he said.