Ibrox View: Rangers must learn lessons from disappointing 19/20 clash v St. Johnstone
Last time Rangers played St. Johnstone, it was a disappointing afternoon to say that least.
After going a goal down, the Gers clawed their way back to a 2-1 lead thanks to goals from Joe Aribo and Florian Kamberi before conceding a late equaliser that ultimately denied them all three points.
On paper, the Gers dominated that match too.
As per Wyscout, their possession was 69.14%, they had 21 shots to St. Johnstone’s eight, and they set a match tempo that was 2.71 higher.
But despite all of that pressure, the tale of the tape throws up quite a strange anomaly.
If we look at the Gers’ possession over the course of the 90 minutes, we see that it drops off considerably around the time that Aribo and Kamberi dragged them back into the match.
In fact, the point at which Aribo gave Gerrard’s men the lead is the only time in the contest when St. Johnstone had a majority of the ball.
But this is something that we’ve seen before.
In fact, this is something that Ibrox News has examined previously, with the evidence from preseason suggesting that the Gers actually turn out more efficient attacking performances when they have less of the ball.
Obviously, that isn’t always the case.
Against St. Mirren on Sunday, for instance, they had over 70% possession and created an xG of 2.93, which is 1.01 higher than their average over the past calendar year.
But the fact remains that there are still times when sides set out to stifle the Gers, and they struggle to effectively capitalise on the dominance that they have built up.
We saw it against St. Johnstone last time the two sides met, and in those instances, there’s no harm in relinquishing possession a little and opting for a different approach.
If Rangers find themselves frustrated again tonight, it might be an idea.
In other Rangers news, Ibrox View: Solid display proves that Mayo deserves chance to replace injured defensive colleague Nikola Katic.