Time for huge tactical change?

don't really get the huge cry for a tactics change tbh. We're struggling now because we seem to playing the game in a very pedestrian manner. Early in the season we moved the ball quickly and didn't get the opposition time to setup. we now seem to have moved to plodding, sideways/backwards passing - just gives park the bus teams time to setup and match runs.
 
having someone like ross mccrorie, will at times, help us. He won all his arial battles against the mentally challengeds at Ibrox and in a game like today it wouldve suited him. He's not a world beater but offers something different that we do not have.
 
I'm still behind Gerrard. I think we have a good group of players too, many of whom will improve next year. A few additions will help, but we can't rip everything up and start again- we aren't a million miles away like we were under previous managers. We have outclassed Celtic several times under Gerrard.

The main criticism is the absolute refusal to Change the system and I can only hope the management finally see's it now. With Kamberi and morelos up top we looked very threatening. We start like that against the rest of the spl and I honestly think we'd be seeing us hand out some real Doings. At the moment we play exactly to their strengths. We are leagues above the rest on a man to man basis- play like it.
 
DNA1872 said:
When our manager says he’s not surprised by the result in his post match interview says it all ... once I heard the team I was fuming but not shocked as we should have started the 11 who won us the game on Thursday night but no he wanted to start the usual players who have been letting us down time and time again ... I’m fucking livid as again we have threw points away , we are needing winners not a wimps
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I see the team sheet every week and end up fuming. SG just doesnt have it for me. I've backed him from day 1 but now I think we seriously need to reconsider. Its the same p1sh every week which just doesnt work in scotland.
 
contiva said:
I see the team sheet every week and end up fuming. SG just doesnt have it for me. I've backed him from day 1 but now I think we seriously need to reconsider. Its the same p1sh every week which just doesnt work in scotland.
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Sat in Tesco at Perth before the game and when my mate and son told me the team I knew where it was going to end up ... the team that won our game in the 2nd half on Thursday night imo was our starting 11 mate
 
If we are going to change things then I think the obvious one is to get Alfie some help. Kamberi has shown so far that he can link up well with Alfie and that could be the key to unlocking defenses.
 
Earl of Leven said:
In essence we are still honing the Warburton tikki takki from 4/5 years ago. Yes there are tweaks, and I'm sure some tactical genius will put me right, but it's a sub Barca / sub Liverpool thing.

Sadly it's massively unsuitable for SPL. We need to win here, not win plaudits in EL for 6/7 games a season. We need the Rangers DNA.

It's funny but you know the thing: blood soaked head bandage, savage lunge on opponent trying to take the piss, two up front, and a physical team who win the battle. The pitches are terrible and many games barely resemble football. We need to adapt as SPL won't.

It's my view that this 433 with inverted wingers and false tens won't stop the Filth as we can't afford the players to make it work. We need a squad of best quality we can afford with the aim of the 38 games we play here, plus Cup ties. The manager and his team need to use next few months to prepare for overhaul of how we play. Thoughts?

Try and be civil, a debate would be brilliant but "%^*& off, WATP" isn't helpful.
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I've already started a thread on the possibility of going 352.

I reckon we need 2 up front to break these 10 men behind the ball jobbers down. Or at least it would greatly help.

It still gives us the 2 full backs high and wide, 2 holding, a 10 and gives us another centre back defending and attacking set pieces.

Something has to change we are too predictable.
 
I would give 3-5-2 a go nothing to lose now.



Teams sit off and let Katic and Goldson have the ball as they know 9/10 they wont do anything with it.


If we played with Edmundson as a sweeper he could bring the ball out as he's a much better distributor of the ball than both Goldson and Katic and maybe if we had a player spare a long ball over the top wouldn't cause us so much problems as shagger is also reluctant to come off his line.


Our full backs are our main attacking threat and would have more cover if we had 3 at back and Edmundson has pace as well, personally I think it's showing now that katic and goldson are getting exposed for their lack of ability on ball and the fact our full backs are so high up park any long ball over top or diagonal causes us havoc.



Would also give us the chance to play 2 up front and mean at times we could go long when required as imo we go sidewards and backwards far to much.


And if we go in front in a game we could easily tuck full backs in and go 5 at the back and maybe just maybe for once hold out and keep points from a winning position.


As by my count thats 10 points we have flung away from winning positions which is scandalous
 
IrvineLoyal said:
I would give 3-5-2 a go nothing to lose now.



Teams sit off and let Katic and Goldson have the ball as they know 9/10 they wont do anything with it.


If we played with Edmundson as a sweeper he could bring the ball out as he's a much better distributor of the ball than both Goldson and Katic and maybe if we had a player spare a long ball over the top wouldn't cause us so much problems as shagger is also reluctant to come off his line.


Our full backs are our main attacking threat and would have more cover if we had 3 at back and Edmundson has pace as well, personally I think it's showing now that katic and goldson are getting exposed for their lack of ability on ball and the fact our full backs are so high up park any long ball over top or diagonal causes us havoc.



Would also give us the chance to play 2 up front and mean at times we could go long when required as imo we go sidewards and backwards far to much.


And if we go in front in a game we could easily tuck full backs in and go 5 at the back and maybe just maybe for once hold out and keep points from a winning position.


As by my count thats 10 points we have flung away from winning positions which is scandalous
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Exactly. It gives us an option to instantly change to protect leads better simply by bringing the full backs back. Still gives the opposition a problem by keeping 2 up front and they then cant push up the pitch or we have the ball over the top on the break.

It cannot be any worse than what were doing just now and is worth a go imo.
 
david1982 said:
Exactly. It gives us an option to instantly change to protect leads better simply by bringing the full backs back. Still gives the opposition a problem by keeping 2 up front and they then cant push up the pitch or we have the ball over the top on the break.

It cannot be any worse than what were doing just now and is worth a go imo.
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Something has to change and if by changing formation it means that Kent, Hagi, Aribo or whoever (just using then as example) misses out then so be it



This 433 and 2 number 10s bollocks is doing my head in games like yesterday and hearts killie away etc are 9/10 a battle the management team should understand that by now.
 
Did Kenny Miller not say recently, in the Si Ferry interview, that Walter didn't really have much in the way of tactics for run of the mill SPL matches? He just let the experienced pros get on with it, but was ready to take charge from the touch line if required.

It's not the league for trying to overthink it. Just go out, win your battles and the quality will then show.
 
Colinrfc2 said:
We play in Scotland against teams who are on usually pish, get the ball forward a bit quicker put more players forward and put these teams under pressure
Making 10 or more passes across the defence just allows them to get back into shape and the inverted wingers or number 10s just makes it even more congested in the middle of the park
We played with 2 up front for 30 minutes today and it's the most dangerous we have looked since the break
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this for me, we have one player running passed players of the other team and nobody busting their arse to get into the box for the cross coming

we have players loosing the ball and doing nothing about getting it back which is more scary when its the defenders playing slow mo tippy tappy football round about our own box and all this side side back passing doesnt work when we are chasing a game we should have finished in the first half thats if we turned up in the first place.

never been a fan of one up front 3.5.2 when playing two banks of 5 in our diddy league
 
Sasa- said:
The system has to change.

He has an obsession with trying to copy the way Liverpool are playing. Flat midfield 3 and 3 attackers with the use of balls in behind and crosses from the full-backs. The issue is, there is absolutely no need for 3 central midfielders in 99% of the games we're playing in the league. In Europe and against Celtic, sure it's fine. We're playing against teams whose only objective is to sit back and ruin the game. They have no intention of actually opening up and attacking, other than a long ball over the top hoping one of our defenders will make a mistake or to pick up a second ball and move on from there.

Our best periods in games since the end of December have came when we've played Morelos and Kamberi together. The other teams are struggling with being able to cope with both, so Gerrard has to lose the Liverpool obsession and develop a system to utilize 2 strikers. If not, he'll be out the door in the summer.
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He won’t be out of the door in the summer, but if he isn’t willing to change his departure will be something of an inevitability.

I did wonder if his adherence to 4-3-3 is in part because he thinks it might make him a seamless fit for Liverpool if and when Klopp moves on?

Is he able to play 4-4-2? Does he want to?
 
The formation and tactics were working fine b4 the break but it seems to have changed since then.
We've aggressively press teams high up forcing mistakes, and also slowed things right down.
 
Teddy bear said:
The formation and tactics were working fine b4 the break but it seems to have changed since then.
We've aggressively press teams high up forcing mistakes, and also slowed things right down.
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Teams have parked the bus literally in there own box and any high press/intensity has been lost.

Add in an entire squad out of form and no plan B you can see why it's not working.
 
For me, it's more basic, it's Gerrard and Beale's refusal to manage the game in front of them rather than the ideal in their heads.
It's the SPFL, guys, it's pretty basic, forget the fanciful concepts, pick players who are effective, prioritise goals over possession, get on the front foot and win the game.
 
We aren't a good enough team to play the same way for every game, he has to start being more flexible with his tactics. Hamilton at Ibrox and Porto away shouldn't be the same formation and tactics.

Play Hagi as a number 10 centrally to let him start having a proper influence in the game, either have 2 strikers ahead of him (Morelos, Kamberi or Defoe) or have 2 guys either side of him (Kent, Aribo, Stewart). There is no need for to be playing with a rigid 3 in the middle of the park against the shite in the SPL.
 
Earl of Leven said:
In essence we are still honing the Warburton tikki takki from 4/5 years ago. Yes there are tweaks, and I'm sure some tactical genius will put me right, but it's a sub Barca / sub Liverpool thing.

Sadly it's massively unsuitable for SPL. We need to win here, not win plaudits in EL for 6/7 games a season. We need the Rangers DNA.

It's funny but you know the thing: blood soaked head bandage, savage lunge on opponent trying to take the piss, two up front, and a physical team who win the battle. The pitches are terrible and many games barely resemble football. We need to adapt as SPL won't.

It's my view that this 433 with inverted wingers and false tens won't stop the Filth as we can't afford the players to make it work. We need a squad of best quality we can afford with the aim of the 38 games we play here, plus Cup ties. The manager and his team need to use next few months to prepare for overhaul of how we play. Thoughts?

Try and be civil, a debate would be brilliant but "%^*& off, WATP" isn't helpful.
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I think it's clear that Stevie G is trying to model our shape on the way Liverpool play,all be it with not the same calibre of player.
It does work but not all the time,for some reason in certain games we stop closing down the opposition and the high press disappears,I don't know why that is.I don't think we need massive tactical change but we do need to tweak it in certain games,2 up front an extra man in midfield etc.
 
Our midfield is a combination of loans and out of contract signings or cheap signings and it shows.
If you are playing a three in Scotland it is vital you have a player on either side who can be dynamic in the middle and get up to support the attack.
We need one who is more a defensive mid and protects the defence from counter attacks.

However our main weakness is playing a 3 up front. The central focus for that hasn’t been a major issue until Morelos for the third year running has saw his form collapse after Xmas.
The bigger issue is the two to either side have been pretty awful. Kent rarely scores and never assists.
The manager signed a collection of players for the right hand side and all have been terrible.
So you have a three pronged attack where only one has done his job. Nullify him by whatever means we struggle to score.
The midfield doesn’t have the ability to get up and support the attackers so it’s made worse.

The manager keeps playing this system and never changes it, but tries to fix other players into the formation, when they fail he publicly blames them and never acknowledges his role.
 
Earl of Leven said:
In essence we are still honing the Warburton tikki takki from 4/5 years ago. Yes there are tweaks, and I'm sure some tactical genius will put me right, but it's a sub Barca / sub Liverpool thing.

Sadly it's massively unsuitable for SPL. We need to win here, not win plaudits in EL for 6/7 games a season. We need the Rangers DNA.

It's funny but you know the thing: blood soaked head bandage, savage lunge on opponent trying to take the piss, two up front, and a physical team who win the battle. The pitches are terrible and many games barely resemble football. We need to adapt as SPL won't.

It's my view that this 433 with inverted wingers and false tens won't stop the Filth as we can't afford the players to make it work. We need a squad of best quality we can afford with the aim of the 38 games we play here, plus Cup ties. The manager and his team need to use next few months to prepare for overhaul of how we play. Thoughts?

Try and be civil, a debate would be brilliant but "%^*& off, WATP" isn't helpful.
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Yeah teams know how to plays now and it is easy for them to set up their tactics against us.
It's a bit like Warburtons , we were very good but could not mix it, which the tims can during the game, we need to change our tactics, but I think t's to late for this season?
 
I think the main issue is tactical flexibility. There are times when it will work (Aberdeen at home 5-0 when they man marked and couldn’t deal with the front three narrow rotation).
 
Midfield General said:
I think it's clear that Stevie G is trying to model our shape on the way Liverpool play,all be it with not the same calibre of player.
It does work but not all the time,for some reason in certain games we stop closing down the opposition and the high press disappears,I don't know why that is.I don't think we need massive tactical change but we do need to tweak it in certain games,2 up front an extra man in midfield etc.
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Liverpool don't come up against 10 men behind the ball every week either.
 
It's a daft position to be in. His 433 doesn't work, he changes it, it works, then as soon as we are back in front, he changes it again. What the %^*&? I think a change is needed but he is too stubborn to change, which was the downfall of his predecessors
 
Its not really huge its piss easy anyone could do it and thats the problem it seems like tactics from taylors time with England or the old English first division...people in the game are terrified of it you even see it on here someone says go with 2 up front try 4-4-2 and most replys say you simply do not understand tactics or modern football.

2 strikers would probably keep Gerrard in the job but id guess he would be quite happy to leave at end of the season theres still every chance he would get a smaller epl side. A good 6 weeks there most people would forget about a disappointing spell in Scotland. If he changes tactics now and we start winning then he knows hes gonna get the fans and media saying why leave it so late ?

I dont want him sacked but if he wants to keep the job its obvious he needs to forget about what happens down south and take a lot of more criticism up here (even if we hit a good spell of form with 2 up) but i do think Gerrard is strong enough to deal with that. Hope so cos i still believe he is a very good manager.
 
The tactic is just a bit crap, really. In the SPFL at least. SG can't say stuff like "I was bored" when he's the only one with the power to change it.

Even earlier on in the season, the signs were there. We edged past Killie on opening day with goals from set-pieces. BB got the winner against St Mirren from a direct free-kick. We didn't create a single chance at Tynecastle.
 
We play in Scotland. It doesn't have to be fancy or over complicated. Trying to implement what top clubs in the best leagues across Europe do is just crazy. Especially when you don't have the calibre of player, quality of pitches, resources in terms of transfer budget and an opposition that are brutal on a weekly basis.

Gerrard talked the other week about how the opposition are becoming more ultra defensive against us and sees it getting worse. Yet he fails to tweak the system and set up.

This two number 10's is a load of nonsense. Kent isn't a number 10 and no matter what Beale says, Hagi is playing a more right sided role.

We don't have the quality, legs or aggression in midfield and whenever a player like Tavernier, Barišić or Morelos are out, we expect players of a completely different style to just slip into position and offer the same.

The two centre halves are appalling at dealing with high, long balls and our defence is far from rock solid.

Our current set up is struggling even more as the intensity is no longer there. There is a real lack of fire, the hard press has gone, our movement off the ball is brutal and we are too slow in possession.

Along with that the manager is stubborn, lacks a plan b, a real refusal to try anything different, tactically weak, naive and rarely turns a negative into a positive.

Lennon is no master tactician but he was forced into changes, made to re think and they haven't looked back since we beat them on the 29th December. We continue with the same old, a real refusal to change and then wonder why we stutter, splutter and struggle.

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
 
I don’t want to navel gaze...But our successful teams of yesteryear were a mix of gallous footballers and when required brutal enforcers. Guys who could put a marker down which put diddy teams back in their box and once back in their box run over the top of said box.

Nobody fears this team as it has neither a leader or an enforcer, it has a soft underbelly which is being brutally exploited by diddy team after diddy team. I have suggested that trying to build a team to succeed both in Europe and Scotland from scratch may have been a bridge too far for most managers let alone a rookie like Gerrard.

Priority should have been to build a team to beat the filth to the league, instead we are still behind them and we have also given them the assurance of a second CL place should we usurp them over the next season or two. Our agenda should have been league, Champions league riches and cutting off the filths route to said riches.
 
Lennon had about 420 matches as a manager before he got the gig again at Celtic. Could afford to make mistakes when we collapsed in 2012, then learned what to do and what not to do at Celtic, Bolton and Hibs.
We hired an inexperienced manager who has failed to build a winning mentality in domestic games. We have dropped 17 points this season, 10 when we were ahead. That's the problem for me, not seeing out a game. Kamberi has shown that a good SPL player can make a difference here. That, plus playing off form players hasn't helped. Kamberi starting yesterday would have been better than Morelos.
 
Long post upcoming as trying to work out where the wheels have fallen off is bloody difficult as I genuinely don't think I've seen a team go from such consistently high performances to so atrocious for such a long spell.

Sorry but I think formations are a cop-out for fans to fixate on because it's an easy way to blame the manager when we don't really know what the %^*& is going wrong. They're a tiny part of the tactics in top level football these days.

Where players line up when a ball is out of play has virtually no bearing on what they do once play is flowing. Example - Joe Aribo was nominally our left back in a 4 on Sunday but once the ball was in play he was all over the field. His actual positioning was just as central and probably further forward than when he had been in midfield. Our full backs (Tav in particular) are frequently the most advanced players in the team.

More important is what the players are being asked to do and how they are doing it. I don't think changing formations made a difference on Sunday. Kamberi came on and made a difference because he is playing better now than certain others whether he plays up front or wide, and he is showing a whole load more energy. Guys who are out of form didn't suddenly come on to a game by moving their position.

My biggest gripe remains the lack of intensity that has been there in every game since xmas. There is plenty of effort but I don't see any intent to inject pace or to pressure teams. Before xmas we looked like a cheap version of Liverpool because we were hounding teams, now we are playing the same formation but with no go forward impetus. We are retreating when we concede posession rather than taking it back, and when we win it at our own box we are absolutely not trying to play it early.

There was an instant yesterday when Ryan Jack picked up in midfield at 1-1 in the second half. He had passes available in front but he turned back, stopped, turned to our left and then threaded a pass inches away from the St Johnstone striker just to get it back to Katic in our own half. If the ball had been cut out the Saints striker would have been straight through on McGregor - a suicidal risk for the reward of passing it to the least creative player in the team 10 yards further back,

Either a) every player's confidence is so shot they are taking risks trying to play safe or b) the players are exhausted for some reason or c) the manager/ coaching staff have changed something in their approach but haven't communicated it well enough.

I can't believe the message the coaches are trying to preach is play slowly, go sideways, put each other in trouble, don't play to our forwards strengths by releasing them into space, don't press as a unit, give opposition time to play through the heart of our defence, as those are all the opposite of what the past 18 months seemed to be building. But that's what we're doing out on the pitch. It doesn't matter what formation we use if that is what we are doing.

I think the confidence has gone but that came after we started playing shit and couldn't get out the rut. FWIW I'm leaning to option b). I think it's got to be tiredness but I don't have a clue why.

The only players who look immune are new signings Hagi and Kamberi plus Arfield who missed a chunk of the first half and has always had an exceptional engine. Polster also looked okay - and he missed Dubai. Aribo has looked good past couple of weeks but he had a few weeks of not being involved much.

Every other outfield player looks half a yard slow. I can't believe the sports science guys who seem to be highly rated have botched it so badly especially as the Dubai sessions didn't look like a beasting. I wonder if there is a virus or something that we're not aware of. Maybe that's just wishful thinking but it seems more believable than every coach in Scotland suddenly figuring out a different magic way to stop us when none of them seemed to have a clue earlier this year.

Tiredness for whatever reason is also the only reason I can see where Thursday doesn't provide some sort of reaction yesterday. The only thing I've seen in a Rangers team that is similar was the way the UEFA Cup Final season fell apart in the last few weeks but obviously there was a reason for that in the fixture list. I don't see that in our workload this year, but the team looks similar in that every win is just falling over the line and every poor result looks like a team without a spark.
 
Southpaws said:
I don’t want to navel gaze...But our successful teams of yesteryear were a mix of gallous footballers and when required brutal enforcers. Guys who could put a marker down which put diddy teams back in their box and once back in their box run over the top of said box.

Nobody fears this team as it has neither a leader or an enforcer, it has a soft underbelly which is being brutally exploited by diddy team after diddy team. I have suggested that trying to build a team to succeed both in Europe and Scotland from scratch may have been a bridge too far for most managers let alone a rookie like Gerrard.

Priority should have been to build a team to beat the filth to the league, instead we are still behind them and we have also given them the assurance of a second CL place should we usurp them over the next season or two. Our agenda should have been league, Champions league riches and cutting off the filths route to said riches.
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To be fair, the success we've had in Europe has been absolutely vital to the finances we need to just stay in touch with Celtic.

I don't think there's any great mystery to our problems. The players are not good enough to consistently perform at the level they were doing up until the new year. Our confidence has then been rocked by a few poor results while someone as pivotal to our play as Morelos has been drastically off form.

Gerrard is now having to earn his salt in picking up a team that appear completely devoid of belief.

But the remedy doesn't actually appear that difficult to work out - just mix it up.

Play 4-3-3 in Europe and something else domestically.
 
Gerrard let himself down badly yesterday at 2-1 up. There was no need to tinker again.

Dare I say, he shat the bed and reverted to type.
 
I think the worrying thing is how uncomfortable the players look, it’s clearly not good to play in, now you can say that’s up to them to do something and influence the game but they must be getting told to continue trying to play the same way. When your in a forward area and have tried to move into space three or four times and the midfield and defence has only moved the ball from side to side and back again it’s only making it easier for opponents.
A free kick inside St Johnstone half, we don’t take it quick which might work for a short ball, we allow them to set up and get behind the ball, okay we must be going long into the box looking for a knock on, no we then take it short and try to play around them when it hasn’t worked the rest of the game. We ended up back in our own half with the ball, I have seen this many times so clearly SG must be comfortable with this. It does nothing but kill the game.
 
He quite simply has to consider the 3-5-2, no doubt about it.

It allows you that extra striker, and that extra centre back.

It’s also so much more flexible. Edmundson can push up from CB to CDM and release a midfielder if the gaffer wanted to go 4 at the back, you can go with 5 at the back or 5 in midfield when required, you can go to a 3-4-3 if needed.

It’s insane that he hasn’t given it a go.
 
Before Christmas I watched a team that with the exception of the first mentally challenged game was a team I was very happy with ,good defence, a midfield with good energy and going forward at every chance and a forward line that scored lots of goals .
Was looking forward to the rest of the season with confidence .
Then we went to Dubai
The team I'm now watching bares no relation to the team last year , defence dodgy ,midfield looking very tired and forward line firing blanks . Its such a drastic change I'm wondering if something did happen in Dubai
 
If you don’t have the personnel to carry out the formation you want to play you must change it.
It’s been proved over and over again that we don’t have the players to do this.
Tacticaly doong the same thing over and over again with the same players is the definition of madness.
 
I reckon he should try two up front especially as Alfie isn't firing on all cylinders,Kamberi up with him would help massively,we've nothing to lose now as far as the league goes.
 
Earl of Leven said:
In essence we are still honing the Warburton tikki takki from 4/5 years ago. Yes there are tweaks, and I'm sure some tactical genius will put me right, but it's a sub Barca / sub Liverpool thing.

Sadly it's massively unsuitable for SPL. We need to win here, not win plaudits in EL for 6/7 games a season. We need the Rangers DNA.

It's funny but you know the thing: blood soaked head bandage, savage lunge on opponent trying to take the piss, two up front, and a physical team who win the battle. The pitches are terrible and many games barely resemble football. We need to adapt as SPL won't.

It's my view that this 433 with inverted wingers and false tens won't stop the Filth as we can't afford the players to make it work. We need a squad of best quality we can afford with the aim of the 38 games we play here, plus Cup ties. The manager and his team need to use next few months to prepare for overhaul of how we play. Thoughts?

Try and be civil, a debate would be brilliant but "%^*& off, WATP" isn't helpful.
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I'm wary of "throwing the baby out with the bathwater" here because we seem to do so well on the European stage. Punching WAAAAAY above our weight as far as I am concerned.

Doing well in Europe now means more money coming in means more improvement in the future.

It seems that in the SPL we do not display enough urgency and we are too slow to kill teams off. mentally challengeds seem to come out hard and fast in most games and a lot of times they seem to have matches wrapped up early on with the last 20 to 30 minutes being a bit of a stroll.

The question I would be asking is whether or not we would be sacrificing European success, where our system is serving us very well, for success in the SPL.

The tims are getting the best of both worlds to some extent but I do not think we would have been eliminated by Cluj and I do not think they would have survived our EL group. In any case they have a lot more to work with in terms of resources.

Our European success now means that we get a shot at the CL in 2021/22 even if we are still 2nd in Scotland and looking at the non-champions path in qualifying I think that we'd have a decent chance of getting in there.

A season in the Champions League could potentially be a huge deal for us as a club, in the long term.

I think for now, and for the next few seasons, our focus should be on Europe. Get ourselves into those group stages and get ourselves some much needed money.

The counter argument is "why not both". I get it.

My concern would be that the short-sighted nature of "stop them from winning 10 in a row" puts us in a spot where if we don't stop them from winning 10 and we failed in Europe because we are building a team for the SPL so then the door is open for 11, 12, 13 (which would be 55 total for them) in a row.

Get the European money. Use it to build a squad that can get more European money. Eventually I think success in the SPL comes from that. I just don't know when.
 
We have been the same since the Warburton era, inability to break teams down particularly at Ibrox domestically when teams come and set up camp. Unless there’s an early goal we really struggle.
 
Coplandbear said:
Trying to copy one of the best teams in Europe in like for like tactics with players a fraction of the quality just doesn't work in our league as we can't combat ultra defensive teams.

I would like a back to basics approach with a formation and tactics change.

Something like a modern day 4-2-3-1 could be useful with players in there correct positions.

McGregor

Tavernier Goldson Helander Barisic

Jack Davis

Arfield/Aribo Hagi Kent

Morelos

Full backs bombing forward, one holding midfielder, the other licence to dictate play. The wide players coming inside with a proper number 10 given a free role right behind a striker.

It would be a starting point.
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No need for complication

442 or 353

always play 2 up

get the ball forward quickly

spend more time in the opponents half

press press press

simple
 
Been saying this for a while but I'd like to see us try a 3-4-1-2 against the lesser sides. Something like....

McGregor
Goldson Katic Edmundson
Davis Jack Kamara Aribo
Hagi
Morelos Kamberi​
 
Coplandbear said:
Trying to copy one of the best teams in Europe in like for like tactics with players a fraction of the quality just doesn't work in our league as we can't combat ultra defensive teams.

I would like a back to basics approach with a formation and tactics change.

Something like a modern day 4-2-3-1 could be useful with players in there correct positions.

McGregor

Tavernier Goldson Helander Barisic

Jack Davis

Arfield/Aribo Hagi Kent

Morelos

Full backs bombing forward, one holding midfielder, the other licence to dictate play. The wide players coming inside with a proper number 10 given a free role right behind a striker.

It would be a starting point.
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That sounds fine in theory but we have a full back namely our captain who can't cross a decent ball these days
 
CaptainCourageous said:
We play in Scotland. It doesn't have to be fancy or over complicated. Trying to implement what top clubs in the best leagues across Europe do is just crazy. Especially when you don't have the calibre of player, quality of pitches, resources in terms of transfer budget and an opposition that are brutal on a weekly basis.

Gerrard talked the other week about how the opposition are becoming more ultra defensive against us and sees it getting worse. Yet he fails to tweak the system and set up.

This two number 10's is a load of nonsense. Kent isn't a number 10 and no matter what Beale says, Hagi is playing a more right sided role.

We don't have the quality, legs or aggression in midfield and whenever a player like Tavernier, Barišić or Morelos are out, we expect players of a completely different style to just slip into position and offer the same.

The two centre halves are appalling at dealing with high, long balls and our defence is far from rock solid.

Our current set up is struggling even more as the intensity is no longer there. There is a real lack of fire, the hard press has gone, our movement off the ball is brutal and we are too slow in possession.

Along with that the manager is stubborn, lacks a plan b, a real refusal to try anything different, tactically weak, naive and rarely turns a negative into a positive.

Lennon is no master tactician but he was forced into changes, made to re think and they haven't looked back since we beat them on the 29th December. We continue with the same old, a real refusal to change and then wonder why we stutter, splutter and struggle.

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
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Very very hard to disagree with any of this. And I’m starting to think it won’t end well for any of us.
 
its clear we need more than one way to play. we need to be able to change formation at half time or otherwise to unlock stuborn defences or to be more physical in the middle of the park when warranted. i sometimes feel at the moment that we have a plan and will stick to it to the death. other than changing personel on the field theres no will to change tactics on the fly during a game.
 
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