NO STRIKERS... BUT ICE-COOL GIO HAS REFUSED TO MAKE EXCUSES
Manager’s mindset has inspired his players to brink of European glory
WHO could have expected Rangers to score three goals in a European semi-final against a team of RB Leipzig’s quality without a recognised striker on the pitch? For that fact alone you have to commend the job Giovanni van Bronckhorst has done in leading this team to the brink of history.
Giovanni has been dealt a tough hand in this Europa League run, especially when you think about the injuries to Alfredo Morelos and Kemar Roofe.
If you don’t have a striker available you almost have an excuse straight away.
And yet he has never moaned about that or complained about his lot. In that regard, he is very similar to Ange Postecoglou. Early in the season, Celtic were struggling to win games but the manager made no excuses about a lack of players in the door, injuries or the lack of preparation time since his appointment.
He just got on with it and has now got his reward in the shape of the Premiership title.
Giovanni has brought the same approach to Rangers’ Europa League run and the psychology has fed through to the players.
Press conferences are important. Any time you speak, you have to remember who is listening or reading your words.
You have your own supporters, opposition managers and players, the sponsors and directors. So there’s an obligation there.
But sometimes you send a message to your own players.
Up to and including the last-16 tie against Red Star Belgrade, Morelos was the team’s talisman. Without him, many expected they might drop out but instead they have found different ways to progress.
Steven Gerrard’s teams were more in your face. A bit like the manager himself. They had an intensity and an identity. They wanted to be 4-3-3 and they committed to that.
They were reluctant to change. They’d say ‘This is us, good and bad’. And for the most part, they were good and delivered some really strong performances.
Giovanni is happier to change things during games and those little tactical tweaks have helped the team move to another level.
When you have your strongest XI, you can go and be that 4-3-3. But sometimes you need to try and help your team, keep the opposition guessing, keep them on their toes.
And he has done that almost perfectly. He takes every opportunity to try and gain an advantage and help his players.
I like that about him. In the same half of a game, he’ll switch from a high press to a low press. From a back four to a back five.
Finishing the first half against Borussia Dortmund with a five then going back to a four at half-time and pressing high. Constantly making the opposition think.
Sometimes that chopping and changing involves too much information and can affect performance but his players have dealt with that. That says a lot for their intelligence and the manager’s ability to deliver information. He has been almost pitch perfect and it is great to see. He manages differently but no two people are the same.
Management at the Old Firm is about finding ways to win all the time but we are in a unique situation this season where both clubs could finish with two trophies.
I think there is a mutual respect and appreciation for the challenges they face.
You have seen that in the past, most notably with Walter Smith and Tommy Burns; that respect for your biggest rival.
Giovanni will be surrounded by people who will be making it clear how important it is to beat Celtic.
It would be easy to get sucked into all that and that’s why it’s so good to see him share that mutual respect with Ange.
It helps of course when both teams are having successful seasons.
People have called Ange an idealist, said he needed to change when things weren’t going well but he has committed to his style. Even early on, when results weren’t coming, there were enough moments in every game that pointed to a clear plan.
It’s good learning for any manager, young and old, to follow your convictions and drive that message home. When you are as successful as he has been, it must be even more satisfying.
Over the past few weeks, Rangers have had a chance to digest the fact that they were not going to win the league.
At the outset, the big prize was Champions League qualification. Celtic have got that, the £30-40million. But this run means Rangers are getting a bit of that action, too, and they can join them in the big tournament if they beat Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday.
But there will be disappointment at Ibrox that, having won their first title in so long, they have lost it again.
The Europa League run has more than made up for that but the financial compensation will only come if they win it.
Some of Rangers’ dropped points in the league could be questioned but, by and large, Van Bronckhorst has been so good in terms of dealing with what is available to him and dealing with the 90 minutes.
If Rangers go on and win this,
there will be compilation videos and all the rest.
To have beaten three teams from the Bundesliga, they will have done it in all different ways and tactics will be a huge part of it.
In the past, successful Scottish teams have had good spirit and ability. It’s been about passion, aggression, all that stuff.
I’m not saying these weren’t tactically good but I think that has been the defining trait of Giovanni’s teams.
He has come in mid-season and has been working with another manager’s players. That’s not easy, even with a good team.
He has only had one transfer window. He lost Ianis Hagi quickly and replaced him with Amad Diallo, and the rest of the signings haven’t really worked either.
Gerrard deserves credit for recruiting a good squad of players and GVB deserves credit for working with them — because it is now definitely his team.
The emergence of John Lundstram is proof of that. He was a Gerrard signing, a fellow Scouser, but he took time to settle and it’s under Giovanni that he has really answered up.
Giovanni has obviously seen something in him. The way he handles the ball, can play a few positions and can score a goal. Lundstram has been so valuable in terms of being able to drop back into defence as an extra body at the right time, just to bring a bit of calmness to the team.
They’ve fallen short in the league yet still have such an exciting finish to the season in front of them.
Ange deserves a lot of credit for banking two trophies. Rangers have stopped Celtic winning a Treble but now they must win something for themselves.
And they still have the Scottish Cup to play for, too.
The fact the final comes just a few days after Seville is potentially an issue. They will be facing a strong and motivated Hearts team and will do so with a squad that is already stretched thin.
Win or lose, Rangers’ achievements in Europe should not be underplayed. If they win this one it will supersede anything they could have achieved domestically.
Because history shows it is far more difficult to win a European competition.
I was brought up listening to my dad talk about the 1972 team. These Rangers players have a chance to engrain themselves not only in Rangers’ history but that of Scottish football.