Steven Gerrard’s unbeaten run since taking charge of Rangers finally came to an end prior to the international break when his side lost to rivals Celtic in season’s first Old Firm derby. Their astounding European run earned them a place in the Europa League group stages but they needed to shift their attention to the league.
The gaffer tweaked his strategy a bit on Saturday afternoon while hosting Dundee FC, the bottom-placed side.
Gerrard’s side bounced back pretty well as they recorded a commanding 4-0 win over their struggling opponents. We take a look at why the hosts were pretty comfortable earlier today.
#3 Gerrard’s Switch To The Old Setup
The gaffer preferred a 4-3-3 formation from the very first fixture which was working pretty well. The front three had two wide attackers and Alfredo Morelos in a number 9 role.
However, the arrival of Kyle Lafferty gave Gerrard an extra headache. He had the choice of using a 4-4-2 setup with two strikers up top or deploy Morelos on the flank, retaining the 4-3-3 setup with Lafferty leading the line. These experiments somehow upset the team’s flow as the players were struggling to adapt to the change.
Gerrard made the right call against Dundee by switching to a 4-3-3, keeping the Colombian as the lone forward for his movement and fluidity inside the box.
Lafferty, on the other hand, was introduced later on and these two should be rotated instead of lining them together.
#2 The Return of Coulibaly
The Gers missed the presence of Coulibaly in recent games, particularly against Celtic where their midfield was completely outplayed. The Angers loanee took a bit of time to recover from a thigh strain but announced his return with a stunning display at the middle of the park.
Coulibaly not only scored early to break the deadlock but also excelled in the box-to-box role. The Malian freed the space up for the wide attackers, most notably Ryan Kent who scored one and also created numerous opportunities from the left flank.
Coulibaly, therefore, is the driving force of this new-looked Rangers side and the fans will hope he can remain healthy for the rest of the season.
#1 Dundee Made It Easy
Although they are rock bottom, Dundee tried to play football over switching to an ultra-defensive strategy in order to salvage something from such a difficult away encounter.
Unfortunately, they lacked the depth as well as quality to trouble the hosts and ex-Rangers star Kenny Miller, 38, was the only star name in a pretty average lineup.
Miller was sent off on his Ibrox return which signifies how poor the opposition were on the road.
