Jason Jones

Mon 10 August 2020 12:50, UK

Rangers can have very little to complain about after Sunday’s win over St. Mirren. 

Not only did they stroll their way to a 3-0 win, but Celtic’s slip-up against Kilmarnock later in the day afforded them the opportunity to move two points clear of their bitter rivals after just two matches.

In fairness, that 3-0 win could have been a lot more eye-catching too were it not for the heroics of Jak Alnwick in the Saints net.

The stopper made nine saves against the Gers, five of which were with reflexes, as per Wyscout.

If there was one minor area that Steven Gerrard might hope for some improvement in, however, it will be the attacking intent of his central midfielders.

The manager opted for a three in the centre of the park, with Glen Kamara and Ryan Jack acting as holding midfielders.

And their possession retention was very good.

Kamara registered a pass completion rate of 96%, while Jack managed 97%, as per Wyscout.

But a closer look at their performances goes some way to explaining why those numbers are so high.

This is Jack’s pass map from Sunday.

Of his 90 attempted passes, just 11 were accurately played into the final third.

And while he should be lauded for keeping the ball so well, it does hint at a lack of incisiveness.

We see a similar thing when we look at Kamara’s pass map.

Lots of lateral passes, very little in the way of cutting deliveries designed to break through the lines of the opposition – it’s far from positive.

In fact, on Sunday Kamara played more backwards passes than he did forwards.

To some extent, this isn’t his fault, or Jack’s for that matter.

Both are defensively inclined, and in Kamara’s case, he has averaged 0.05 more backwards passes than forwards passes per 90 minutes over the course of his career.

But if Rangers are going into a game against a team that they are expected to beat, it surely wouldn’t hurt to cast off the shackles every now and again and switch things up focus on more forward-thinking play.

Now that we’re fortunate enough to have Kemar Roofe and Cedric Itten in the squad, alongside Jermain Defoe and Alfredo Morelos, for the time being at least, perhaps we could even see Gerrard move to a 4-4-2 on occasion?

It didn’t hurt us on Sunday, but being too defensive in games that are there for the taking could come back to bite us if we’re not careful.

In other Rangers news, Darren Fletcher has backed this Gers talent for big season in 20/21 after impressive showing v Aberdeen.